Ematyotyombeni - Squatters Of The In Wetland
LOGLINE
99 is a number symbolic of “truth” in township street lingo, and while many people in Kokosi know of EXT 99, they have no idea of the shocking truth of living with sewage and daily gunfire and violent rapes of young girls trapped in poverty’s remorseless grip.
Synopsis
In most townships, there always emerges an anomalous neighbourhood comprised of squatters and migrant workers (illegal or otherwise) seeking residence.
These places often carry names such as Baipei (Those Who Located Themselves), and EXT 99 is one such place composed of corrugated steel shacks and makeshift abodes desperately crafted by the homeless suing ramshackle tools and discarded materials.
Built from the desperation of a growing population of unemployed youths and backyard dwellers crowding inhospitable spaces around places of prospective employment and entrepreneurial efforts; 99 is an epitome of social injustice pitting people against a swampy existence in a place designated as a wetland.
But places like 99 tend to evolve into hellish neighborhoods, characterized by brutality and crime, coupled with unchecked poverty exacerbated by lack of service delivery by municipal authorities, who dread these neighborhoods.
Established n 1999, the number became synonymous with a sense of self-determination for which many black people were yearning.
Sadly, to date, the place that was also symbolic of the spirit of freedom embodied by dreams beyond the Y2K scare, remains still under-developed and further reduced to a haven for criminality and social decay.
This documentary is an exploration of Kokosi’s most infamous informal settlement.
It delves into the lives of those who cannot leave this sordid place for greener pastures; telling their stories of resilience in the face of squalor, and their continued neglect by powers that be, when faced with extremely degrading living conditions.
This film asks why are these people confined in this horrendous squatter camp, while being continually used as symbols of poverty in propagandist electioneering campaigns?
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