Mekhukhung, is a Sesotho word coined to describe residential areas constructed with corrugated zinc plates or wooden planks; they are squatter camps where many township residents begin their peri-urban experiences and social upward mobility.
Yet, most squatter camps appear to have an inter-generational history, a story that is carried forward by younger generations grappling with life in a place designed for stagnation and social dissolution.
99 is one such place, characterised by child-headed households, young man joining gangs and girls prostituting themselves for a meal or a ride on the gravy train of mine-worker wages or a hit from pimps slowly gaining traction in our townships.
Here, young people still dream in spite of the squalor and the dreaded drug infestation that makes animals of their peers, they resolve to change their worldview for a better life deprived their parents and grandparents.
And faced with the false promise that education under democracy means success,these youths are confronting an uncertain future premised on lack of opportunities in a country still grappling with the legacies of economic inequality and exclusion.
This is their story shackled in cold shacks of 99, spoken with words sober and crafted by talent and long-suffering; this is a story of how in the midst of depravity and decay, small flowers can crack the sewage clogged soil and bloom through concrete slabs.
Director
Paul Zisiwe
Editor
Khahliso Matela
Production Manager
Mbalenhle Dlamini
Music
Vuyisile Billy and Monday Mthembu
Featuring
Mondli Mthembu
Sanele Masangwane
Sonwabile Pekula
Lucky Maloka
