Hamba Dompas Woza ID

Hamba Dompas Woza ID scheduled for screening on SABC2 at 10am on 9th August introduces audiences to ordinary people whose untold stories of harassment and arrest lend a face to known injustices of the dompas.

Through the eyes of some South African influential writers, thinkers and activists, Hamba Dompas Woza ID unpacks the significance of this small book and its callous impact on the psyche and actions of the people, the struggle and the country as a whole.

"Hamba Dompas Woza ID is a powerful documentary linking our history to contemporary questions of identity and nationhood in South Africa, moving from oppression to a proud new Mzansi and identity document.

The hour-long thought provoking documentary, produced by Fort Films for SABC Education includes the artistic eye and imaginative skills of director Amr Singh and producer Shukri Toefy who worked closely with to unpack issues of identity and nation building in South Africa, past and present. Hamba Dompas Woza ID, funded by the Department of Home Affairs is part of SABC Education's ID –Ur-self NOW! Campaign" says Surekha Singh commissioning editor at SABC Education.

Apartheid and its most humiliating and dominating tool of control, the pass laws, had a devastating effect on everyday life and anti-apartheid resistance.

Interviews on Hamba Dompas Woza ID include Philip Kgosana, Sophie Williams-de Bruyn, Sindiwe Magona, Advocate Geoff Budlender and Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Dlamini-Zuma. They bridge the gap between a turbulent history and present day obstacles and freedoms as we discover a vision for the future united South African identity.

Publicity Manager at SABC2 Zandile Nkonyeni says, "Building identities as citizens of a unified South Africa has been a long and bumpy road. Hamba Dompas Woza ID explores this journey through the history and evolvement of the dompas to the identity document in South Africa.

SABC2 are proud to share knowledge ranging from slave pass papers, influx control in and around the mining compounds to the protagonist of the story and physical manifestation of apartheid, the dompas."Director Amr Singh says, "Hamba Dompas Woza ID gave us an opportunity to stretch our creative muscles to new heights.

South Africans born after 1970 never had to carry a dompas, there is an entire generation that knows little about the document or its vital role in our history; as film makers it was an opportunity of discovery to make the show."

By SABC Education Publicity-
faheylk@sabc.co.za