Popo Gumede

What Was Happening When

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1980 – Run For Your Life

While out on a cross-country run in unfamiliar territory, two friends  stumble upon an illegal drug operation in the woods. Soon taken hostage by the notorious drug-lord, they face the threat of becoming drug slaves themselves. Forced to work the plantation for the man known as “Cobra”, the two friends will have to rely on one another and use their wits if they wish to defeat the armed guards holding them captive.

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January

14 – The local community at Soekmekaar resists forced removal and damages the police station.

March

12 – The Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) together with its sister churches for Blacks (the NGK in Afrika), Coloureds (the NG Sendingkerk) and Indians (the Reformed Church in Africa), issue a statement that the Churches will bring no objection in principle should authorities judge that circumstances justify reconsideration of the Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act.

April

4 – Umkhonto we Sizwe attacks the Booysens Police Station in Johannesburg with grenades, rocket launchers and AK47s.

May

2 – Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall is banned because the government fears that it might be used as a song of liberty by black school children.

June

1 – Bombs explode at Sasol One and Two and Natref Eight at Sasolburg and Secunda, with no injuries and RM58 damage. The attack was organised by Solomon Mahlangu of the Umkhonto weSizwe Special Operations.

August

Special Branch policeman Detective-Sergeant T.G. Zondi is shot at in Sobantu Village.

October

14 – The Soweto community calls for a stayaway to protest against rent increases.

November

21 – A terrorist is killed in Chiawelo and a child is injured by police in the process.

What Was Happening When

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1980 – Impango 

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January

14 – The local community at Soekmekaar resists forced removal and damages the police station.

March

12 – The Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) together with its sister churches for Blacks (the NGK in Afrika), Coloureds (the NG Sendingkerk) and Indians (the Reformed Church in Africa), issue a statement that the Churches will bring no objection in principle should authorities judge that circumstances justify reconsideration of the Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act.

April

4 – Umkhonto we Sizwe attacks the Booysens Police Station in Johannesburg with grenades, rocket launchers and AK47s.

May

2 – Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall is banned because the government fears that it might be used as a song of liberty by black school children.

June

1 – Bombs explode at Sasol One and Two and Natref Eight at Sasolburg and Secunda, with no injuries and RM58 damage. The attack was organised by Solomon Mahlangu of the Umkhonto weSizwe Special Operations.

August

Special Branch policeman Detective-Sergeant T.G. Zondi is shot at in Sobantu Village.

October

14 – The Soweto community calls for a stayaway to protest against rent increases.

November

21 – A terrorist is killed in Chiawelo and a child is injured by police in the process.

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Isiboshwa

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Isiboshwa South African Films

This 70 minute adventure film was shot in 1989. Produced by Steve Hand and Directed by Tonie vd Merwe, it stars Sizwe Dlamini, Popo Gumede and Hector Mathanda. Catch it on SABC1 this Sunday at 8:30pm as part of the Mayibuye Film Festival!

TAGLINE

While on a camping trip, three teenage brothers go from being the hunted to the hunters in an effort to snare and catch a dangerous thief.

SYNOPSIS

The summer holidays finally arrive, and the three teenage brothers head out into the wilderness for a camping trip together. Their days are spent fishing, swimming and relaxing by their small tent on the banks of the river.

But unbeknownst to the boys, they are being watched. When things start going missing from their camp, and other strange events begin to occur, the three brothers begin to worry, unsure and unaware of who or what is stalking them.

Eventually they manage to discover what is really happening, and together they set out on a path fraught with danger, action and drama in order to bring the culprit to justice.

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Gravel Road Entertainment

Ezintandaneni

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Ezintandaneni South African Films

Produced in 1987, this 70 minute drama was directed by Tonie vd Merwe and produced by Oubaas Olivier. The cast includes Sizwe Dlamini, Popo Gumede & Gugu Mhlanga. Be sure to watch it this Sunday night on SABC1!

TAGLINE

A moving tale involving two orphans, a widower and a beautiful social worker, and how their lives all come together at the end.

SYNOPSIS

A touching story of two families – one poor, and the other rich. A young boy and his sister, raised by their cruel and vicious stepmother, live poor and difficult lives. Beaten and starved by their stepmom, the two children only have one another for comfort
and support. Meanwhile a prominent business man, and single father, has brought his mother to stay with him to help care for his ailing daughter. A beautiful Social Worker enters the scene and befriends the two abused children, and when the wealthy business man’s daughter sadly passes away, a series of events begin to unfold, entwining  these people’s fates and bringing all them all together at the end.

Ezintandaneni South African Films

Ambushed

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Ambushed South African Films

Filmed in 1988 on 16mm, this 70 minute action film will keep you on your toes! Directed by Tonie vd Merwe and produced by Oubaas Olivier, the cast includes Hector Mathanda, Popo Gumede, Kay Magubane & Ngebo Zungo. Catch it on Sunday night at 8:30pm on SABC1

TAGLINE:

A young Game Ranger will have to track a dangerous group of army deserters in a desperate attempt to rescue his kidnapped wife and son.

SYNOPSIS:

A young Game Ranger lives with his wife and son a large game farm bordering a neighbouring country.

Early one morning, only a few kilometres away, a gang of army deserters cross the border to loot, steal and poach whatever they can find. As the Ranger bids his family farewell and heads out on patrol, his son leaves for school.

While on his way, the young boy has a run-in with one of the deserters. He manages to escape, or so he thinks, and flees back home. The boy informs his mother of the events, and together they try to reach the Ranger via radio. But the deserters have followed the boy home.

Mother and son are kidnapped and the gang of deserters head back across the border. The father, calling in his Assistant Ranger, tracks the gang through the treacherous landscape back to their hidden base. The odds are stacked against him, but it is here that he launches a desperate attack on the hide-out in an effort to defeat the gang and rescue his wife and son.

Ambushed South African Films