A 1st Synopsis: Xoliswa's story

Xoliswa story – women and their vulnerability
Film By Xoliswa and Carolyn Carew Born Free Media

Duration: 24minutes

I will follow 2 women

One is called Tembeka Junku who has a son who is 8years old, she is from Bulawayo, she had been living in Alex for the last 19years. The son is called Elson Bafana, her husband died in 2001. She is working as a cleaner; on Sunday 11May people came in her house and took clothes, on the following day the people came in and told her to leave (she had built her house) and they took money and they beat her.

They beat her up in front of her child and the police station could not assist her because the police force felt that the Xenophobia was too far spread and they could not help. She stayed at the police station for 2 weeks and on Sunday they moved her to Usindiso (a shelter for women in town).

Her son is not going to school, his school is in Alex. Were she is now she is not happy, she does not like the food, they have to wake up at 4am to bath and out of the bath by 8am, they have breakfast, lunch and supper, however she says that she does not like the food i.e they are allowed only one spoon of rice and she feels that she can not wake up her child at 4 am.

She is not sure where she will go and she is worried about the fact that her child is missing school.

2nd Story….Winnie Mandela took in a Congolese family. The woman who was taken in has a one year old child and Winnie felt that that the child would have died through to exposure (one of the characters I was going to film a woman called Lydia Chimanyange from Zimbabwe lost her 4 month old baby due to exposure at Cleveland police station). I am in the process of trying to get permission film the woman Winnie Mandela took in.

The film will explore the journey of these 2 women; I will also follow the 8 year old boy who witnessed his mother being beaten up by the people in Alex. The aim of the film is to explore the vulnerability of these women and the kindness of the South Africa person (W. Mandela) who took in the other family whilst the other woman is not sure of her future. She does not want to go back to Zimbabwe.