Movie reviews

AFRYKAMERA

BLACK MAMBAS

Watchable. A two-fold look at young black women working as anti-poachers. The white Black Mambas founder is very conscious of the problem where blacks live next to Kruger National Park but rarely benefit from it, staying unemployed while it's whites who do the sought-after guide jobs. You learn how rhinos gained national and international publicity hence protecting animals eventually became possible. Sadly the girls see themselves in dead-end positions. Lacking education, they see little value in the work they do. Locals see that foreigners care more about animals than people. A comprehensive picture but with no solution.

Q&A WITH A SOUTH AFRICAN

There's a debate on commercialising rhino horns to eradicate poaching. Impalas, springboks are legally hunted in June, July, August. The Big Five hunt is banned. There's huge youth unemployment in the whole country. That creates crime. In some areas girls skip school because they can't afford sanitary pads. When the ANC gained power, it was political rather than economic or social. Economic empowerment happened only at ownership and managerial positions, not below. The change was for elites. Jo'burg enjoys kind of equality, rural area has disparity, abuse - blacks are paid literally half money. Not all schools are free, many are located far away, e.g. 10 km walking and across a river, there are not enough teachers. You need a loan for a university. Universities are far away. Free education is provided at primary level only. If a school wants to be free, they literally have to apply to be free and their quality is low. University means costs: tuition, books, accommodation.

DYING FOR GOLD AND Q&A WITH DIRECTORS CATHERINE MEYBURGH AND RICHARD PAKLEPPA

Watchable. 5 million African gold miners have died of pulmonary diseases: mostly tuberculosis, silicosis, also anthesis. The documentary focuses on work conditions, it just briefly mentions gold constituting value on stock markets. The aim of the documentary is to support a class case against mining companies. The film charts the economic history having been based on exploitation and endangering healthy people with deadly diseases. It lacks current perspective. 

The directors first heard of thousands of miners dying in accidents. They see the archives on miners akin to Nazi ones - where the crimes were well documented. Hundreds of thousands of the same stories. It was systemic, genocidal. The economy has been based on that mining. Wherever gold exists, uranium is found, mercury is used for extraction - that results in toxic waters. Gold dumps also cause asthma. Small amounts are used in technology: in superconductors. But there are other superconductors. But mostly at times of insecurity people buy gold. It's taken out of ground and put into underground vaults again. Most of investment comes from abroad so a lot of money goes out of the country. White people are affected too but black miners far more. Compensations are peanuts in comparison to shareholders' dividends. The directors' view is "economies are based on harming". The mining sector has been the main source of tax so the government doesn't bite the hand that feeds it. Also within the government there are shareholders. "Extracting industries are extracting" humans too. Universities, highways etc. in South Africa were funded by gold, no other industries.