RONNIE GOVENDER’S PLAY, “OFF-SIDE”, IN 1984 POKES FUN AT SA’s INDIAN MPs
While researching through my files for articles that
I had written on the Natal Indian Congress from the early 1970s to the 1990s, I
came across articles that I had written about the recently late, Ronnie
Govender’s play, "The Lahnee's Pleasure", in October 1976 and “Off-Side”, in September 1984.
I am re-publishing these stories as a tribute to Ronnie Govender, who passed away at the age of 85 on April 29 last month. He was one of the most accomplished playwrights and theatre personalities who reigned supreme during the days of struggles against the apartheid regime.
BLACK ACTORS GET CHANCE IN RONNIE’S PLAY
During the hurly, burly days in the 1970s, I was working for The Daily News, which at this time was situated in a building in 85 Field Street (now Joe Slovo Street), Durban.
As an activist journalist I covered most of the anti-apartheid political, educational, social, sporting and cultural stories.
It was in this frame that I spoke to Ronnie Govender and filed a story that Ronnie was intending to stage his play, The Lahnee’s Pleasure”.
Writing about Ronnie Govender’s stage plays was also of interest to me because most of Ronnie Govender’s plays in some way or other attacked the apartheid policies of the former apartheid regime.
The story I wrote was published in the Daily News on October 22 1976 under the headline: “Black actors get chance in Ronnie’s play”.
The story read:
Mr Ronnie Govender, the Durban playwright, whose play “Swami” was highly acclaimed a few years ago, is to produce another play, “The Lahnee’s Pleasure” in December.
“The Lahnee’s Pleasure”, which was written by Mr Govender in 1972 and staged once during the South African Black Theatre Union’s Festival in Durban, will feature some of Durban’s best known black actors.
They are Essop Khan, who took part in “Swami” and “The Fire Stone” and was one of the producers of the well-received musical, “Saras”; Mahomed Ali, who acted in “Swami”, “The First Stone” and “Stableexpense”; Sunny Clothier, the talented Coloured actor; and Solly Pillay, who came to prominence when he played the lead role in “Saras”.
The central character in the play is a worker on a sugar plantation. As a widower, he is faced with the problem of rearing his children, among them a teenage daughter.
The entire play is set in the Indian bar of a white-owned hotel and revolves around the barman, the “Lahnee”, a stranger and a young man who seduces the widower’s daughter.
Mr Govender, who is also a journalist, told The Daily News he had decided to re-stage the play because of the favourable reaction of the people who saw it during the black festival.
“I intended to stage the play long ago but was not able to do so because of many problems. I have now assembled my cast and am busy with rehearsels,” he said. – Daily News Reporter Oct 22 1976
"OFF-SIDE" PLAY POKES FUN AT SOUTH AFRICA'S INDIAN MPs
Eight years later when I was the Editor of the Press Trust of
South Africa (PTSA), we filed stories daily to the Press Trust of India
(PTI) in New Delhi about the struggles and other relevant articles.
At this time RonnieGovender wrote and produced the play, “Off-side”, to
expose the Indian-origin collaborators who participated in the tri-racial
elections a few weeks earlier in August 1984. The collaborators had participated
in the sham elections despite the majority of the people of Indian-origin
boycotting the racial elections.
“Off-side” was just one of several plays that he had
written and produced over the past six decades or so.
POLITICAL SATIRE ON SA INDIANS
The article on “Off-side” was published in several
newspapers in India under the headlines: “Off-side” play pokes fun at SA’s
Indian MPs”, “Play debunks Indian MPs of S. Africa” and “Political satire on SA
Indians”.
One of the Indian newspapers, Indian Express,
published the article on “Off-side” on September 17.
The story read:
Durban, Sept 17 (PTI): A local Indian playwright, Mr
Ronnie Govender, has poked fun at those Indians who are participating in the
new South African Constitution by producing a play, named “Off-side”, about
their actions.
The play, which is running to packed houses in
Durban, takes a knock at a Durban butcher, Amichand Rajbansi, who is the leader
of the National Peoples’ Party (NPP); Mr Pat Poovalingam, chairman of the Party;
and a columnist, Mr Ranji Nowbath – all willing collaborators with the
apartheid regime.
The play is spiced with Indian and English music,
reports Press Trust of South Africa.
Mr Govender, who is a strong opponent of the
apartheid South African Government, has produced a number of plays with Indian
characters.
The calibre of the new coloured and Indian members of
the tri-racial parliament is very poor, according to political observers here
who cite reports that the new members of the coloured House of Representatives
and the Indian House of Delegates were to undergo crash courses in parliamentary
procedures.
PLAY DE-BUNKS INDIAN MPs OF SOUTH AFRICA
The four-day course will be made up of intensive
briefing about how the new three-chamber parliament will operate, its standing
rules and the general conduct of the new MPs, reports Press Trust of South
Africa.
One political observer said it was shocking that
people could enter the new system without any idea about its workings.
Contestants for seats in the new Houses also showed
an appalling lack of knowledge of the new Constitution in the run-up to the
Indian and coloured elections. When several candidates were questioned on how
they would fight apartheid legislation from within the system, they were unable
to explain their stance.
Their arguments that they wish to fight apartheid
from within therefore comes to naught considering that many have not even read
the new Constitution.
With the majority of the MPs undergoing intensive
briefing section, it has also been revealed that several Indian candidates had
taken crash courses in Afrikaans – which is one of the two official languages
used by the new parliamentary scheme. The other official language is English. End
– Press Trust of South Africa Sept 17 1984
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