THEATRE: Mhlongo’s anti-xenophobia play cheats death to spread the message
When playwright and activist Vusi Mhlongo died in a car accident in Durban in 2017, he was in the middle of an anti-crime awareness campaign he had initiated and led in Yeoville. Ever the activist, the Wits drama graduate’s campaign was a response to the deteriorating crime situation in this community, of which he and other artists have been part for years. Yeoville was where he and his cast of The Voice from Kilimanjaro were based and where the musical and cast alike had made strides in tackling the issue of xenophobia and crime in the community and beyond. Following its glory days as the epicentre of left-wing intellectualism, a haven for artists and liberal politics in the 1990s where life was vibrant with a good share of top eateries, high-class coffee shops and other night hangouts for the rich and famous, this neighbourhood has undoubtedly gone downhill. It has been battered and raped by circumstances beyond its control. Its scars are glaring: crumbling and neglected buildings...
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