Brandon Auret, Molefi Monaisa and the other cast members of The President’s Man read about the death threats against public protector Thuli Madonsela in their play script two weeks before the news broke in the media.Well, in a sense. In Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom’s new political thriller, it’s a principled senior prosecutor (not the public protector) who fears for her life after launching a probe into a deadly corruption imbroglio that reaches right to the top. But the similarity struck uncomfortably close to the bone for the players.Such is the depth of political malfeasance in the country, the actors say, that the art that’s being played out on stage inevitably ends up reflecting life as it is in SA, whether intentional or not. Sadly, no gift of prescience is required.The President’s Man is a chilling parable about political rot, murder, cover-ups and the tangled webs that the elite weave to consolidate their grip on power. It’s loosely based on the monumental fall from grace of for...
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