ROB ROSE: The business of fear
In the aftermath of the drama at the PIC, Daniel Matjila might remain as CEO, but staff now know who’s really in charge — and it’s Malusi Gigaba
There’s a dramatic moment in King Kong, the current revival of the seminal jazz musical, that would have resonated with beleaguered Public Investment Corp (PIC) boss Daniel Matjila last week. The play tells the story of Ezekiel "King Kong" Dlamini, a giant of a man who arrives in 1940s Joburg from Vryheid, becoming a Transvaal heavyweight boxing champion before his life cascades into drunkenness, violence and murder. It’s a Sophiatown-era allegory for the waste of talent during the fledgling years of apartheid, in the wrapper of a Greek tragedy, first propelled to global theatres in the 1960s by the likes of Miriam Makeba, Jonas Gwangwa, Kippie Moeketsi and Hugh Masekela.In it, there’s a sinister scene in which the township gang, headed by tsotsi-in-chief Lucky, prowls onto the stage, flicking switchblades and oozing malevolence. The gang argues about what makes it so powerful. Then a song starts, in which Lucky instructs his underlings why the threat of tangible menace is vital: th...
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