AFRICAN DRAMA
ATHOL FUGARD: Sizwe Bansi is Dead
Discuss the theme of racial discrimination in the play.
Explanation
The major theme of the play is racial discrimination. The three major characters in the play are all symbols of this discrimination. The blacks do not have freedom of movement and they cannot do any job without obtaining residential and work permit. This prompts Sizwe to remove the passbook that contains the name, address, identification number and work permit of the corpse of Robert Zwelinzima which he finds on the way to Buntu's house. The blacks are discriminated against and their rights and privileges denied them. Blacks who work for Ford Motors for twenty-five years are given only wrist-watches as reward for their meritorious service. Another example of racial discrimination is shown where adult blacks are addressed as "boy" by even white children yet they cannot complain.
Styles encounters a lot of difficulties in getting office accommodation for his photo studio all because he is a black man. Buntu, another victim of racial discrimination, concludes that the only hope for the Blackman is for him to die and be buried, since some like Zwelinzima do not even have the benefit of a burial. This is the reason why he persuades Sizwe to use the passbook of Zwelinzima. Sizwe Bansi, like other blacks, is denied employment opportunities in his township. He therefore seeks employ-ment elsewhere, but cannot live and work in Port Elizabeth as a result of the restriction placed on blacks. Blacks are relegated to doing only menial jobs. Racial discrimination places blacks at the extremes of poverty, hardship and death. Quta Jacob lives in unbearable conditions and dies a wretched man.