wasn't sizwe bansi a ghost? - no, buntu. - wasn't he? - no. - when that bloody white man at the labor bureau grabbed you by the collar, what did he see when he looked at your face? a man with dignity and respect or another dom book with an n.i. number? isn't that a ghost? walk to the white suburb, that little child says to its mother, "mama, look at that boy. isn't that a ghost?" all i want you to be is a real ghost if that's what they want us to be. be a bloody ghost, man, if that's what they've turned us into. why can't you be a spook? spook the lot of them to hell. suppose you try my idea? suppose you take this book and you get that job at felt & textiles? friday, 3:00 in the afternoon, it's pay time. roughcasting, section c, non-skilled laborers, one line. the white man sits there with that big box full of the wage packets in line. he picks up the first one, "john kani." "yes, sir." pay packet over. "thank you, sir." he picks up the next one, "winston ntshona." "yes, sir." pay packet over. "thank you, sir." he picks up the next one,

sizwe bansi. sit down, sizwe bansi. i've been expecting you. i met zola in town. he explained to me you need a place to stay until saturday when you go back to king william's town. you can stay with me. well, as you see, this is a two-roomed house. perch yourself in that corner there. i'll be in this other room. i'm not staying with my wife at the moment. she's a domestic servant in town. she helps to sleep with a white madam. jeez, it's a bloody hot day today, eh? what is your trouble, actually? i've got no permit to stay in port elizabeth. where do you have permit to be? in king william's town. how did they find out? - as you know-- - yeah. - i was staying with zola-- - mm-hmm. --and i was very happy at zola's place until one night as i was sleeping on the floor, i heard some noises. then there was a loud bang on the door. there was a raid again. there was a raid at zola's place. ah, shit, these people. the headman walked in and pulled me out of the table. - yeah. - i was wearing my pants and i finished dressing in the van. you were lucky. they drove straight to

that sizwe, that sizwe is a bloody fool, i'm telling you. he's leading mr. bansi and mr. buntu astray. i know my way around this place, and i'm going to moor him if i find him-- you can't bullshit. come. let's get out. there's trouble there. only me in trouble, my friend. i said there's a dead man there. yeah? he's lying flat on the ground. i peed him wet. i thought he was a heap of rubbish. i look again, he's dead. listen, we must get out of here before the policeman come. - come, this... - okay. - this side, man. - mr. buntu. what? let's report that to the police station, my friend. police station? this time of the night? two drunk men, one with a wrong dom book. we both walk right inside the police station. "sergeant, there's a dead man." lock them up. they killed him. i know those bastards. - okay. - come. - okay, mr. buntu. - what now?