Goodbye Bafana

---

Stay in line, bastards.

Keep in line, man. Keep in line.

What are you looking at me like that for,

you f***?

What are you looking at?

I'll f*** you up!

Move!

You men make sure that's tied

down properly, you hear me?

Careful, man!

-Pa, why is it taking so long?

-Go back to your mother!

Move your feet, move your feet,

come on!

I said, go back!

Sergeant Gregory, Dannie Bosman,

your skipper for the crossing.

-Your first time to Robben lsland?

-I hear the fishing is excellent.

You'll get bored with that soon enough.

-What prison are you from?

-Kroonstad Maximum Security.

Well, Robben lsland

is a totally different ball game.

All prisoners below deck

and secured, Captain!

Ladies and children, all aboard please!

-Where's your mom?

-Busy putting on her lipstick.

We can board now, sweetie.

-How do I look?

-You look great.

-As long as I don't get seasick.

-It's only an hour.

Will I be able

to get my own bedroom, Pa?

Of course, you will.

'Cause I don't want to share

with Natasha again.

Who said I want to share with you?

You two stop fighting

and behave yourselves.

Remember, first impressions

are everything.

Are all the prisoners

on the island Black, Pa?

All of them.

But at Kroonstad, they were White.

We don't mix Whites and Blacks,

not even in the prisons.

These are not just criminals, Brent,

these are terrorists.

But what's the difference?

Terrorists are terrible people.

They want to kill all the Whites

and take our land away from us.

Which is why we lock them up

on the island.

Sergeant Gregory?

Captain Devett.

I'm the personnel officer on the island.

How do you do, Captain?

I'm Gloria and these are...

I have a jeep standing by. This way.

Your furniture will follow.

One, two.

All aboard, Captain.

This is it.

You can stand down for today,

Sergeant.

This evening you're expected

to attend an officers' braai

at the OC's residence,

missus included. Full dress uniform.

Gloria, I can't find my step-outs!

Ma is visiting next door, Pa.

Why is the toilet outside, Pa?

These houses are old, boet.

They were built during the war.

-What war?

-Second World War.

-What happens if I need to go at night?

-Then you'll go.

But there are bad people out there.

Boy, the only bad people on this island

are locked up in jail. Okay?

Okay, Pa.

-James, are you decent?

-Ya. Why?

Excuse all the boxes,

but you know how it is.

This is my husband, James.

-How do you do?

-How do you do?

Sannie's kindly offered

to baby-sit for us.

Oh, that's very nice.

Oh, Sannie's husband

is head chef here.

So if you ever need anything,

eggs, flour, sugar, you know who to ask.

Just don't say where it came from.

-I can't find my step-outs.

-Under the bed. I polished them.

-And you, James? What's your posting?

-Oh, he doesn't know yet.

We'll probably find out this evening.

You must be something special

'cause the NCOs are never invited

to the Colonel's house,

not unless they're in deep trouble.

-Serious?

-We don't mix.

The officers here are all bloody snobs.

I've got dinner on the stove.

Give me a shout

when you're ready to go, Gloria.

Right. Thanks, Sannie.

Hell, I'm starting

to get a bit nervous now.

You get in with the officers and

they'll nominate you for a commission.

You have to be

a warrant officer first, Gloria.

This is not Worcester, James.

This is not Kroonstad.

This is Robben lsland,

the number-one prison in the country.

You play your cards right

and, who knows, in five years,

you could be at head office in Pretoria.

Dream on.

I think I'm going to give you

a quick little haircut before we go.

Oh, Christ, woman, you never stop!

-Come on!

-Never!

You don't have to wait

to go to the mainland.

I'm a fully qualified hairdresser!

-Really?

-And I'm good.

Highlights is what you need,

a bit of flair,

then you'll see the heads turning.

Well, are we going

to keep you busy, or what?

This is no holiday camp, Sergeant.

You got warders stuck out here

for two weeks at a time.

It's a recipe for alcohol abuse,

for prostitution...

Prostitution?

We've got married NCOs

pimping their wives out

to single warders

to supplementing their shitty salaries.

I hope Captain Devett

is not painting too bad a picture of us.

-Welcome to the island, Gregory.

-It's an honour to be here, sir.

I see our wives

are already making friends.

Thank you for inviting us, sir.

There's someone who wants

to meet you. Excuse us, Captain.

This is Major Piet Jordaan

-from the Bureau of State Security.

-Bye-bye.

I believe you speak

the Kaffir languages, Sergeant?

-I speak Xhosa, sir.

-Where'd you learn the language?

I grew up on a cattle farm

in the Transkei.

When you've got no brothers

to play with,

you end up playing with the Kaffirs, sir.

Shall we take a walk, Sergeant?

So, what do you think of the judgement

handed down in Mandela's trial?

In my opinion,

he should have got the rope, sir.

Then we could have turned him

into a martyr.

Perhaps he's more use to us

behind bars.

It's a waste of taxpayers' money,

is what I say. They all are.

All Blacks?

Certainly the ones who took up arms

against us, the communists.

-Mandela denies he's a communist.

-Well, they're all liars, aren't they?

You know, in the 1800s,

this whole island was a leper colony.

Nothing's really changed then.

How do you feel about heading up

the Censorship Office in B Section?

Excuse my ignorance, sir,

but what is B Section?

That's where we keep Mandela

and all his mates.

I need someone on the inside,

someone who speaks their language.

I want to know what they think,

how they think.

Anything you find odd

in their letters or their visits,

you report directly back to me.

I want you to be my window

into their soul, if they have a soul.

Hell, and here I was thinking

I was going to spend my first year

working bloody night shifts.

-You can if you want.

-No. Please, no, sir.

It would be an honour for me

to run the Censorship Office.

I won't let you down.

You let me down,

you let your country down.

I would never do such a thing.

Of course not.

Well, I don't know about you,

but I'm bloody starving.

Let's go and get something to eat.

-They asleep?

-Finally. Too much bloody excitement.

The Colonel's wife, Joyce,

is coming over tomorrow for a cut.

She bakes, so she'll pay with a cake.

And Hettie,

you know that nice captain's wife?

Her husband dives for crayfish,

so that's how she'll pay.

-And that woman with the grey hair...

-Gloria.

What?

They're putting me

with Mandela and Sisulu and them.

No?

They want me in charge

of the Censorship Office.

My God, James!

Why didn't you say something?

I wasn't going to blow my trumpet

in front of all those bloody officers.

This is big, my boy! Mandela?

Never mind that.

I report directly to Pretoria.

This is fantastic! Did they say anything

about a promotion?

In due course, I was told.

No more Discipline Warder for me.

From now on, I am in charge

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