Mrs Kamanga visits her old home and meets the people now occupying it. The powers of Zulu traditions help the people to place the memories of pain and fear in the past where they belong; while their struggle for a future continues.

“When you leave a place that you love so much, it takes time for the heart to forget”

Before the first free and fair elections were held in South Africa in 1994, the Apartheid government fuelled violence in a bid to destabilise KwaZulu Natal. Over 11,000 lives were lost as a result of this criminal interference, and thousands of families left their homes, fleeing the violence.

Ten years ago, Zimbili Kamanga, a teacher whose personal strength and courage is dedicated to helping other women out of poverty, fled the spiralling daily horror around her home in Depot, on the outskirts of Bhambayi.

A derivation of Bombay, Bhambayi is, ironically, the same district where Ghandi formulated his strategy of passive resistance. Although some tensions still exist, Bhambayi is now a vibrant district where government housing schemes promise to build a bright future for its residents. A future the filmmaker wants for her child. She applies for one of the government houses and when, no-longer being a resident of Bhambayi, she is rejected, she blames it on her mother’s refusal to bless her decision.

Ikhaya journeys with Mrs Kamanga as she visits her old home; and meets the people now occupying it. We watch as she tackles her anxiety and fear; re-visiting the demons that drove her from the home that she loved. We glimpse the deep personal cost the violence brought, but we also see the respect of the community she left behind, and the determination that made her succeed in a new house among strangers.

Revealing the comfort people still place in the powers of Zulu traditions, Ikhaya seeks to place the memories of pain and fear in the past where they belong; while the struggle for a future continues.


Berlin Forum, African, Asian & Latin American Festival - Milan, Nyon (SA Focus), Hot Docs, Black Movie Geneva