 Professional Background
The cast and crew of the satirical play The Crocodile of Zambezi have been under threat since May 2008, when two members of the company were attacked and the play was banned by authorities in Bulawayo. Production manager Lionel Nkosi was reportedly tortured and threatened with death, and actor Aleck Zulu was beaten by police.
Current Status
On the afternoon of May 29, 2008, police officers came to City Hall in Bulawayo, where rehearsals were taking place for the second performance of The Crocodile of Zambezi. Lionel Nkosi and Aleck Zulu were taken to the central police station and told the play could not continue. The police reportedly stated that they had been told to “censor or stop any suspicious performances.” Nkosi and Zulu agreed to stop the show, returned to City Hall and packed up.
When Nkosi and Zulu were about to leave, they were stopped by four men in a car parked outside, unmarked and without registration plates, who asked Nkosi to get in. He was driven to an isolated location, where the men questioned him about the play and its backers, accusing it of ridiculing President Mugabe. According to Nkosi, the men threatened to kill him, then placed a sack over his head and beat him severely, at one point shoving a gun into his mouth. The attack left him covered in blood and with a fractured ankle, bruised ribs and gums and a loose tooth. According to some reports, Nkosi’s assailants were members of the secret service.
These attacks were part of a generalized crackdown on freedom of expression and other rights in Zimbabwe prior to the presidential election run-off on June 27. Another satirical play about Zimbabwe’s political situation was also banned in Harare in May, and there have been numerous attacks on the press. Violence against those perceived to be associated with the political opposition remains widespread in the wake of the elections and amid discussions on a power-sharing deal, and writers and journalists are among those still at risk.
Case History
The Crocodile of Zambezi, set in a fictional country along the Zambezi River, is a satire on the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe and is the result of a two-year collaboration between playwrights Raisedon Baya and Chrisopher Mlalazi. The play’s central character is the aging leader of the country who is facing personal and political crises. The play opened on May 28, 2008, despite the fact that newspaper advertisements the company had paid for were not published. The play was reportedly well received, but due to the ban it closed after only one performance.
Another satirical play about Zimbabwe’s political situation, Sahwira (Spirit of Friendship) by Elton Mjanana, which was being staged in Harare, was also banned in May. This play, which is based on Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform movement, features graphic scenes of torture and killings. The reason given for the banning was that the police had not been given advance notice.
In 2007, the police reportedly banned a number of plays on the grounds that they were in violation of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Censorship and Control of Entertainment Act, including Baya’s Everyday Solider and The Good President by Cont Mhlanga. |
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Send a Letter of Appeal
Write to the Zimbabwean authorities, protesting the attacks on Lionel Nkosi and Aleck Zulu of the company of The Crocodile of Zambezi, and the banning of the play after just one performance in May 2008, as well as the targeting and banning of other critical plays. Express concern for the ongoing safety of the playwrights and all others associated with such works, and call on the authorities to respect their right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by international human rights treaties to which Zimbabwe is party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and to cease all attacks against them.
Please send copies of any replies you may receive from the authorities to PEN American Center.
>> Sample appeal letter |
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PEN Press Releases
November 8, 2008: Day of the Imprisoned Writer
Writers and Journalists Killed Since Day of Imprisoned Writer: 15 November 2007
Excerpts
The Crocodile of Zambezi
by Raisedon Baya and Chrisopher Mlalazi
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