Khami prison inmates, officers starring in ZTV drama

Prison officers and inmates from Khami prisons have managed to take their passion for acting to the small screen, as they have landed a slot on ZTV, starring in a drama called Guluva.

The cast of the film, which airs every Saturday at 7pm, is made up entirely of correctional officers and inmates, who have managed to forge a relationship that goes beyond their everyday role of guards and the guarded. Two episodes of the drama have been aired on the national broadcaster so far.

The drama documents the life of Mandla, who flees his rural home in hope of achieving quick wealth in the city of Bulawayo after impregnating a local girl, Thembi. Mandla is however confronted by the harsh realities of life in the big city and turns to a gangster under the wing of big time thug, Thulamoto. Thulamoto also flees to South Africa and on his return finds Mandla the new king of the criminal empire which he built. A life and death struggle then ensues between the two.

In an interview, brains behind the gripping gangster drama, Onwell Siziba said the production was a useful tool in the rehabilitation of prisoners, some of whom had a lot of unexposed talent.

"The drama and acting is a way for us to rehabilitate prisoners because some of them have a lot of talent that people do not recognise or know about. They are very talented people and those who will watch this drama will be amazed and left in awe of what they can do," he said.

Siziba said that they were equipping prisoners with the skills to survive within the bounds of the law after their release. He said by doing so, they were making sure that after their release, prisoners did not relapse into their old habits, as was the case with most released inmates.

"This will help them when they get out because most of the time they fail to find employment after their release hence they fall back into old habits. We don't want them to go out and get involved in crime thereby taking us back to square one," he said.

Siziba said before he had struck gold with Guluva, he had tried to get his plays on TV on numerous occasions, but had failed. He said he wished to continue working with his current cast even after the release of some of them from prison.

"I wish to work with these guys even when they are released. We have been trying to get our productions on TV for the past seven or eight years and I am happy that we have finally succeeded," he said.

Siziba, who cited Cont Mhlanga and Aaron Chiwundura Moyo as his main inspirations, said he wished to see his career as a writer progress further as he already had a number of scripts that were ready for production.