GRADE 12
ENGLISH FAL
DRAMA: MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!
COMPLETE SENIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE
ACT & SCENE ANALYSIS
THEMES
STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT
CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ETC
, 1. The playwright
Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, director, actor, and novelist. He grew up in Port Elizabeth; his mother
was an Afrikaner and his father was from English, Irish and French Huguenot descent. His plays have political
themes and are part of anti-apartheid ‘protest theatre'. During the 1980s, young people were leaders in the
resistance against apartheid, especially against Bantu Education. Many children participated in the Struggle by
boycotting school, with the slogan ‘Liberation before Education'. Over time, the protests became more violent.
My Children! My Africa! asks questions about whether or not this was right. The events in the play are based on
a real newspaper article in 1985 about a teacher who was necklaced (killed) because he was suspected of being
a government informer. The play was first performed in 1989.
2. Background
My Children! My Africa! was first performed on 27 June 1989, just before the end of apartheid. The play explores
the rising tensions between black people and the apartheid government, and more generally between blacks
and whites near the end of apartheid.
All the characters in the play are thoughtful, clever and admirable, and each wins our affection and our loyalty.
The play is set a year before the State of Emergency which took place from 1984 to 1989 in South Africa, (refer
to p8). 1984-1990 was a period when freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela and other leaders were still in
prison. However, there were ongoing negotiations to end apartheid. The intensity of the struggle for freedom
was at its height, the resistance to apartheid was starting to become violent.
Township schools were at the forefront of violent resistance to apartheid and Zolile High School was amongst
those schools. Apartheid was about to end in South Africa and Fugard attacks the ANC’s decision to boycott
schools and as a result initiate damage that would negatively affect generations of Africans. The play shows the
suffering that black South Africans went through during the apartheid era. It does this by telling the story of the
friendship of two people – Isabel Dyason, a girl of 18 years from a white school (Camdeboo Girls High) and
Thami Mbikwana, a 19 year old black boy from a black school (Zolile High).The third main character is Mr M, a
teacher from Zolile High school.
The meeting between Isabel and Thami occurs when Mr M organizes an inter-school debate between
Camdeboo and Zolile high schools. It is through Thami and Isabel’s relation that we come to understand the
cruelty of apartheid and the violence of the struggle against Apartheid.
The play is also about Mr M’s ideology that education cannot be sacrificed for political gains. He is a proponent
of education as the most powerful tool in the struggle for freedom and equality.
ENGLISH FAL
DRAMA: MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!
COMPLETE SENIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE
ACT & SCENE ANALYSIS
THEMES
STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT
CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ETC
, 1. The playwright
Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, director, actor, and novelist. He grew up in Port Elizabeth; his mother
was an Afrikaner and his father was from English, Irish and French Huguenot descent. His plays have political
themes and are part of anti-apartheid ‘protest theatre'. During the 1980s, young people were leaders in the
resistance against apartheid, especially against Bantu Education. Many children participated in the Struggle by
boycotting school, with the slogan ‘Liberation before Education'. Over time, the protests became more violent.
My Children! My Africa! asks questions about whether or not this was right. The events in the play are based on
a real newspaper article in 1985 about a teacher who was necklaced (killed) because he was suspected of being
a government informer. The play was first performed in 1989.
2. Background
My Children! My Africa! was first performed on 27 June 1989, just before the end of apartheid. The play explores
the rising tensions between black people and the apartheid government, and more generally between blacks
and whites near the end of apartheid.
All the characters in the play are thoughtful, clever and admirable, and each wins our affection and our loyalty.
The play is set a year before the State of Emergency which took place from 1984 to 1989 in South Africa, (refer
to p8). 1984-1990 was a period when freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela and other leaders were still in
prison. However, there were ongoing negotiations to end apartheid. The intensity of the struggle for freedom
was at its height, the resistance to apartheid was starting to become violent.
Township schools were at the forefront of violent resistance to apartheid and Zolile High School was amongst
those schools. Apartheid was about to end in South Africa and Fugard attacks the ANC’s decision to boycott
schools and as a result initiate damage that would negatively affect generations of Africans. The play shows the
suffering that black South Africans went through during the apartheid era. It does this by telling the story of the
friendship of two people – Isabel Dyason, a girl of 18 years from a white school (Camdeboo Girls High) and
Thami Mbikwana, a 19 year old black boy from a black school (Zolile High).The third main character is Mr M, a
teacher from Zolile High school.
The meeting between Isabel and Thami occurs when Mr M organizes an inter-school debate between
Camdeboo and Zolile high schools. It is through Thami and Isabel’s relation that we come to understand the
cruelty of apartheid and the violence of the struggle against Apartheid.
The play is also about Mr M’s ideology that education cannot be sacrificed for political gains. He is a proponent
of education as the most powerful tool in the struggle for freedom and equality.
