South African State Theatre to stage ASKARI musical

Directed by Sello Maseko, the production features captivating choreography executed to the tune of a score by a six-piece band directed by Mdu Nhlapo and Cromwell Modungwa.

Original cast members, including Abongile Matyutyu (as Thomas Maseko), Soyiso Ndaba (Boboza Khumalo), Monica Muller (Marita Swanepoel) and Kagiso Matlala (Thembi Madida) reprise their roles, while Wilf Mahne assumes the villain character Gert Swanepoel.

ASKARI is based on real events and tells the story of freedom fighters who were double agents, informers, intelligence analysts and deadly assassins for the Vlakplaas counterinsurgency unit that specialised in executing and torturing anti-apartheid activists.

“I saw a lonely and quiet farmhouse on an empty tract of land, sad outbuildings and the vengeful interrogation rooms and the tearful graves of those who met their end in the hands of the state-sponsored death squad,” Maseko – who visited the notorious Vlakplaas farm in 2019 – recalled. “About 40 years ago, the farm housed a group of people called ASKARI. The farm administered pain, fear, misery, uncertainty, and death.”

The play, Maseko says, seeks to honour the struggle heroes who died in the torture chambers of Vlakplaas and also reconcile the nation.

“As a historian and storyteller, I saw it fit to contribute to the truth reconciliation project. The story of these foot soldiers of apartheid whose job description was to kill needed to be told, and I had to be the one telling it. Having to deal with souls roaming around and searching for peaceful rest is not easy. This action-packed story is part of a truth and reconciliation programme to help communities heal and move on.”

About the musical

ASKARI follows men and women who infiltrate organised civic movements and student organisations to recruit unsuspecting youth and influential leaders. It interrogates their choice of turning from insurgencies to counter insurgencies, from community activists to mass killers. The production delves deep into the personal accounts of these individuals who administered pain, fear, and death. These stories of betrayal, death, redemption, and forgiveness are captured through dazzling music, dance, and powerful storytelling.

The term Askari was used to describe former members of the liberation movements who joined the security branch and were working against their former comrades. Many Askaris worked at Vlakplaas, a farm 20 kilometres west of Pretoria that served as the headquarters of the counterinsurgency unit C1 of the Security Branch of the apartheid-era South African Police. Though officially called Section C1, the unit also became known as Vlakplaas.

Tickets to watch ASKARI can be purchased here, at SAST and any Pick n Pay stores around the country.