Summary
Buntu recounts traveling to a funeral for his friend, Jacob. He says that the preacher at the funeral gave a moving eulogy. He then mentions that Jacob endured a number of hardships at work. His friend was fired when his old boss's son took over the farm where Jacob was working. Then he was forced to travel to various farms seeking temporary work. Eventually, a bad drought made it even harder for him to find a job. Buntu says he spent his entire life this way and then died.
Buntu finishes his story and suggests that they go to a bar called Sky's Place. They get out and Sizwe gets drunk. Sizwe is momentarily very happy and chatty. He and Buntu exit the bar. The two joke around and Buntu tries to get Sizwe to go home. Sizwe, in his intoxicated state, is hesitant to do so.
Buntu instructs Sizwe to lead the way home and they begin their walk back. Buntu says he needs to use the bathroom and wanders off. Sizwe talks to himself while waiting for Buntu to return. Buntu comes back immediately, in an unsettled state. He says that he stumbled on a dead body nearby and that they should leave immediately.
Sizwe says he thinks that they should stay and report the body. Buntu discourages him, saying that this will likely just result in them being charged with his murder. Sizwe says that they should at least check his passbook to see where he is from. He then complains about how his own passbook has created so many problems. They look at his book and see that his name is Robert Zwelinzima.
Sizwe says they should try and find someone to tell them about what has happened. Buntu insists that the area where the man is from isn't safe at night. Sizwe gets angry and asks Buntu if he would also abandon him if someone stabbed him, Sizwe, and left him to die. He angrily asks how much more degradation he is supposed to endure.
Buntu asks to see Sizwe's passbook. Sizwe, though initially hesitant, gives it to him. Then they head back to Buntu's house. Buntu instructs Sizwe to sit down at the table. He tells him that he should take the dead man's passbook and fake his death. He says this will effectively mean that Sizwe Bansi will be "dead." Sizwe is concerned about losing his identity.
Sizwe tells Buntu that he does not want to lose his name. Buntu says that he could continue to live in Port Elizabeth if he takes the passbook and gives up his name. Buntu insists that the choice is obvious and that he would be a fool not to take this chance.
Analysis
Inequality is a major theme in this section of the play. Sizwe's conversation with Bansi reveals how passbooks create and perpetuate injustice across South Africa. By requiring Black South Africans to get a passbook, white officials are able to force them to work terrible jobs and leave certain provinces at any given time. The book does not provide them with any legal protection but instead keeps them perpetually in harm's way. These moments demonstrate how bureaucracy plays a crucial role in maintaining this power structure, as the passbook acts as a means of policing Black citizens. Sizwe's story indicates how much harm is done by these documents and the apartheid policies they bolster.
Work is also a theme in this part of the play, as Buntu tells the story of his friend Jacob. He says that Jacob was forced to live a life of constant toil and travel, going from farm to farm looking for temporary employment. He did hard labor for many years, barely making enough money to survive. He then died and finally, as Buntu points out, experienced some degree of peace. This unsettling story indicates how dehumanizing labor can be. Jacob spends his entire life pursuing exhausting work to barely make a living; his conditions remain almost unchanged over the course of his entire life. His story is a bleak portrait of how underpaid labor can completely drain away someone's entire life.
Identity is also a central theme in these scenes. Sizwe begins to wonder what the value of his life really is. On the one hand, he cannot remain in Port Elizabeth or find safe work unless he gives up his name. He is placed in a somewhat impossible position where he cannot ultimately continue his original life regardless of the choice he makes. He clings to his original name as he feels that it is the last thing he truly owns. Without it, as he remarks to Buntu, he is no longer himself. This moment highlights how much one's identity is tied up in a name, as Sizwe cannot keep his name or continue to have his real life.
Death is another principal theme in this section. Buntu echoes Sizwe's comment to his wife, saying "Sizwe Buntu is dead." What he means is that Sizwe should not literally die, but should fake his death and take Robert's papers. However, while Sizwe will not literally die, he seems aware that he will never be the same. His figurative death marks the end of his time as "Sizwe," as he is required to give up his name and abandon his identity. Here, the play highlights how there is more than one way for someone to die.
This section approaches the play's dramatic height. Sizwe is forced to choose between his name and his survival. He is given no alternatives and must engage with a political system that wants to maximally limit his freedoms. He is unable to continue his life as it is and must make weighty sacrifices in either situation. He sees the impossible nature of his decision.
