It’s been over a decade since Happy Sindane made headlines when he walked into a police station in Tweefontain, claiming he was a white boy who was abducted by a black family and forced into slavery.
His mesmerising story captured the attention of many South Africans and kept them glued to their television sets as the drama unfolded in the Bronkorstspruit Children’s Court in Mpumalanga. His unique story has now been followed by a play directed by South African renowned playwright, Charles J. Fourie.
It’s been over a decade since Happy Sindane made headlines when he walked into a police station in Tweefontain, claiming he was a white boy who was abducted by a black family and forced into slavery.
His mesmerising story captured the attention of many South Africans and kept them glued to their television sets as the drama unfolded in the Bronkorstspruit Children’s Court in Mpumalanga. His unique story has now been followed by a play directed by South African renowned playwright, Charles J. Fourie.
Fourie wrote his first play when he was only 19-years-of-age, at the University of Potchefstroom and has now transformed Sindane's story for the stage.
The character of Sindane is portrayed by the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) nominee, Jarried Geduld, who takes you to where it all began. Geduld has a great stage presence for solo performance.
It is believed Sindane, born Abbey Mziyaye, was raised by Elina Badanile Sindane after he was abandoned by Rina Mziyaye, who apparently was his biological mother and Happy’s father, a white German. The piece gives perspective on how Sindane’s promising life came to a drastic end.
In 2003 Sindane’s lifeless body was found in a ditch, He had been stoned to death in the small rural town of Tweefontain, which sent shock waves all around the country.
Sindane, born in 1984, had his whole life ahead of him before when he was murdered by an unknown man after an altercation at a tavern over a bottle of brandy.
Fourie’s play, Happy, was a huge success at the National Arts Festival.
Geduld’s solo performance received critical acclaim while some theatre-goers said it was one of the best plays they had seen during the Festival.
