'I feel a sickening emptiness. How is Presley gone?'

It is dark as we gather on a quiet suburban street in 2004 to film the final scene of Tsotsi, a low budget, all-South African film. For months I have fretted over how to end this story of a violent young gangster who, through a carjacking gone wrong, becomes an accidental father to a stolen infant.
I have written two endings. In one, the eponymous Tsotsi, played by an extraordinarily gifted nineteen-year-old first-time screen actor named Presley Chweneyagae, will be shot dead by an on-edge police officer and bleed out on the street.
In the other, he will bolt, clear a stone wall and escape across burnt veld into a sprawling world of thousands of shacks. Redeemed by returning the stolen child to its distraught mother and father, should Tsotsi live or die? Or is there a third way?
We rehearse both endings. We start filming. Glued to my monitor I watch Presley in close-up begin to tremble as he bravely carries the kidnapped baby across the empty street to deliver it into the arms of the child's father, played by the great Rapulana Seiphemo.
The two stand together for a moment, both holding the child. Presley does not immediately release the baby. Rapulana does not snatch it away. They seem frozen.
I watch. Presley is a contained well of emotion that rises from somewhere unfathomably deep and spills from eyes filled with more feeling than I have ever seen in any other actor, before or since. He is a master of restrained emotional honesty. A broken child himself.
Presley lets go. The father retreats slowly with his child. Presley remains alone in the middle of the street; the guns of two police officers trained on him. And then he slowly raises his hands. They rise silently over his head. Nothing is forced. The action is a simple surrender. A giving over to whatever fate, whatever punishment, may await him. He is neither dead nor free. But he is redeemed — by the simple gesture of the raised hands of Presley Chweneyagae.
And that is how the film ends. With the audience left to be his judge.
As I sit now, remembering this moment — and so many others like it where Presley's performance vastly exceeded my expectations as we made Tsotsi together — I feel a sickening emptiness.
How is he gone? He was only 40. And I, 20 years older, am still here?
I have said it to young would-be actors many times: if you want to see what great screen acting is, watch Presley Chweneyagae in Tsotsi.
Gavin Hood
I have nothing but beautiful memories of this man. Of working with him scene by scene, and watching him, moment by moment, as he opened himself to the camera without an ounce of vanity or ego.
I have said it to young would-be actors many times: if you want to see what great screen acting is, watch Presley Chweneyagae in Tsotsi. Watch how he commands our attention, even when he has no dialogue. Watch his stillness, that is not still at all. Watch how he vibrates with an inner life, as nuanced as you will see in only truly great actors.
His central performance, alongside the exquisite Terry Pheto as Miriam, and the rest of our incredible cast, is why our film won an Oscar. And why Presley won the award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role at the 2006 Black Movie Awards in Los Angeles, up against fellow nominees Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding Jr, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tyrese Gibson.
I remember sitting with him over a lunch a few days later and discussing whether he might stay with me in LA for a while and meet American agents. There were many who wanted to meet him.
After some discussion, he was clear: We had been on the road promoting Tsotsi at film festivals for many months leading up to the Oscars and he needed to go home. He wanted to see his mother, who had apparently sent him to drama lessons as a child to keep him away from real 'tsotsis'.
And, importantly, he wanted to be an actor in South Africa, not in America. His connection to the character of Tsotsi was deep because he loved and cared about the people back home. It wasn't that he didn't care about Americans. They just weren't his people. And anyway, he said, they had plenty of actors to tell their stories. He belonged in South Africa, telling South African stories.
And he did that. He went home and brought joy to South African audiences for years. And now he is gone, far too soon. And I can only say I am honoured to have known you, Prez, and forever grateful to have worked with you, sir. Rest well.

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The Citizen

an hour ago

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SA can fix its borders with a TV show – here's how

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Daily Maverick

3 hours ago

• Daily Maverick

SAPS and FBI investigate child sexual abuse by secretive Two by Twos Christian cult

A secretive church known as the Two by Twos, also referred to as the 2x2s, has been rocked by widespread allegations of child sexual assault taking place globally over decades. A secretive fundamentalist Christian sect — widely known as the Two by Twos (2x2s), but also as the No-Name Church, The Truth, or The Way — has been rocked by an international child sexual abuse and rape scandal. A Daily Maverick investigation has found church members who reported cases of abuse in South Africa too. One of the alleged South African perpetrators in the abuse scandal, a 'worker' in the church, is still a free man — but the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and South African Police Service (SAPS) are closing in. SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk confirmed this week that a historic sexual abuse case was being investigated by the police's Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal. According to Van Wyk, it is alleged that 'the victim, now 51 years old, was sexually abused in 1983 around the age of nine by an alleged 'pastor' from the 2x2s church'. The victim told Daily Maverick that they were interviewed by the FBI, which is conducting a global investigation into abuses by the 2x2s church. The alleged perpetrator's identity is known to 'overseers' — a term used for the sect's leadership. The identity of the alleged perpetrator, Worker A, is also known to Daily Maverick. Men in the church are referred to as 'workers' or 'brothers', and there are also 'friends' of the fellowship. Because of the secretive nature of the sect, as well as its lack of infrastructure and leadership hierarchy, membership figures of the Two by Twos are difficult to come by. However, according to the BBC, which investigated sexual abuse into the church, the membership is estimated t0 be 100,000, mostly in North America, Australia and New Zealand. Numbers in South Africa are also difficult to confirm, but Leon Van Niekerk, a church member, estimated local membership to be between 20,000 and 50,000. The SA fallout and what preceded it The wide-ranging international investigation reached South African shores in 2023 when Van Niekerk, a member of the sect, reported the alleged child rape by the leading 'worker' in South Africa that had taken place at a church convention held in 1983. Forty years later, the survivor contacted Van Niekerk, who was offering support to other current and former members. With the consent of the survivor, Van Niekerk reported the matter to the SAPS. The statute of limitations on sexual offences in South Africa had been lifted by the Constitutional Court in 2017, and so Van Niekerk went to the Linden Police Station in Johannesburg and received a reference number for the case. It was later transferred to Pinetown and the FCS unit. The incident that prompted Van Niekerk to lodge the charge against Worker A, who has also done 'missionary' outreach work in other countries, was the Dean Bruer scandal in the US. Bruer, a veteran Two by Twos overseer and 'worker' who had served in several US states and other countries since 1976, was found dead in his Best Western Mt Hood Inn hotel room in Government Camp, Oregon, in June 2022. Detroit Legal reported that nine months after Bruer died, Doyle Smith, the overseer for Idaho and Oregon, wrote a letter to members stating that evidence left on Bruer's phone and laptop showed he had raped and abused multiple underage victims. 'That was a huge prick in the balloon. That brought down the curtain,' Van Niekerk told Daily Maverick. In his letter to the church community that was subsequently posted online, Doyle Smith, reportedly a US-based 'overseer', wrote that 'we have come to the tragic conclusion that Dean Bruer had another side to his life that none of us, except the victims, ever witnessed or suspected'. Bruer, he acknowledged, 'was a sexual predator'. 'There is a very united consensus among us that the only thing to do is to be transparent with all of you for obvious reasons, though this is very difficult. We are very sorry for the hurt this will bring to the hearts of many. Thankfully, he is no longer in a position to hurt anyone,' Smith added. More than 700 names were given by abuse survivors to a hotline set up by a group called Advocates for The Truth after the Bruer bombshell. The group was formed by Cynthia Liles, a former church member and now private investigator who is assisting with the probe alongside former members Lauren Robs and Sheri Autrey. Liles is collaborating with the FBI in its investigation. She told Daily Maverick that the abuse exposed globally and in South Africa was 'just the tip of the iceberg'. The Telling The Truth website is a portal into the history of the church, while Expressions by Ex 2x2s offers a community and network for survivors. A hotline for former members in Australia and New Zealand received allegations involving about 130 separate people. In March 2024, Vancouver Island resident Lyndell Montgomery, now 49, spoke out after a minister, Lee-Ann McChesney, had abused her when she was 14. Montgomery was a member of the Two by Twos at the time. McChesney was arrested in January and charged with one count of sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation. McChesney has pleaded not guilty and the trial is ongoing. In November 2024, Raymond Zwiefelhofer, 61, was convicted in the US on 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 120 years in prison. According to Maricopa Deputy County Attorney Catherine Fu, a total of 87 files contained child abuse material known as 'child pornography'. These were a combination of photographs and videos, and all depicted children under the age of 15. Zwiefelhofer maintained his innocence. The tech CEO had been a member of the 2x2s on and off for decades. A BBC investigation in February 2024 outed an ex-minister, Robert Corfield, who admitted when confronted that he had sexually abused a young boy while he lived in Canada in 1980. In August in New Zealand, a Northland man and member of the church was arrested as part of the global investigation. The man, whose identity was not disclosed, faces 17 charges of assault lodged by four victims who had been preyed on by the man between 1960 and 1980. In February this year, the FBI enlisted the New Zealand police to assist with the investigation in that country. This data have been collated by organisations such as Wings for Truth, which focuses on protecting children from Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), and Bridges & Balm, which supports survivors in the 'church'. A total of 107 people have been directly affected by the alleged abuse in the Two by Twos and are associated with 43 alleged perpetrators. A total of 94 victims are reported to be alive. Six have died since they suffered alleged abuse. Five of the victims were identified as having 'worker' status, while 102 had 'friend' or ordinary member status. Inside homes What has facilitated what appears to be widespread and continuing abuse is the church's insistence that members host ­'missionaries' in their private homes. These 'workers' must be of the same sex, unmarried and sworn to an oath of celibacy. Jesus' prescription in the Bible that disciples go out 'two by two' to spread 'the truth' is the inspiration for this configuration. Evidence has emerged of the grooming methods perpetrators had deployed in the homes they were living in. Van Niekerk, who was raised in the sect, said that at least 10 other alleged survivors, men and women, had come forward in South Africa since the Bruer scandal broke. He said the evidence of abuse had troubled him deeply. 'My great-grandparents were the first in our families to join this fellowship. This fellowship is mostly scripture-based and that is why it appealed to so many people, because it is based on scripture, not on ­the dogma of man.' After spending 22 years in the Two by Twos, he could not remain silent about 'this scourge of child sexual abuse and also of adults, and the long-term suffering that these people have to endure'. Liles told Daily Maverick that she had connected with a lawyer who had been working with two survivors in 2022, after Bruer's death. Smith's letter to sect members, in which he acknowledged Bruer as a 'rapist and child abuser', led to a hotline being set up for survivors to come forward, she said. Now, as a private investigator, Liles feeds new information from across the globe to the FBI. She said the worldwide impact 'appeared to be the same all over where the church is'. 'There's just been a ton of abuse by the ministry,' she told Daily Maverick. That these sexual predators lived in people's homes, she added, placed potential young victims in their direct and intimate proximity. Children speaking out risked the wrath of family and church elders. Liles said because the abuse had occurred over such a long period, survivors in some countries had no recourse to the law, 'which makes it difficult in some parts of the world'. Some of the perpetrators identified had already died, as had some of their victims. South Africa, which has 'favourable statutes of limitations', could see the same kind of sensational arrests that had occurred in New Zealand and Canada, said Liles. South African survivor speaks out 'For me, it is about the accountability, which remains with the church. How these people [the perpetrators] are handled helps those of us who have survived to heal,' the abuse survivor in South Africa, whose case was reported to the SAPS, told Daily Maverick. 'Living with the shame and the double shame of the church, and it all being hidden is life-shattering. There have been so many victims and I feel their pain.' The survivor was sexually abused at the age of nine when Worker A was in his mid-twenties and a brother in the sect. The man had 'groomed me over time, calling me his little lamb, his helper, and twirling my hair'. At a church convention in Durban in 1983, Worker A lured the child to the edge of the grounds near a stream, where the alleged sexual assault took place. Afterwards, Worker A had threatened that 'God would punish me if I told anyone'. A day later, he offered the child 'pink musk sweets', which he described as their 'quiet sweets'. When the survivor was 16, they confided in a trusted fellow member of the Two by Twos. 'I fell gravely ill a few months later. To this day I live with multiple autoimmune diseases, which my specialists believe were triggered as the result of immense emotional trauma of the assault. 'On 20 September 2010, I found the courage to confront Worker A via an email,' the survivor said. In response, the survivor alleged Worker A admitted that he had sexually assaulted them as a child. A follow-up telephone conversation after the email prompted a similar admission. The survivor said that when they asked the man how many other children he had molested during his time in the fellowship, his chilling response was: 'What do you consider a child, as they differ so much in maturity?' The assault by Worker A had been reported to other members of the community, including overseers, said the survivor, and it had initially been agreed that he should be removed from 'the work'. 'At the time, I had trusted the workers to deal with this appropriately. However, I endured tremendous pressure from over­seers in South America to allow Worker A to continue to work there and blaming me for any 'souls' that would not be saved should he not be allowed back.' The survivor had initially 'stood down' from laying criminal charges against Worker A and also agreed not to pursue any civil action against those overseers who had been tasked with leading the collective. 'I simply did not have the physical and emotional strength to go ahead with it, but it has since come to my attention that the ­perpetrator has been having meetings in his home. 'A self-acknowledged child predator is allowed to do this,' they explained. The concern is that more children are being placed at risk as long as Worker A continues to act with seeming impunity. 'This is so deep and wide, and there are so many children at risk that the church must take responsibility,' the survivor said. DM Who are the Two by Twos? The Two by Twos is a religious group originating in late 19th-century Ireland, known for its unique evangelistic approach where members, called workers, travel in pairs. The group rejects traditional church structures, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the ordination of ministers, believing themselves to be the sole true church. The sect has a specific structure and hierarchy, although the group itself denies having a central leadership or hierarchy. There are assigned head workers, or overseers, who are responsible for members and regular workers within a region. Breakdown of the structure and hierarchy The Friends: This term refers to all members of the group. It is used to identify fellow members and as a general way of referring to the group. Within the members, there are different levels of commitment marked by practices such as 'Professing' and 'Baptism'.'Professing' involves publicly declaring one's faith and commitment to the group, typically done when a meeting is 'tested'. Members usually 'profess' between the ages of 10 and 12, and must 'profess' to speak and pray during a meeting. 'Professing' members cannot participate in communion until 'baptised'. 'Baptism' is a rite of passage signifying commitment, typically occurring during the teenage years. Baptism is done by full immersion, rejecting sprinkling and infant baptism. Baptised members are considered fully committed and eligible for communion. A term used for former active members is 'Lost-out'. The Elders: These are members responsible for leading a specific church or meeting, typically held in their home on Sundays. Elders uphold the structure of in-home meetings, are responsible for starting and ending the service, are the last to speak and pray, and lead communion. They are expected to be respected and followed. If a worker is present at an in-home meeting, they usually take on most of the elder's responsibilities The Workers: These are members given the responsibility of spreading the group's beliefs through evangelism, travelling from home to home. They are considered equivalent to ministers in other religions. Workers almost always travel in pairs of the same gender… This practice is a core belief, based on Luke 10:1, and is seen as providing support and accountability. Workers are expected to dedicate themselves fully to spreading the message. Workers must adhere to all the rules for regular members but to an even higher extent, dressing more modestly, and prioritising their relationship with God even more. They spend long periods reading the Bible and praying. Workers are expected to have limited possessions, relying on the generosity of others. They typically travel with just one suitcase, although possessions like smartphones, tablets and laptops are now common. They usually do not own vehicles, but are often provided one within a field. Workers rarely have a designated home and are expected to constantly move from home to home, usually staying only a few days in one place. They are rarely given time to see their families. Workers are expected to be celibate and are not allowed to be married, a mandate established by 'overseers'. There is a hierarchy within the group of workers, with brother workers generally considered to be of higher esteem than sister workers. The Overseers: This refers to a leader responsible for all workers and members within a given region, which can be a state or multiple states, or even an entire country in smaller areas. Overseers are always male members and are typically senior workers who have been in the ministry for many years. They oversee the work of others and provide guidance and direction. The Head Overseer: This is a leader responsible for all overseers within a specific area. The only known examples are in the US (eastern US) and potentially Australia. A head overseer is in charge of the overseers in their designated area and also has their own region of responsibility. Structural units for the work also include: Fields: These are subregions within an overseer's larger region. Each field typically has a minimum of 100 members and is generally made up of a city or multiple towns. Two workers are usually assigned to a field to spread the message, organise meetings, provide spiritual guidance and arrange gospel meetings. In the name of God Two things have become apparent while researching this depressing and sadly not-so-shocking Two by Twos church scandal. It is neither the scope or how long it has been allowed to continue and been covered up, nor the lifelong scars this has left on thousands upon thousands of victims and survivors. These are a special class of survivor — those of religious predation and abuse; individuals whose very spiritual core has been shattered and wounded by the entitlements of male church hierarchies claiming a perverse power and hold over the souls of those they 'save' in the name of God. The words we use The first is that the word 'pornography' does not describe the scourge of child torture, sexual assault and rape that takes place. Most often this is filmed and photographed, and distributed among networks. Pornography is for adult consumption. This is something much darker and depraved. We should insist on calling it what it is. Secondly, surely it is time for the recommendations of the 2017 Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission report into the Commercialisation of Religion and Abuse of People's Belief Systems to be acted upon. The commission's recommendations to amend existing legislation to protect congregants and believers, and for religious organisations to register with the government, was resisted by the religious establishment. Eight years later in April this year, the commission announced that a Section 22 Committee led by Prof Musa Xulu will work towards the establishment of a peer review council to protect congregants from harm. There is enough evidence — and it mounts daily — that religion is being weaponised by self-appointed prophets and preachers in positions of 'leadership' to exploit 'followers'. This greed is performed for either financial gain, or political power or perverse sexual enjoyment. Sometimes it's all three. The Two by Twos pustule that burst globally in 2022 is just one scandal among many. From deviants in the Catholic and Anglican Churches, to the Pentecostal pastors who force congregations to eat grass or touch their genitals during a 'service', many have dark secrets to hide. The victims are, in every single instance, women and children, boys and girls, who are rendered powerless by religious dogma and scriptures set in stone. In the eyes of these 'holy men', those in the flock lower down in the hierarchy are biblically sanctioned possessions. Apart from registering as tax-free institutions, a matter of debate when it comes to mega-millions mega-churches selling tax-free holy water and underpants, what other controls exist? What prevents anyone from declaring they are their own Personal Jesus? As did the notorious South African paedophile Gert van Rooyen (alongside his partner Joey Haaroff), who is believed to have kidnapped and murdered six young girls in South Africa between 1988 and 1989, before shooting Joey and himself as the police closed in on him. Pieter van Zyl details in his book Gert and Joey, how Van Rooyen converted to Christianity while in jail for the rape of two 12-year-old girls and, upon his release, established a congregation that he led. Van Rooyen operated in the apartheid era, but people like him thrive under the cloak of religious protection today because we live in a secular society where freedom of religion is guaranteed and a constitutional right. Surely then the Constitution should protect citizens from horrific and criminal exploitation when it occurs in this realm? 'Established' religious institutions in South Africa are allowed a high degree of autonomy and are not subject to government control. That is democracy. As Public Benefit Organisations, there is no need for religious organisations to pay tax, and that is it. What then to do with the criminals who hide behind the Bible and religious garb? What checks and balances exist to stop such horrific accounts of abuse, over years and generations, leaving broken lives? Leon van Niekerk, the Two by Twos member who reported abuse to the South African Police Service, shows us how we can use the Constitution to put the fear of the law into abusers of all shapes and sizes.

The Star

5 hours ago

• The Star

Confronting racism in our schools

The latest incident of alleged racism at Bryandale Primary School in Bryanston is yet another painful reminder that South African schools still have a long way to go before genuine transformation and inclusion are achieved. It is alleged that an Indian learner told two Black students, 'You stupid Black people are so predictable.' Such language is deeply offensive, dehumanising, and has no place in any learning environment. This incident must be treated with the seriousness it demands, not as a 'playground misunderstanding,' but as a reflection of wider issues of racism and marginalisation that persist in our schools. While many public and private schools proudly promote values of diversity and transformation in their mission statements, these values must go beyond lip service. Transformation is not a passive hope; it requires active, ongoing engagement and institutional introspection. Schools play a critical role in redressing the deep inequalities and marginalisation embedded in our society. They must be proactive in creating safe and affirming environments for all children, not only through symbolic gestures but through deliberate action, anti-racism training, and clear accountability mechanisms. The incident at Bryandale is not isolated. Just two days ago, a Grade 8 learner at De La Salle Holy Cross College was reportedly told, 'You don't belong… go home, you (K-word).' In 2024, Pretoria High School for Girls made headlines after racist WhatsApp messages targeted Black pupils. That same year, Jeppe High School for Girls in Johannesburg came under fire when Black pupils were removed from class for wearing coloured braids, while white pupils with dyed hair faced no repercussions. These are not isolated "bad apples." They reflect systemic failures that schools must urgently address. We call on school governing bodies, education departments, and communities to treat these incidents with the seriousness they deserve. Silence or delay enables racism to fester. We must demand not only awareness but transformation that is measurable, monitored, and real. Because if our schools can't be safe and just spaces for our children, we cannot expect our society to be either. Matthew Cook, GOOD National Chairperson and City of Johannesburg Councillor