Meleko Mokgosi - Spaces of Subjection: Appellations by Stevenson

Depictions of the San people in the film

The Gods Must Be Crazy and its Aftermath

Meleko Mokgosi is an artist from Botswana, Africa, now based in the United States. Around 1985, while growing up in Botswana, Mokgosi recalls watching the film The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), which had a profound impact on him. For more than ten years, Mokgosi considered using the film in his art, as a prism through which to examine the relationship between the San people and other populations in Southern Africa. In this installation, Mokgosi created a series of paintings based on The Gods Must Be Crazy to explore the complexity of the concept of indigeneity and the politics of representation, and how these affect governance, land rights, land use, cultural practices, and knowledge production, and how othered people such as the Bushmen navigate the entertainment and tourism industries. The issues explored in this installation contribute to broader conversations around how indigeneity is represented, using The Gods Must Be Crazy as a case study.

This third edition is printed on the occasion of Meleko Mokgosi’s solo exhibition Appellations, presented at Stevenson, Cape Town, 28 June –16 August 2025. A second edition accompanies the exhibition The Future is Present, The Harbinger is Home: Selections from Prospect.6, at MCA Denver, 23 May – 24 August 2025.

Who Are the Bushmen?

The peoples now known as Bushmen, San, and Basarwa etc., are the original Indigenous peoples of Southern Africa, having inhabited places known today as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Angola for up to 140,000 years. Historically, the Bushmen were hunter-gatherers, living in small family bands, traversing within their territories as resources dictated; they were organizationally egalitarian, although men tended to hunt while women focused on gathering (Crowe 2016; Mhiripiri, Tomaselli and Grant 2024).

Around 2,000 years ago, the Khoe (or Khoi) peoples, predominantly herders, migrated from the north into San-occupied territories. Today, Khoe peoples and their descendants can be found predominantly in Namibia and in northern and western South Africa. Despite the two groupings initially having contrasting subsistence strategies, they have close evolutionary ties and today demonstrate cultural commonalities, often struggling against similar challenges

(Mhiripiri, Tomaselli and Grant 2024). It is not uncommon for Khoe and San peoples to be grouped together for the purpose of discussion, and together they are often termed Khoisan, KhoiSan, Khoesan, or KhoeSan.

The Bantu-speaking peoples arrived around 1,700 years ago, encroaching onto San land. Like the Khoe, they came from the north and spread south, claiming and occupying land as far as today’s central and eastern South Africa (Crowe 2016; see Grant 2011). Following these two migrations, especially the latter, many San found themselves living on the periphery of a new and strange society. In 1652 European colonists from the Netherlands arrived to settle Southern Africa. Bushman land was further appropriated and wildlife, too, was decimated, meaning many Bushmen (and Khoe) were without land or food. Genocide followed as colonists sought expansion and control. San men were slaughtered while women and children were enslaved. When the British pushed out the Dutch, ethnocide ensued as the missionaries sought to “civilize” and “educate” the Indigenous peoples. Attempts at cultural erasure and identity reconfiguration took place in South Africa by reclassifying the San and Khoe peoples as Coloureds, a term that persists today. Essentially, the Bushmen and Khoe were pushed to the most marginal of lands, and their subsistence, cultural, and societal norms were suppressed (Grant 2011). They became, and continue to be, minorities in their own countries—marginalized, ignored, and at times exploited by the dominant peoples.

The

Naming Conundrum

Each group of San has its own name, such as ‡Khomani, !xun, or Khwe etc. As the groups are culturally similar, collective terms, including San and Bushmen, have been introduced, but these are contested, meaning that their use here needs some explanation. The terms San and Bushmen both carry connotations of low status (Gordon and

Douglas 2000). San derives from Nama, a Khoe language, meaning “forager,” however, it can also be interpreted as “vagabond” or “rascal” (Barnard 2019). In South Africa and Namibia, NGOs and politicians often advocate for this term as the correct one, and it is popular within some academic disciplines, such as archaeology and development studies. This is despite the fact that many, perhaps in an attempt to reinvigorate the term by instilling it with new meaning, prefer to be called Bushmen (Gordon and Douglas 2000; Barnard 2019; Grant 2011). In 2007 the now ‡Khomani traditional leader, Petrus Vaalbooi, stated, “[t]he thing is that the government gave the San name to [our] people, but we are not San, we are Bushmen” (quoted in Grant 2011, 23).

In Botswana, Bushmen are collectively labelled as Basarwa, a Bantu (Tswana) term for “those who do not rear cattle.” In Angola, the term Mucancalas, or Bosquímanos, is used, which is a Portuguese adaptation from the Dutch word for Bushmen (Mhiripiri, Tomaselli and Grant 2024). In this text, individual clan names are used where appropriate, otherwise, San and Bushmen are used interchangeably.

Gods Must Be Crazy

In October 1980, The Gods Must Be Crazy was released in its home country of South Africa, where it almost instantly became the highest grossing film to date. By 1981, it was the number one movie in Japan, and by 1984, it was the highest grossing foreign movie in the USA (Kois 2014, Tomaselli 2006). It was written, directed and edited by South African filmmaker Jamie Uys, and filmed in Botswana and Namibia, which was under South African administration at the time. The film attracted South African funding, although the marketing focused on the Namibian and Botswanan aspects of production in an attempt to distance the film from South Africa’s racist apartheid government, for fear of repercussion (Tomaselli 2006). There were,

however, still some instances of anti-apartheid demonstrations at screenings (Kois 2024).

In The Gods Must Be Crazy, the Bushmen are depicted as living happily in harmony with each other and nature. Disruption and discord ensue when a Coke bottle falls from the sky, a gift from the Gods; there is only one bottle, but various individuals want it. The main protagonist Xi (played by Ju/’Hoansi San actor N!xau) decides that, in order to restore peace and harmony, the bottle must be returned to the Gods. So he takes the bottle and embarks on a walk to the end of the Earth from where he will throw the bottle. His adventures along the way are the subject of the film. He encounters a male White field biologist who lacks finesse when interacting with the opposite sex—specifically, a White school teacher in a rural area, who is there to escape the rat-race of the city. There is also a sub-plot relating to moronic Black terrorists (or freedom fighters, depending on your inclination) intent on overthrowing their government. They manage to take the teacher and school children hostage; however, Xi is able to rescue them by shooting the terrorists with his bow and arrows (to which the biologist has applied an animal tranquilizer) (Tomaselli 2006, 176; Kois 2024).

Despite its success, The Gods Must Be Crazy has attracted much criticism over the years, mainly for its depictions of the different racial groups, which can be read as a reflection and perpetuation of racist apartheid ideology. Tomaselli (2006, 176) cites such critiques:

Xi is inscribed with a consciousness different from, and naturally subordinate to, the white characters. Xi understands neither whites nor the nature of the threats impinging upon him. This white pre-eminence is reinforced by the ease with which the black guerrillas are disempowered by white ‘‘magic’’ painted by the biologist onto the tips of Xi’s arrows… In reading bigotry into the

film, Xi’s innocence encodes an even deeper racism, as this condition renders him incapable of maturing into a state of sophisticated intelligence.

Kois (2024) agrees. Having recently revisited the film, he argues that it conveys particularly distasteful messages; the Black freedom fighters/terrorists are portrayed as incompetent while the Bushmen are ignorant of civilization. The message is that both Bushmen and Black Africans are incapable of managing modernity, reminiscent of apartheid government rhetoric used to justify the favorable treatment of White people in contrast with the inhumane treatment of the other races.

Within the film, however, the Bushmen are represented as being in tune with, and having superior knowledge of nature. For example, Xi is able to imitate an ostrich in his endeavor to successfully rescue the hostages, and is also seen talking to a baboon. While some critiques suggest that this is representative of Uys likening the San to animals or suggesting them to be sub-human, others think this to be “stretching the point” (see Tomaselli 2006). Tomaselli cites one respondent he interviewed: ‘‘[y]ou whites, I see you talking all the time to your dogs. Does that reduce you to the level of your dog?” Tomaselli argued that the interaction merely showed that the Bushmen had a ‘‘greater understanding of wildlife’’ (Tomaselli 2006, 177). Throughout the film the Bushmen are portrayed as having a respectful relationship with their environment, one in which they are able to survive where others cannot, with a realization of their interdependence on wildlife (Tomaselli 2006, 178, 181). In this sense, the Bushmen are represented as having a better knowledge than the other races. These alternative readings highlight how different people may decode or read the same scene.

Whichever way you read it, the film distracted from what was happening politically in South Africa and Namibia at the

9 MOKGOSI SPACES OF SUBJECTION: APPELLATIONS

time (Rijsdijk cited in Kios 2024, Tomaselli 2006). KhoeSan activist, Zenzile Khoisan argued that “Uys was on that regime’s payroll” and that the film “was sponsored by a racist regime which wanted to depict a certain image of South Africa,” one in which the Bushmen were “simple people” (Khoisan cited in Tomaselli 2006, 180-181).

Other people found the film inspiring, because it featured Black, White, and Bushmen people. At that time, it was unusual for South African films to have diverse casts; Uys claimed his film was colorblind, as all peoples were comically represented. While that may be true, South African film critic Stephen Aspeling (cited in Kois 2024) highlights that there are concerning differences in representation. The White characters exist in a place of power, they choose to be in the bush, managing the environment and helping the people, while the Black/Bushmen characters lack power—they are there because they belong there, and are only ever seen as assistants to the superior Whites or as moronic terrorists (freedom fighters). Tomaselli (2006, 174) also notes that we should “be sensitive to paternalistic discourses and the negative way they reinforce myths about people and groups, particularly one as embattled as the San.”

Initially, the film was popular with South Africa’s White audiences, perhaps because it is an English/Afrikaans production and/or because the message was appealing. Later, it did gain traction with Black audiences (Kois 2024). It is certainly very much enjoyed by the Afrikaans-speaking ‡Khomani San community, who, in my experience, usually jump at the chance to watch the film. Perhaps they enjoy seeing people on-screen who they can identify with, something they do not see often. Uys also reported that Kalahari Bushmen audiences found the film highly entertaining (Tomaselli 2006).

Although Uys’s political sensibilities seem to have coincided with those of the apartheid regime, he denied any intention to disseminate a particular message and claimed surprise at the perceived messages. Either way, the messages exist whether Uys

acknowledged them as intentional or not; perhaps his political stance and lived experiences of apartheid rendered him incapable of seeing them (Tomaselli 2006, 194).

The film is more that forty years old, and perhaps simply a product of its time (Kois 2024). While it remains highly entertaining, it is also problematic and even embarrassing all at once, resulting in conflicting emotions that can be challenging to manage (Paleker cited in Kois 2024). Kois (2024) has argued that it is “fundamentally racist” due to misrepresentation and that it does the Bushmen more harm than good, particularly because the misrepresentations persist, with some audience members continuing to perceive them to be true and current. As such, the San—their skills, abilities, and knowledge—are rendered as frozen in time. Zenzile Khoisan is concerned about what he perceives as negative representations of Blacks and Bushmen by Westerners, arguing that “people have a right to decide how we are represented’’ (Tomaselli 2006, 182).

Despite all the controversy, the film was followed by a number of sequels: The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989), directed by Uys, who unfortunately suffered a fatal heart attack in 1996, and then a series of sequels by other directors, including Crazy Safari (The Gods Must Be Crazy III, 1991), Crazy Hong Kong (The Gods Must Be Crazy IV, 1993) and The Gods Must Be Funny in China (The Gods Must Be Crazy V, 1996), all of which starred N!xau.

Rugby World Cup

Advert

The Gods Must Be Crazy inspired more than the film sequels. In 2007, the South African company Vodacom released a television commercial celebrating and supporting the South African rugby team, the Springboks, in their endeavor to win the World Cup.1 Members of the Springboks are seen flying in a plane when their rugby ball falls out the window. It lands on the head of a Kalahari Bushman, who throws away his ostrich-egg water carrier to make room in his

Spaces of Subjection: Appellations

(Addendum I), 2024 (detail)

Oil on canvas

244 × 183cm | 96 × 72 in. Image courtesy of the artist. MOKGOSI SPACES OF SUBJECTION: APPELLATIONS

bag for the ball, before proceeding with his friend to the village where a game of rugby ensues.

The advertisement only aired on a specific weekend during the build-up to the World Cup. Like The Gods Must Be Crazy, the advert was popular within South Africa, where it was shown. It did attract criticism, however, and following consultation with some KhoeSan leaders, Richard Huber of the African Renaissance Civic Movement (ARCM) lodged complaints with Vodacom, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the Advertising Standards Authority, and the South African Human Rights Commission, stating that “[i]t degrades our Khoisan as illiterate, throwing away their own natural food and resources [the ostrich egg] in exchange for a rugby ball” (IOL 2007; Macleod 2007). Huber did not consult the ‡Khomani San actors who featured in the advertisement, although he did comment that they may have been exploited. A case was also initiated against the responsible advertising company, but the South African Equality Court dismissed the complaint, stating that “[t]he depiction of the advert does not necessarily signify that a specific person is stupid,” and that “[p]ortraying people in their natural way of living does not amount to discrimination” (IOL 2007).

The advert was filmed in the Northern Cape of South Africa within the ‡Khomani San community, starring some of the more traditional ‡Khomani Bushmen, namely the extended Kruiper clan, who dressed in traditional attire. These individuals do not dress traditionally in their day-to-day lives; however, they do regularly dress like this while working at craft stalls, or when guiding or dancing for tourists. The Kruipers are proud of their heritage, their traditional clothes, and of the advert, often boasting to tourists and taking them to the film site; in my experience they always enjoy the opportunity to watch the advert.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fLcMFGnyuw (accessed 14 August 2024). 1— 14 BUSHMEN REPRESENTATIONS

In regard to the complaints, ‡Khomani community member Andries Steenkamp, Chairman of the South African San Council, said, “[w]e were consulted and we agreed. The whole thing’s been pulled out of context. We don’t want and we don’t need people to speak on our behalf to tell others what we think or would like, we’re perfectly capable of doing it for ourselves” (quoted in Macleod 2007).

Nando’s

Diversity Advert

In 2012, a South African food chain named Nando’s released an advert 2; although not based on The Gods Must Be Crazy, it again featured a traditionally dressed Bushman. The advert starts with a voiceover: “[y]ou know what’s wrong with South Africa… all you foreigners… you must all go back to where you came from.” People carrying luggage are seen illegally crossing a border, each disappearing into a puff of smoke. It continues: “[y]ou Cameroonians, Congolese, Pakistanis, Somalis, Ghanaians and of course Nigerians. And you Europeans. Let’s not forget all you Indians and Chinese….” and so it goes on, accompanied by images of all the named foreigners disappearing. Everyone vanishes until only a traditionally dressed Bushman is left, carrying only his hunting equipment, reminiscent of N!xau in The Gods Must Be Crazy. He speaks to the camera in a San language while subtitles translate: “I’m not going anywhere. You *$&!#* found us here,” before he runs off into the desert with the voiceover saying, “Real South Africans love diversity.”

In a statement, Nando’s explained that the advert aimed to encourage South Africans to “embrace the diverse inhabitants of our land” (Holgate 2012 quoted in Mboti 2013), however, the advert was removed from air by the SABC and other South African broadcasters. SABC was concerned that audiences would misinterpret the message and feared it “would incite attacks on

2—

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBIDkW2_FnQ (accessed 31 August 2024).

Spaces of Subjection: Appellations

(Addendum III), 2024 (detail)

Oil on canvas

Panel 1: 386 × 274cm | 152 × 108 in.,

Panel 2: 183 × 183cm | 72 × 72 in.

Image courtesy of the artist.

17 MOKGOSI SPACES OF SUBJECTION: APPELLATIONS

foreigners” (Mail & Guardian 2012).

Among the ‡Khomani San, the Nando’s diversity advert was received favorably, although limitations related to outdated Bushmen representations were identified. ‡Khomani community member, Endrina Visser, perceived positively that the advert would enable viewers to learn about Bushmen culture (cited in Beharie 2012, 20). Nervon (Milton) Jacobs and Hendrik Vaalbooi, also community members, similarly identified positives, but had some concerns too. Jacobs said that “[s]eeing the bushman in his traditional wear makes me proud to be a bushman but the advert does not truly show how we live now… today, we are changed and not timeless…” (quoted in Beharie 2012, 19). Similarly, Vaalbooi said that “[t]he traditional clothes illustrate a link to other people about our ancestors and where we come from… we lived like this in the past but we are more modernized now” (quoted in Beharie 2012, 19). ‡Khomani San tourism entrepreneur Dirk Pienaar, however, was more negative. He noted: “depicting the Bushmen as ‘timeless’ and still the same regarding their clothes without showing their modernized lifestyle today, is a step backward.” He continues,

Such an image shows the Bushman as segregated and not part of South Africa… we seem to be excluded and depicted as never changing… standing still, like there has been no growth or movement, when in fact we are more modernized now than people could imagine… (quoted in Beharie 2012, 21-22).

These comments are not unlike those elicited from N!xau in relation to The Gods Must Be Crazy. When discussing the film in the documentary Journey to Nyae Nyae (2004), he stated, “[t]hey said it would be good for me, so I did what they asked me to do… It is better to show the way we really live” (quoted in Kois 2024). Similarly, when

interviewed by Tomaselli, N!xau said, “[t]he image of the Bushmen given by the Gods films is not really good because it does not show how people are really living. It only shows the past. People should not see this as what is happening now.” He further elaborated, however, that, “I find it difficult to believe that people don’t realize it is just acting’’ (quoted in Tomaselli 2006, 184).

Representation: Does it Matter? Audiences do not passively receive messages; they actively make meaning from what is presented to them based on their existing knowledge and experiences. N!xau’s bewilderment that audiences would perceive the representations in The Gods Must Be Crazy to be true of contemporary San life is valid, however, for audiences without prior knowledge or experience of the San, these may be reasonable assumptions. Accordingly, representations provided in The Gods Must Be Crazy, the Rugby World Cup and the Nando’s diversity advert are all capable of encouraging misrepresentations that render the Bushmen as people frozen in time.

Much discussion on the representation of San peoples omits the opinions of the Bushmen themselves (Tomaselli 2006). Many San enjoy seeing their people represented traditionally and even perpetuate this perception by dressing traditionally for tourism purposes. Some Bushmen are clear that they only dress as such for tourists, while others imply that they dress this way in the day to day, living as in the past. Tourists expect Bushmen to be as they appear in The Gods Must Be Crazy, the World Cup and Nando’s commercials— and since a number of San people do appear as such, so the tourists’ perception persists.

Among the San there is an awareness of the value of more contemporary portrayals. Being perceived as pre-modern assumes that someone cannot function in the modern world; at times this results in paternalism and exclusion from decision-making

processes and positions of power. Essentially, the San should be able to represent themselves in whatever manner they wish; this will vary across and within different Bushmen groups over time. An improved understanding can also be cultivated to appreciate that those represented as pre-modern in dress, need not be perceived as such in terms of their personhood.

On pages 6 and 9 –Spaces of Subjection: Appellations, 2024 (detail) Inkjet and permanent marker on linen

50 panels, 127 × 91.5cm | 50 × 36 in. (each)

Image courtesy of the artist.

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Dr. Julie Grant Essay

Miranda Lash and Ebony G. Patterson Co-Artistic Directors, P.6

Ana Clara Silva Editor

Erik Kiesewetter / constance Design

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