EGOLI – The City of Gold
Egoli is the Zulu name for Johannesburg, the city where all the gold mines are. Johannesburg is aslo known as Jozi, Joburg, Joni or Joeys, abbreviated as JHB – EGOLI is
In the Johannesburg scene in AFRICA UMOJA – a ‘New Boy’ arrives to the big city. Coming from a village, eGoli, the city of gold – has him in awe. To travel in and around the cities the black South African people had to carry a pass book – referred to as a ‘dompas’. It was the law, and it was the law that stipulated where, when, and for how long a person could remain in the area. Failure to produce a pass often resulted in the person being arrested. It was only in the year 1986 when the law to carry passbooks was lifted.
In this scene the police arrive and ask the man for his passbook. A make-shift book is produced, and of course is not valid and the man is taken to jail. These passbooks were opposed by many and the crowd start to complain but the fear of the law ends up over powering them, and they cannot do anything but stand aside and watch.
Africa Umoja Pass Book scene explained
