Premier

Isitha Sabantu is set in the tranquil village of Hlanzeka, where the bonds that knit this community quickly begin to fray when residents discover that their lives and homes lie directly in the path of a planned new coal mine. With courage and relentless faith, an environmental defender known as Mam Nomsa (portrayed by Mpume Mthombeni) leads the charge against the land-hungry mine and fosters a fragile resistance to defend her home, history and ancestors.

Churches, school halls, fields and kitchens become her battle grounds while bees, birds, Elephants and a faithful dog guide her way as she tries to unite her people against the destruction masked as progress that wears an all too familiar face. Worn down by the might of the system, soon the growl of machines reverberates across the same valley, poisoning the hearts and minds of the people of Hlanzeka along with their water and land. Her community, too, rejects her defence of their land, seeing her instead as standing in their way to prosperity.

Throughout the play, Nomsa must confront corrupt traditional leaders, mounting threats to her family’s safety, and the bitter irony of being declared an enemy of the very people whose lives and land she is fighting to preserve.

Nomsa’s struggle is mirrored is mirrorer throughout the narrative by an elephant matriarch named Ndlovukazi attempting to protect her herd from the violence of colonial land enclosures. Through this dual storyline, the play explores, among other themes, the lived reality of environmental defenders in South Africa, the haunting legacies of apartheid land dispossession, the ethical responsibilities of leadership and community, the agency and wisdom of the more-than-human world, and how local land-based heritages, cosmologies and traditions offer us more than we realise in responding to the climate crisis.

Both Nomsa and Ndlovukazi’s intersecting journeys pose urgent questions about who decides what progress looks like. What is the cost of development when the dead are displaced along with the living? And who becomes the ‘enemy’ when truth threatens power?”

Isitha Sabantu  |  Market Theatre, March 2026

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Written by Neil Coppen, Tony Miyambo, Mpume Mthombeni & Dylan McGarry;  in collaboration with Sifiso Dladla, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Billy Edward, Craig Leo, Dina Lupin and members of The Mbazwana Arts Centre;  and with research support from Sifiso Dladla, Dumsani Ngubane & Dina Lupin.

Direction and Dramaturgy by Neil Coppen

Assistant direction by Tony Miyambo

Musical Director, Composer & Choreographer Nhlanhla Mahlangu                     

Set, Puppet & Costume Design Dylan McGarry and Craig Leo

Puppet Direction Craig Leo

Lighting Design  Tina le Roux

Sound Design Tristan Horton

Score Guy Buttery

Production & Company manager Hayleigh Evans

Stage Manager Ali Madiga

Assistant Stage Manager Deane Bloem

Lighting operator Ali Madiga

Additional costuming Noluthando ‘TEXTURE’ Lobese

Volunteer production assistants Te Cresswell, Welcome Khobo, Samukelisiwe Khuzwayo, Langalibalele Mathuthu,  Sanelisiwe Nene, Nomfundo Nkosi, FV Nyoni, Thato Radebe, Kutlwano Semela & Muzi Trust.

Puppets designed and produced by Ukwanda Puppet Designers, Makers and Puppeteers: Siphokazi Mpofu, Sipho Ngxola and Luyando Nogodwana.

Producer Marí Stimie

CAST

Mpume Mthombeni Nomsa Ndlovu

Minenhle Sikhosana Thembisile Ndlovu

Billy Langa Mvelo, and Goat

Tony Miyambo Mpendulo 

Sabelo Sekgoto Chorus and Vumani

Zesuliwe Hadebe Chorus and Ma Ngcobo

Nokubonga Zikhali Chorus and Nomthi

Wandile Nodliwa Chorus, Mfundisi Zondo and Goat

Siphelele Thungo Chorus, Banonya and Phumlani

Siboniso Mbhele Chorus, Banonya and Sphe

Thulani Zwane Chorus and Khulekani

Siphiwe Nkabinde Chorus, Dr Mbatha and Goat

Syabonga Majozi Chorus, Banonya and Maskandi guitarist

 Acknowledgements

This play would not have been possible without the loving support and insight of Mam Fikile’s family and in particular the blessing of her daughter, Malungelo. We are indebted to the Ntshangase family and friends who made this project possible. Also the incredible activism and courage of Sifiso Dladla, who as an activist has supported and continues to support Environmental Defenders in South Africa in extraordinary ways. We are also deeply grateful to everyone at Groundwork, who have supported this project. Empatheatre would not exist if it wasn’t for the kind and ongoing wisdom and guidance of Dr. Kira Erwin and Prof Heila Lotz-Sisitka. We are also so grateful to Prof Elisa Morgera, for her commitment and support in ensuring these stories enter into policy spaces. We are indebted to Ibsen Scope and their Jury, especially the incredible warmth and kindness of Hilde Guri Bohlin. We are indebted to the Home in Crises research network for staying with us through the process as critical friends and thinkers, and finally we have been so grateful to eARTh Agency – Shani van Straaten, Bryan Little and Ana-Filipa Domingues – who have helped document and archive our journey together in film, photograph and sound.