Congolese sisters tackle stereotypes in award-winning Joburg short film

"Foreigners are job thieves who are only good enough for cheap labour." "Nigerian men are drug lords and pimps." "Congolese men are good car guards‚ but their women are dirty‚ uneducated and breed a lot of children."

These are some of the stereotypes that inspired two Congolese sisters who grew up in South Africa to record a short film aimed at setting the record straight. The clip‚ titled Singabantu – We Are Human‚ has since won the international ‘I Am Migrant’ award.

One of the sisters‚ Sophie Kanza‚ said the push to produce the 90-second clip came after Rosettenville community members went on the rampage in February‚ burning the houses and belongings of foreign nationals.

“We had stayed two houses away from the house (which was first set alight) in Rosettenville‚ but had recently moved because of all the drugs and prostitution – but we still lived close to there‚” said Kanza‚ recalling the day the unrest started.

“Messages started flying around telling foreigners to stay indoors. It was petrifying. I did not know whether to go home from work. These things happen‚ but you never think they will happen where you come from. [My sister and I] did not switch on the lights that night. We sat in the dark‚” she said.

She and her sister‚ Louise‚ feared the mob may come for them – as they had heard that the community was going from door to door searching for foreigners.

“I get goose bumps thinking about it‚” Kanza told TimesLIVE.

She said while it was known that some foreign nationals were up to no good in the country‚ not all of them were like this.

“I think the community [which is engaged in crime] is painting all foreigners with the same brush. We are all painted as drug dealers and pimps and unfortunately‚ we cannot be removed from the situation‚ because people don't know how to differentiate between us‚” she added.

In the film‚ they profiled foreign men and women‚ who spoke of the painful stereotypes associated with their nations.

WATCH THE CLIP HERE