What happens when a community goes without basic services for 25 years? What happens when that community decides to speak for itself?

‘Everyone Lies to Popo Molefe’ documents the struggles of the Popo Molefe Informal Settlement -- a community abandoned by politicians -- as they organise to ensure that their security and basic needs are delivered by the municipality.

What is ironic is that the community took the decision to name themselves after a man they trusted to deliver on his promises - former North West Province Premier Popo Molefe. It is a story about service delivery, people-power and the fight for dignity in South Africa.

The community of the Popo Molefe Informal Settlement, located near the affluent mining city of Rustenburg in the North West province, have found themselves without infrastructure, or even basic service delivery, since the fall of apartheid. This failure of delivery came to a head in February 2018 when community members marched towards the municipality, only to be met with violence from the police and arrests for 20 of their members. Worse, the 1200 residents have not only struggled with basic infrastructure like roads and electricity, but also access to basic services including water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

The documentary focuses on the specific case of the community while using it to showcase the national challenges facing the judicial enforcement of socio-economic rights in South Africa. The project objective was to produce a documentary film highlighting a particular case study demonstrating challenges with respect to access to justice, legal protection and judicial enforcement of socio-economic rights for the poor and marginalised in South Africa.

Right next door to the informal settlement is a platinum mine that generates billions of rands from its operations. Yet there is virtually no benefit for the impoverished community. When 300 community members finally decided to march to deliver a memorandum to the mayor of Rustenburg Mpho Khunou, the peaceful protestors were met with rubber bullets and tear gas when police unceremoniously opened fire on them. Some community members suffered serious gunshot injuries and some were arrested for public violence and later acquitted in the Rustenburg Magistrates Court.

The documentary is a frayintermedia production in partnership with Lawyers for Human Rights and supported by the European Union.

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