The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay “A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!” Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker

Oct 2013 back issue

MY DEAD ZONE PORTFOLIO

Marinovich won a Pulitzer Prize for one of his images taken during the ‘Hostel War’ in Thokoza, a township 16km southeast of Johannesburg that was the scene of some of the worst violence during the period of transition from apartheid to universal suffrage; when the right to vote was extended to all South Africans regardless of race (1990 - 1994). Marinovich co-wrote the highly acclaimed book The Bang Bang Club with fellow photographer, João Silva, which documents their involvement as photojournalists working in South Africa at this time. The book was made into a magnificent feature film which was released in 2011. Wikipedia Marinovich’s Dead Zone Portfolio is available in a limited edition of five boxed sets of 41 annotated images from the Hostel War of the 1990s. Please contact greg@storytaxi.com

Somersault Soweto, 1993 African National Congress and Communist Party supporters scatter as police fire teargas and live rounds outside the Soweto soccer stadium where the funeral of ANC and CP leader Chris Hani was attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners on 19 April.

Fence Thokoza, 1995/6 A young ANC Self Defence Unit member cautiously looks across no-man’s-land towards Inkatha Freedom Party members on a winter’s morning. The war in Thokoza claimed many, many lives of both combatants and innocents. Thokoza is a forgotten battlefield from a forgotten conflict that probably meant nothing in the greater political picture.

Smoking Hat Thokoza, 1996 African National Congress supporting activists stand above a cap, still smoking from a point-blank range gunshot of a fellow Self Defence Unit comrade killed by Inkatha Freedom Party members while watching the FIFA football World Cup played in Atlanta, USA. Four were killed and two survived. One young fighter – Small Jack – was badly wounded but recovered, and the other – Koto Koto (from the sound of an automatic rifle) – hid in his comrade’s gore and pretended to be dead. Koto Koto, one of the youngest combatants, starting when he was 14, is now in jail for assault and rape, which his former comrades say is a miscarriage of justice.

Shooting Boipatong, 1992 South African President and National Party leader, FW de Klerk, tried to visit the scene of the Boipatong massacre four days after it occurred. People greeted him with signs accusing him of being a killer. De Klerk smiled and waved from behind bullet-proofed glass. Despite a massive police presence, the enraged residents cursed and stoned his limousine. After he left, police shot and killed a man during a confrontation I did not witness. By the time I got to the open field, a crowd gathered wanting to identify the body but a ring of riot unit policemen refused to allow them near the body. The angriest and bravest among the residents stood face to face with the heavily armed white policemen, screaming insults and spitting at them. Then the inevitable happened – the cops opened fire at point-blank range. I had stupidly been on the wrong side but I somehow managed to get behind the police line and photographed them firing at the fleeing people. Several people were killed and many were injured.

Homeland #1 Bisho, 1992 African National Congress supporters flee back towards the South African side of the border with Ciskei after 29 marchers were killed and dozens more wounded by Ciskeien soldiers. The ANC supporters, led by ANC and Communist Party leaders like Ronnie Kasrils, broke through razor-wire barricades erected at the border between South Africa and Ciskei. It was a reckless attempt to force the Ciskeien military leader, Brigadier Oupa Gqozo, to allow free political activity in the Bantustan. Kasrils led the crowd through the barricades and they were met by a hail of bullets.

Shoes #1 Johannesburg, 1994 Soldiers look to the roofs after a Zulu supporter of the Inkatha Freedom Party was shot dead by gunmen at the Library Gardens. Several people were shot from the rooftops by unidentified snipers who may have been policemen. The man’s shoes were taken off to allow his soul to enter the afterlife unpolluted by dirt. Several blocks further east, Inkatha Freedom Party supporters tried to storm the ANC’s headquarters at Shell House. Several of the attackers were killed by ANC security guards armed with automatic weapons – this became known as the Shell House Massacre.

The Return #1 Sonkombo, 1994 A family carries home their belongings after months spent in a tented refugee camp for African National Congress supporting families from the Sonkombo area from which they had fled months earlier because of attacks by rival Inkatha Freedom Party supporters.

Soccer Grave Ratanda, 1993 A football team buries their team-mate who was killed in crossfire between ANC and IFP fighters while playing soccer in Heidelberg’s Ratanda Township. The political rivalry in Ratanda combined with politically aligned unions vying for jobs in local meat-processing factories resulted in several people being killed in confrontations.

The Riot Policeman Bekkersdal, 1994 Riot Police help a colleague injured by a grenade during clashes between security forces, ANC and AZAPO supporters in the far West Rand township of Bekkersdal in February of 1994, two months before the first democratic elections.

Sunday Machadodorp, 1992 A policeman and his friend try to arrest a man who was walking drunk along the main road in this small escarpment town.

Madiba #2 Richmond, 1999 President Nelson Mandela goes to strife-torn Richmond in an attempt to quell deadly fighting between supporters of his African National Congress and the United Democratic Movement in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands. Mandela angry, as he was on that day, was a far cry from the genial bonhomie that he usually displayed. He was not a man to trifle with. This image was from cross- processed slide film as I had to unexpectedly file images the night I returned from Richmond.

Warrior, Umlazi KwaZulu-Natal, 1995 An Inkatha Freedom Party supporter runs back from the dividing line between political factions after emptying his AK-47 ammunition clip towards the homes of African National Congress supporters in Umlazi Township. Eight thousand IFP fighters received training in the Caprivi Strip from elements of the South African police and military. There are still arms caches buried across KwaZulu-Natal that have not yet been unearthed despite a massive one discovered and destroyed in 1999.

Scar Shobashobane, 1996 A young African National Congress supporter, who was shot through the face during the Christmas Day massacre in 1995, returns to his home which was torched when some 600 men attacked the area, killing 18 people and wounding many more. A lot of the bodies were mutilated for imuthi – traditional medicine, often inthelezi. Survivors said police raided the area the day before to search for weapons. Despite being repeatedly warned of an impending attack, the police were absent. This was a clear-cut case of the security forces assisting the IFP in their battle with the ANC.

Skin KwaZulu-Natal, 1994/5 Inkatha Freedom Party supporting amabutho, or warriors, on their way to a rally on a misty morning. At times like these the very contemporary conflict seemed to have pulled one into a time warp, to a time before, back in time.

Cover KwaMashu, 1994 An African National Congress supporter takes cover behind a mud house during clashes with Inkatha Freedom Party supporters across the valley in Richmond Farm, north of Durban. Local warlords held sway over vast parts of KwaZulu-Natal during the years of conflict. Their power often came initially from controlling access to stands in the densely populated areas around the city.

Teargas Thokoza, 1990 African National Congress supporting mourners and activists are teargassed by police during a funeral procession through the streets of Thokoza.

Blog: gregmarinovich.com/BLOG Photographs: gregmarinovich.photoshelter.com/ Films: vimeo.com/channels/163209 Agency: storytaxi.com