Mlindelwa “ManB” Tyekana premiered his two-hour film, Rhythm of the Streets, at the Hemingways Mall cinema on Thursday, drawing close to 100 attendees and placing the focus on East London’s student struggles.
The film centres on a young woman from a rural village who moves to the city to study and pursue a career in dance.
When her student funding is delayed, she becomes vulnerable to exploitation and is eventually drawn into prostitution.
Shot across the CBD, Amalinda, the West Bank industrial area and Mdantsane, the production uses local actors to depict pressures faced by students navigating poverty, delayed payments and predatory environments.
Tyekana, who also appears in the film, said the storyline reflected the experiences of many university students, especially those from under-resourced backgrounds.
“The first issue starts with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which often fails to disburse funds on time,” he said.
“Students end up selling their bodies to men in exchange for money, just to survive.
“Student residences look like taxi ranks, with students getting in and out of luxury cars driven by older men who buy them food in exchange for sexual favours.”
He said some students were coerced into drug use, making them easier to control.
His own role — as a record label owner — was intended to counter the narrative that sex work was the only survival option.
“It shows that one can build a career in music,” he said.
Tyekana said drug abuse remained a significant risk in club settings.
“Most clubgoers are university students who lure men into buying them alcohol.
“Sometimes these situations turn into transactional deals where men sleep with them for monetary gain.
“These girls are often from disadvantaged homes, and bursary delays leave them desperate.”
He said the film aimed to highlight the reality for students from rural areas who were left stranded when financial aid schemes failed to pay on time.
Actor Athi Ntanjana, who plays the main antagonist, said the role differed sharply from his previous work.
“I play a club owner who is also a drug dealer. He recruits women into prostitution and takes most of the money they make.
“I target the naive ones, fresh from high school, who are not yet street smart,” he said.
Though he had not played such a character before, Ntanjana said the portrayal drew on stories he had encountered in his work and community.
Writer, director, producer and supporting actor Charles Gumede said the film was shot over four weeks in various East London locations, with each scene taking about 15 minutes to complete.
“The main reason for shooting here was to support and expose East London actors, so they don’t have to relocate to pursue their dreams,” he said.
Premiering the film in a cinema, he said, was intended to ensure local audiences had access before the film moved to distribution.
“We are currently in talks with distributors to have it available on other platforms where people can watch it more than once.”
Gumede said the team was already developing a new series that would use the same cast and crew, aimed at sustaining opportunities for local performers.
Daily Dispatch
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