Hijack Stories

Sox Maraka (Kgoroge), an ambitious young actor living with his white girlfriend in a middle class Johannesburg suburb, decides to 'Method' act his way into a bad-ass gangster role he's auditioning for by returning to the Soweto ghetto he escaped and learning some authentic moves. Sox finds himself 'hiding behind the panties' of feisty township girl Grace (Motshegwa), who is reluctantly persuaded to introduce Sox to his chosen 'teacher' - gun-toting gangster Zama (Seiphemo). Fast cars, wild women and a cracking HipHop soundtrack ensue, and the film starts to look like a South African version of a Hollywood action thriller. Yet it remains essentially African. The locations jump from the townships to uptown Jo'burg; Zama speaks a Sowetan street language 'scamtho', and the wonderful music is in the distinctly South African style of Kwaito. The characters are fresh, the performances excellent, and, though it loses its pace at times, the story (with contributions from poet Lesego Rampolokeng) is both entertaining and edifying.