Silverton Siege

The armorer got it correct.

They start at Watloo, near Mamalodi yes BUT next to Silverton, the bank in movie is in Church Square (8-10km far). OK, given the decline of Silverton etc, period Bank would be @ Church Square, chosen to give a jab.

I must say the Brig had it right when he referred to the terrorists as not being people, if you ever had loved ones or friends affected by any terrorist action, you will understand.

A terrorist attacks civilians, this is what the bombs planted did, killed civilians. Tis is also why Manela was in prison for, NOT for wanting to bring change but the bombs he planted, helped plant, help plan. Killing numerous civilians.

Good movie very very very loosely based on events, with some glorification and vilification for spice.

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Silverton Siege

On 25 January 1980 three MK Cadres (MK the militant wing of the then ANC Terrorist orginisation) - Stephen Mafoko, Humphrey Makhubo and Wilfred Madela - were allegedly on their way to carry out a planned MK sabotage mission on petrol depots at Watloo near Mamelodi. En route, 'the Trio' realised they were being tailed by the police. In an attempt to escape, they took refuge in a branch of Volkskas Bank in Silverton, Pretoria. They held 25 civilians in the bank hostage, making a number of demands, including a meeting with State President Vorster, the release of Nelson Mandela and a man called Mange, as well as R100 000 in cash and an aircraft to fly them to Maputo.

After a series of negotiations, which included the police handing food over to the cadres and hostages, a police unit stormed the bank and all three cadres were killed by the police. Two civilians, Valerie Anderson and Anna de Klerk, were killed and many others were wounded in the shootout.

The Six Hour Siege

Sequence of events as reported by the media

12.00 - 1:15:

The armed Trio enter the Volkskas Bank; eyewitness accounts vary as to the exact time.

The cadres take 25 civilians in the bank hostage, moving them into a corner cubicle.

1:30 - 06:00:

As the focus of the siege is on the ground floor, bank staff on the upper floor manage to escape the building. However bank accountant, Andre Theron, stays behind in hiding.

Members of the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit gain access to the Barclays Bank building nearby. The team set up surveillance equipment, enabling them to monitor what was happening in the Volkskas bank through a periscope and record every sound by means of a tape recorder and microphone.

Captain C. J. de Swardt and Brigadier L. Neethling negotiate with the Trio.

Later two hostages are released carrying notes outlining the Trio's demands.

The Trio sing freedom songs to keep up their moral and remain focussed.

Police gain access to the basement of the bank - using a stairway out of sight. They make their way to the first floor and to Andre Theron. The police are now able to overlook the scene.

Approximately 6.30:

Police appear prepared to act. Police Commissioner, General Mike Geldenhuys, orders the immediate area to be cleared.

Ambulances move closer to the scene and a large crowd of onlookers is ordered to move further away.

7.05:

The first burst of gunfire is heard.

It is unclear if MK cadre Stephen Mafoko opened fire when he realised the police were in the building, or if the police fired first.

Humphrey Makhubo and Wilfred Madela are killed swiftly, but Mafoko continues firing at the police, throwing a hand grenade. Willie Grobler, a teller, grabs the grenade and tries to throw it away. But it explodes, injuring hostages.

Police gun down Mafoko. The Trio die on the scene.

The injured are rushed to the H. F. Verwoerd hospital nearby. Hostage, Valerie Anderson, dies on the scene. Hostage, Anna de Klerk, dies hours later in hospital.

In the month following the Siege, Police arrested nine ANC members. All nine were part of the June 16 detachment, a generation of MK recruits thrown up by the Soweto Revolt of 1976.

This film might have been better if it were made into a limited series instead of a film. Perhaps a 3 or 4 episode show. I say this because it needed more main character and situation development for those like myself who are not knowledgeable about the details of South Africa in this time period. Perhaps more time to dive into each character a little more? The film assumes the audience knows what is going on and perhaps this film was originally made for internal consumption in SA. But for a global audience, it makes our head scratch with some confusion.

The beginning of the film is pretty good. I liked the car chases and the fire fights. The acting was excellent. The actors that played Calvin and Terra were very good.

Once the trio reach the bank, the story slows down. So now the viewer has couch adrenaline and no way to dissipate it. The side characters were interesting, comical and cringy. I wonder if there really was an Afro-American boxing promotor with a suitcase with the letters USA written boldly on it like it was on the film or was that improvised? Probably doesn't matter in the overall context of the film.

It's not a bad film. It just needed some touch ups. It leaves global audiences with more questions than answers.

Interesting movie where you actually cared for the outcomes of the characters! With a little finer editing it could've been a better movie but still a solid seven from me!

Set in 1980s Apartheid South Africa, three members of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Calvin Khumalo (Thabo Rametsi), Mbali Terra Mabunda (Noxolo Dlamini), Aldo Erasmus (Stefan Erasmus) carry out non-lethal operations of sabotage against the White Supremacist Afrikaaner government. When the teams latest operation is stopped due to an informant within their team, the trio are forced to flee and take refuge in a bank with hostages. Captain Langerman (Arnold Vosloo) of the police tries to negotiate with the trio whilst also keeping the overzealous army from exacerbating the situation. With no hope for escape, the trio stage a standoff in the bank with the demand for the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned MK leader Nelson Mandela.

Silverton Siege is based on the real life bank siege in the Silverton suburb of Pretoria, South Africa orchestrated by the Silverton Trio of Wilfred Madela, Humprhey Makhubu, Stephen Mafoko as well as George Molebatsi are credited with starting the Free Nelson Mandela campaign. The movie is the softmore feature of Mandla Dube who previously directed Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu and the debut feature writing credit for Sabelo Mgidi. The movie works as both an engaging standoff movie as well as a character piece of how far one will go to attain freedom when it is cruelly denied.

While this may only be Mandla Dube's second feature film, you wouldn't know from watching it because with it's tight pacing and gritty aesthetic that harkens to crime films of the 1970s, it's a movie that is filled with style and tension to spare. The movie is sort of an "anti-heist" film in that it takes many of the tropes and trappings we've seen in these kind of standoff stories in American or European productions and reframes that setup in a uniquely South African story. Arnold Vosloo who most people know as Imhotep from Universal's Mummy movies gives a solid performance as Captain Langerman who's trying to resolve the situation peacefully and has no agenda other than making sure everyone (even the MK trio) end the situation peacefully and without casualties. The three MK members are also really good with Thabo Rametsi a strong lead who wants to make a difference whilst also avoiding casualties as he and his team make it a point only to destroy property and infrastructure and never people. Noxolo Dlamini and Stefan Erasmus are equally good as Rametsi's team, with Dlamini in particular giving some solid intensity to her role that keeps you on edge.

The movie does have some hiccups to it however, the movie has one of those cold opens that's a mere 20 minutes into the movie and it really didn't need to have it. I also feel like the movie takes for granted its viewers' knowledge of South Africa's history with the MK's full name never actually mentioned in movie, we do get the general idea of the era but it's the sort of thing that could've benefitted from a prologue with some archival footage. The movie also has a character Supervisor Christine played by Elani Dekker, and while her performance is fine, there's something about the way the character is positioned that makes her come off as something of a "savior" in the context of this story, but it's not egregiously so or anything and it is in service of looking at the spectrum of everyone in the context of South African Apartheid with those on the black side who either submit, rebel, or in one character's case "pass", and on the white side you have those who are egregiously supremacist, those who are doing it because of maintaining a status quo, or those who are sympathetic but impotent. Like any movie there are flaws, but for me personally the flaws were far outweighed by the emotional resonance of the characters on display and I was glued to my seat for the entire running time.

Silverton Siege is a well-directed feature by Mandla Dube that incorporates the well worn tropes of bank heist/standoff films to build an exciting and thematically rich story that doesn't let up till the very end. With engaging performances from Thabo Rametsi, Noxolo Dlamini, and Arnold Vosloo, movie is as well acted as it is directed and you grow to care about this situation and its ultimate outcome. The movie is maybe a little too confident in assuming viewers' knowledge of Apartheid and some of the characters do feel a little heavy handed in certain respects, but despite these minor points Silverton Siege is an engaging historical thriller and I look forward to seeing more from Mandla Dube, Thabo Rametsi, and Noxolo Dlamini.

The movie was doing was pretty good, but after I read what really happened, I was disappointed. They could have followed the actual events and the movie would have been even better.