Tsotsi **** (2005, Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Israel Makoe) – Classic Movie Review 4,386

Gavin Hood’s 2005 crime drama film Tsotsi stars Presley Chweneyagae as a South African young street thug who steals a car only to discover a baby in the back seat.

Writer/ director Gavin Hood’s 2005 crime drama film Tsotsi stars Presley Chweneyagae as David/ Tsotsi (meaning ‘criminal’), a South African young street thug who steals a car only to discover a baby in the back seat.

The deserved 2006 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner charts six desperate days in the Johannesburg life of a young South African thug called David /Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae), who inadvertently kidnaps a baby during a car hijacking, setting a tragedy in motion.

This heartrending movie gets to the heart of the causes of violence and lays bare the troubled landscape in Johannesburg, with superb acting, especially by Presley Chweneyagae in his debut feature film role, and a lovely, sensitive script by director Gavin Hood, based on South African playwright Athol Fugard’s novel.

Mothusi Magano, Kenneth Nkosi, Zenzo Ngqobe, Jerry Mofokeng, Terry Pheto, Rapulana Seiphemo, Nambitha Mpumlwana, Israel Makoe, Ian Roberts, and Thembi Nyandeni play supporting roles, with Honour Zuma as the Baby.

It is a South African/ UK co-production film in Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English.

Tsotsi is the only novel written by Athol Fugard (1932–2025), published in 1980 but written earlier.

David is the leader of a gang of small-time thugs. His name Tsotsi in South African vernacular dialect Tsotsitaal means ‘thug’ or c’riminal.’

Presley Chweneyagae, the South African actor known for his role in the Oscar-winning 2005 film Tsotsi, died on 27 May 2025, aged 40.  He was named after his mother’s favourite singer, Elvis Presley.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,386

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