Missing, an intense reflection on home and exile, comes at a
particularly important moment in the evolution of the relationship
between public and individual sensibility.
— Njabulo S Ndebele, academic, literary scholar and writer

John Kani’s Missing is a powerful post-apartheid paradox. The
leadership issues we face are no longer about black or white…they are
a kaleidoscope of bright, compelling and confronting colours which
challenge our very identity as a nation. Through this evocative play we
are enabled to confront our own stories of personal commitment and
political pragmatism in that moment when Robert Khalipa says “We
fought for Freedom and we got Democracy”.
— Melanie Burke, Common Purpose South Africa

Missing is the story of Robert Khalipa , an ANC Cadre living in exile, who is very senior in the Organisation but is left out of the negotiations and almost forgotten in Sweden. Robert has a wealthy Swedish wife, Anna, and they have a daughter who is a practising doctor in a hospital in Stockholm. There is also Robert’s protégé Peter Tshabalala, junior in the Organisation, yet he gets the call to return to South African to join the democratic government. What follows is a story of conspiracies, lies, back stabbing and disappointments. Robert and his family are faced with the challenges of a South Africa that has changed radically from the one he remembers from more than thirty years ago. The government, in his opinion, does not seem to uphold the principles enshrined in the Freedom Charter. There is also conflict within his own family. Robert wants to stay in South Africa, while his wife and daughter want to go back to Sweden. Their love is tested to breaking point and difficult decisions have to be made by every individual.
As with Kani’s very successful and often-performed previous play, Nothing but the Truth, the ambiguities of freedom and of personal commitment are explored in this play.

Missing: John Kani’s Meditation
Introduction by Njabulo S Ndebele
Foreword by John Kani
Images from the first Market Theatre performance of Missing
Missing
Cast
Act I
Act II Scene 1
Scene 2

John Kani is a South African actor, director and playwright. He co-wrote Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island, with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona, in the early 1970s. Nothing but the Truth (2002) was his debut as sole playwright and was first performed in the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. Nothing but the Truth is published by Wits University Press (2002) and has been prescribed for many years for Grade 12 learners.

Missing, an intense refl ection on home and exile, comes at a
particularly important moment in the evolution of the relationship
between public and individual sensibility.
— Njabulo S Ndebele – academic, literary scholar and writer

John Kani’s Missing is a powerful post-apartheid paradox. The
leadership issues we face are no longer about black or white…they are
a kaleidoscope of bright, compelling and confronting colours which
challenge our very identity as a nation. Through this evocative play we
are enabled to confront our own stories of personal commitment and
political pragmatism in that moment when Robert Khalipa says “We
fought for Freedom and we got Democracy”.
— Melanie Burke, Common Purpose South Africa