ZEF: The Story of Die Antwoord

I became utterly fascinated with Yolandi & Ninja when they released their first album. Some of their darker visuals disturbed me, but their unique vision is so uninhibited & raw that it drew me in fully.

When I heard about the allegations levelled at them by Zheani, a rapper in her own right, things changed. Not to mention their adoptive son, Tokkie, coming out with his own disturbing experience living with them.

So here I was, ready to watch the documentary with an open mind and hear their side.... and... it's just a vanity project. Plain and simple. That's not to say director Jon Day didn't do a good job here. He infused the documentary with some very surreal and beautiful imagery, as well as showcasing their own artistry. HOWEVER, they focused too much on their failed relationship and only dedicated 3 minutes to address Tokkie's allegations against them in a way that felt so disingenuous and straight up victim-blaming (in my opinion anyway).

This documentary is a poorly executed attempt at image rehabilitation. Simple as that. And this is where Jon Day drops the ball. He didn't probe them enough, he just let them weave this tale of love lost and uses emotional music to drive the point of this documentary home.

Now I feel like there's no going back for them. This was the moment to show remorse, to accept the fact they have harmed people along their very chaotic rise and subsequent fall of their career.

I will always admire their artistic work, their Lynchian performance art, their one of a kind musical output, all of that. But this is their last hurrah. Their image is permanently stained by their highly disturbing behaviour. God bless and keep 16.t.