Online Reporter
Muchaneta Chimuka, Features Writer
MULTI-AWARD-WINNING filmmaker, Joe Njagu’s Dilemma, explores how a couple’s dream of having a baby turns nasty after Chloe Thandeka “Busi” Ncube is gang-raped by armed robbers at their matrimonial home and impregnated, leaving her traumatised.
Cultural and religious beliefs within her family become a stumbling block for Busi to access safe abortion services at the local clinic and for her to get justice. This creates a big wound in the heart of the vulnerable woman.
The movie highlights the dilemma that communities face in the wake of rape and other social ills. Written and directed by Njagu, it features Chloe Thandeka Ncube, Farai Chigudu, Eyahra Mathazia, Michael Kudakwashe, Albert Nyathi, Marian Kunonga, Prudence Katomeni Mbofana, Erin Sticklen, Pauline Chimedza, Samantha Kureya, Luthuli Dlamini and Malaika Mushandu, who is the producer.
Although it is already showing across the country, the movie is slated to be launched anytime soon.
Dilemma, narrates the life of a young woman, Busi, who is happily married to a prominent actor, Marcas. Hell breaks loose when armed robbers storm into their matrimonial home and she is raped and impregnated, leaving the couple traumatised.
Cultural and religious beliefs remain a stumbling block for Busi to access safe abortion services at local clinics. This is a true reflection of the African society where many such cases are swept under the carpet, yet they create wounds in the hearts of vulnerable women.
On several occasions, Busi tries to commit suicide as she fails to bear this dark load of carrying a baby — a product of rape. Her family wants her to deliver the baby, which she feels is unfair.
Family members consider the rape as a blessing in disguise since her union with Marcas, a prominent figure in society, has failed to produce a child in close to 10 years.
To the family, the baby will cover up for her barreness, but for Busi, the matter is killing her softly.
Thank God, the heroine has a supportive house helper, Gogo Rose, played by Marian Kunonga, who stands by her and her husband Marcas, who is in denial at first, but later gives her the utmost support.
Gogo Rose, who used to conduct clandestine abortions on several women, and was once arrested, feels for other women since she was also a victim of abuse.
Gogo Rose reveals that she was once arrested for assisting a woman to abort. The woman later died at her shrine.
“I still find more and more women, including under-aged girls, flocking to my shrine in search of abortion services. They don’t want to go to hospitals and clinics because they are shy, and abortion is a crime, even if the pregnancy was conceived through rape.
“I think something should be addressed as a matter of urgency to save these women,” she says.
In an interview on the sidelines of the movie’s screening at Westgate Cinema in Harare, in December last year, Ncube, who plays Busi, said it was her first acting role and she was surprised to be showered with praises — branded a super actress.
In Zimbabwe, before a rape victim is permitted to abort, the case should go to court first and the rapist is convicted before the presiding magistrate can grant the abortion order.
“Zimbabwe is trying to address those challenges through the review of the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977 and we pray that the duty bearers quicken the process,” Ncube said.
The Termination of Pregnancy Act, enacted in 1977, only permits abortion in cases of rape, incest or when a woman’s life is in danger. Women feel these requirements limit their access to abortion services.
Busi’s case is a lived experience of underaged girls and young women, who seek to terminate unwanted pregnancies legally but fail to access services, owing to gaps within the judiciary system and at community level, resulting in them giving birth to unplanned babies.
Former Women’s Action Group director, Mrs Edinah Masiyiwa, said in most cases,those children end up suffering.
In some cases, they are taunted, rebuked, stigmatised and discriminated against by society. Some of them end up living on the streets due to discrimination from community members. They also fail to access proper care and other crucial supporting services such as the right to education, life, food, shelter and protection, among others.
“Some children end up being killed (infanticide) by their emotional parents, who feel that abortion services could have been provided, and do not want bad memories of rape to recur as they continue to see those children. More so, mental health challenges become rife,” Mrs Masiyiwa said.
She stressed that delays in the justice system were the major impediment and suspected corrupt practices by some law enforcement agencies coupled with lack of information about the Termination of Pregnancy Act.
Also, awareness raising among survivors and communities at large remain a stumbling block to victims of rape.
Constitutional and human rights lawyer, Musa Kika, said shame, stigma and discrimination faced by survivors and how they fail to get enough support legally and medically was an infringement to their rights as human beings.
Busi’s case resonates well with Mildred Mapingure of Chegutu, who was raped by Courage Chamboko during an armed robbery in 2006, resulting in an unwanted baby after her case took long to be concluded by the courts.
After the traumatising incident, Mapingure immediately reported the matter to Chegutu police so that she could be assisted to access medical assistance and abortion services.
Her hopes were hinged on the provisions of the Termination of Pregnancy Act (1977) Section 4, which allows rape victims to abort on the grounds that intercourse was unlawful. Sadly, for her, when the certificate was issued six months later, it was too late to terminate the pregnancy.
Nine years later, the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of Home Affairs were ordered to jointly pay US$6 500 in damages for pain and suffering incurred by Mapingure for wrongful pregnancy.
Communities still debate whether the amount she received tally with the pain she endured and the burden of caring for a child conceived through rape.
Women rights advocates are calling for the removal of legal barriers that hinder adolescents from accessing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services to protect girls and women from unplanned pregnancies.
A recent study by the Guttmacher reveals that over 70 000 illegal abortions are happening annually in Zimbabwe, many involving adolescents under 16 years.
These unsafe abortions, compounded by poor access to post-abortion care, contribute significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality, especially among young women, who are failing to access their sexual and reproductive rights services at their doorstep.
The 2023/24 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey reports neonatal mortality at 37 deaths per 1 000 live births, the highest ever recorded.
Infant mortality rose to 56 per 1 000, and under-five mortality remains stagnant at 69 per 1 000. Maternal mortality hovers around 212 per 100 000 live births, still far too high for a country aiming for universal health coverage.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) 2022 Abortion Care Guideline provides comprehensive, evidence-based recommendations on abortion, emphasising that it is a safe health intervention that can be performed at any stage of pregnancy, though methods vary by gestation.
The guideline advises against laws that impose gestational age limits, advocating instead for abortion on the request of the pregnant woman without restrictions on timing, provided it is clinically safe.
Dilemma is a well-articulated movie, which shows that the Zimbabwean film industry is fast gaining global recognition with award-winning stars. Njagu, who wrote and directed it, said films travel and attract collaborations, evoking emotions and making audiences think deeply about the subject.
“This is the revolution I was talking about. Zimbabwean filmmakers are building on small victories to reach bigger stages,” he said.
“We are proving that we can compete at the global stage. We can make films that travel and transform communities, and above all, unlock the demographic dividend.
Adolescents’ reproductive health should be treated as a national priority rather than a moral dilemma.”
Njagu added that Governments should invest in adolescent health, ring-fencing the timely disbursement of funds earmarked for health, particularly for contraception and comprehensive abortion care and victim-friendly initiatives.
