Summary
Buntu reminds Sizwe that if he doesn't take the passbook, he will be deported. Sizwe gets up and Buntu tells him he can still have his old life. He tells him he can remarry his wife as Robert and write her a letter explaining what has happened. He says that by refusing to give up his name, he is being selfish. He tells him he can do much more for his family with this new life.
Sizwe says this would amount to living a life as Robert's ghost. Buntu says that his former life wasn't that different. He adds that white bureaucrats and law enforcement officials didn't see him as a person with a name, but instead as a passbook and identification number. He reiterates to Sizwe that he just needs to maintain his cover and collect a paycheck and things will improve almost immediately.
Sizwe appears to be won over by Buntu's argument. The two of them practice Sizwe giving Robert's information to an official. Sizwe recites Robert's full name, address, and place of employment. He also provides his identification number. Buntu reminds Sizwe that he needs to memorize this number and be able to repeat it at any time. They go back and forth, repeating each number of the sequence to each other.
Sizwe successfully provides the number to Buntu. Buntu is pleased with his memorization. Buntu impersonates a preacher, saying that it is time for them to pray. They both give prayers to God and then Buntu asks him to repeat all the information again. Sizwe does so easily.
Sizwe says he will do his best. Buntu says he will have to keep up this act to stay alive. Buntu says he would immediately give up his name to protect the health and well-being of his family. He said he might have some concern for pride if he was a single man, but, he observes, with a family to tend to, Sizwe has no choice but to sacrifice his pride.
Buntu reiterates that he thinks names are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. He says that pride is nothing compared to money and security for his family. Sizwe expresses doubt that his plan will work, but Buntu says he just needs to be very careful. Sizwe says he will do his best. He picks up his coat and walks out the door.
Sizwe concludes his letter to his wife, saying that, for now, his troubles are behind him. He informs her that he will try to return to her by Christmas and that, if Buntu can get him the right permit, they can live with him. He adds that he will keep sending her money and that he will not forget her. Back in the studio, Styles poses Sizwe for the camera one last time. He calls him Robert and tells him to smile as the camera flashes.
Analysis
Survival is a key theme in the play's final section. Sizwe ultimately chooses to give up his name in the hopes of being able to protect and support his family. Buntu repeatedly pushes him to make this choice, as he firmly believes it is his only option. Fugard highlights Sizwe's desperate position through Buntu's comments, showing how he can decide to keep his name, but it will come at the cost of his home and safety. Sizwe's situation is an essentially impossible one, as he cannot hold on to his old life but must "die" in one sense or another. His survival hinges on him making enormous sacrifices that will permanently alter his life and identity. In this way, Fugard reveals the complexity of survival.
Identity is another important theme in the play's ending. Sizwe ultimately chooses to surrender his name in order to stay in Port Elizabeth and secure a steady paycheck. This choice is difficult for him, but he ultimately recognizes that Buntu is right about his not having other choices. He learns all of the details from the dead man's passbook and prepares to adopt this new persona. Buntu says that names are ultimately meaningless, but Sizwe does genuinely seem to lose himself in his transition. The final lines of Sizwe's letter to his wife suggest that he will do his best to provide for their family, but his plan is far from foolproof. His comment about never forgetting implies that he already knows there is a strong chance they will never see each other again, as he is now trapped in the place he was just visiting to look for work. As Styles tells Sizwe to smile for the camera, calling him Robert, the reader is left to wonder how much Sizwe will remain the same in this new guise.
Inequality is also a central theme in these pages. When Sizwe says he wants to keep his name, as it is a core part of who he is, Buntu reminds him that his former life was barely a life and that to white South Africans, he was just an identification number anyway. He says this to convince him to give up his name, but the comment also sheds light on the injustices of the apartheid era. It illustrates how the passbooks were used to dehumanize and penalize Black South Africans. Buntu's statement indicates how deeply ingrained this prejudice is in the social order, supported by the legal structure of the passbook. Sizwe's choice plays out against the backdrop of a political landscape that will never truly allow him to be a full citizen who is treated with care. His decision will only buy him more time; it will not save him from this systemic injustice.
Names are another main theme in the play's final section. Sizwe ultimately gives up his name, living out Buntu's suggestion to declare that "Sizwe Bansi is dead." He adopts Robert's information, takes his passbook, and begins the process of building a whole new life. Buntu says a name is just a name, claiming that it is just a meaningless placeholder, but Sizwe's loss appears to be substantial and real. Styles's final words take on a weighty significance, as he snaps the picture that will solidify Sizwe as "Robert" for the rest of his life. In the end, Fugard seems to suggest, contrary to Buntu's argument, that names do matter and that they play an important role in the construction of identity. Sizwe has effectively lost more than just his name; he has likely lost his entire past.
The play's ending circles back to Styles's earlier comment about a man only owning himself. In order to survive, Sizwe has surrendered his name and his old life. So much has been taken from him and now he has given up the last thing he could definitively claim. It is a bleak ending in that it shows Sizwe's lack of good choices. He can keep his name or he can survive under a false persona, but he cannot keep his original life. Fugard's play, while not overtly didactic, paints a grim picture of the oppressive politics of apartheid, showing how Sizwe is doomed from the start, forced to fight against a political system that will never benefit or accept him.
