Out of the dark comes the sound of a woman singing. A small pool of light fades up on MAMBHELE, who is downstage, right at the edge of the rostra.

MAMBHELE [singing repeatedly and miming cleaning a chicken]: Iinkuku zimnandi.

A small pool of light comes up on MAMPOMPO. She is sitting on a tin drum downstage left, at the edge of the rostra.

MAMPOMPO: The nice, big, fat, fresh chickens are here. Very cheap stuff. Woza mntwana.

MAMPOMPO and MAMBHELE softly make the sound of chickens while SDUDLA, who is upstage centre sitting on her drum, shaded by a broken umbrella, half sings, half talks to her passing customers. Light slowly comes up on stage.

SDUDLA: Oranges are cheap today, cheap today. Oranges are cheap today. So, if you want to go to heaven better get an orange. Hey [to a particular customer]! Buy an orange and suck it: the juice of this orange will open your eyes, you will know right from wrong.

MAMPOMPO mimes a chicken running away from her. She runs after it across the stage, clucking like a chicken and shouting. She grabs the chicken by the neck and it wriggles in her hand. MAMBHELE laughs at her.

MAMPOMPO [turning to MAMBHELE]: Uhleka ntoni? What are you laughing at, you bloody bitch? Le nkuku ibaleka nemali yabantwana bam. This chicken wants to run away – it is money. Ndiza kuyibulala. I’m going to kill it!

MAMBHELE: Since when do you know how to speak English?

MAMPOMPO: Hai! Shut up!

SDUDLA: Buy an orange before dying. [She continues to sing her song.]

MAMPOMPO [calling to a passer-by]: Yiza bhuti, chickens are cheap today. Nice, big, fat chickens, R5.50, R6.20, R7.20. Bhuti I’ll give you two chickens. You can take one to your family in Transkei and you can eat the other one in the bus instead of eating mealies. Yiza bhuti, yiza.

MAMBHELE [shaking her hand and blowing on it]: I’m burning from the boiling water.

MAMPOMPO: Ah. The money is not burning – imali ayitshisi – you just take it and put in your pocket.

MAMBHELE [suddenly spotting a customer]: Heyi – ye Mqwathi, imali yam. The money from last month. My husband is also not working. You can't keep my money, you are not my bank.

MAMPOMPO [speaking to the customer]: Yee. Hey, since when do you buy chickens from her?