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South Africa, late 1980s. The country is in a State of Emergency with widespread civil unrest, bombings, township violence, and at war in Angola. Amid this chaos young mathematician, André Marais, and his wife Lynette grapple with a life-changing dilemma: risk the rising violence and stay in the land they love or seek the safety of New Zealand.
The quirks and foibles of André’s colleagues bring some humorous relief amidst all the tensions. His eccentric colleagues each have their own unique aims, some noble others not, and all under the scrutiny of the security police. While university life offers a surreal bubble, the reality of the violence surrounding them is impossible to ignore.
The release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 brings fleeting hope of peace but another fourteen thousand are killed before he eventually becomes president in 1994.
When the violence eventually strikes home, the Marais family are left traumatised. Torn between the push of increasing crime and the pull of nearly three centuries of family history, and Nelson Mandela’s dream of a nation at peace with itself and the world, André and Lynette must decide where their future lies. As the 1995 Rugby World Cup unites a fractured country will their recurring decision to stay or go finally find resolution?