Aahana Swrup
Directed by Donovan Marsh, ‘iNumber Number: Jozi Gold’ is a South African Netflix action thriller film featuring S’Dumo Mtshali as a cop doubting his place in the system. Chili Ngcobo, tired of watching criminals walk free due to interdepartmental police corruption, meets a gang involved in gold heists. While infiltrating the group consisting of siblings Seeng, Dimo, and Dikeledi, Chili learns more about their cause and starts to turn his back on his profession. As such, when presented with the opportunity to join them in their next mission, Chili must choose between his responsibilities and his principles.
Alongside S’Dumo Mtshali and Presley Chweneyagae, reprising their roles, this film introduces new members to the franchise, like Noxolo Dlamini, Deon Lotz, and Bongile Mantsai. Ripe with tense action and thrilling plotlines, the film discusses the corrupt criminal justice system in South Africa through the story of a cop duo, Chili, and his partner, Shoes.
What Does iNumber Number: Jozi Gold Mean?
‘iNumber Number: Jozi Gold,’ sequel to Donovan Marsh’s 2013 film ‘Avenged’ (originally titled ‘iNumber Number’), picks up Chili Ngcobo’s career as a cop fighting crime beside his best friend Shoes. As the third installment in the ‘iNumber Number franchise’ after ‘Avenged’ and 2017’s tv series simply tilted ‘iNumber Number,’ this film follows the same formula and retains consistent branding.
Although fans of the franchise might already be familiar with the slang term “iNumber Number,” this film also calls back to it early on in its runtime. Used by Chili and Shoes, “iNumber Number” is a colloquialism employed when referring to a job or a heist. When the franchise’s first installment references an “iNumber Number” in the title, it’s talking about the focal point of its plotline. Likewise, ‘iNumber Number: Jozi Gold’ does the same.
Early on in the film, Chilli and Shoes risk their lives to apprehend a well-known criminal, Hyena Man, active in Johannesburg’s gold gang ring. Even though the duo catches the gangster, their superior, Nandi the Brigadier, throws out his arrest despite Chili’s and Shoe’s hard work. As a result, Chili’s faith in the justice system wavers. Consequently, he tries to quit, but Shoes ultimately talks him out of it.
Therefore, his allegiance quickly shifts to Dimo and her brothers’ Robin Hood-esque cause. Dimo and her brothers are kids of a late Lesotho rebel who stood up against the tyrannical dictator of Lesotho, Lerotholi Thoriso I. Due to the same, with the help of their mother, the siblings have made it their life mission to steal Thoriso I’s gold from him and return it to the people of Lesotho.
In order to do so, they plan an elaborate heist involving Chili disguised as the dictator’s son, Thoriso II. As such, the film’s title references Zimo and her siblings’ final heist, or an “iNumber Number,” that Chili partakes in. Other than that, Jozi Gold refers to the objective of their heist: the gold in Johannesburg. In South Africa, Jozi is a widely recognized nickname for the city of Johannesburg. The name is such a regular part of the lingo that it inspired the name of a popular local mall, “Jozi Mall.” The same mall also features in the movie during Chili’s first heist with Dimo and her brothers.
Lerotholi Thoriso I sources the raw gold from Lesotho, using unethical labor, and brings it to Johannesburg to be refined into gold bars. Since the siblings plan to snatch the gold from the refinery itself, the heist takes place in Johannesburg. Hence, ‘iNumber Number: Jozi Gold.’
Read More: Where Was Netflix’s iNumber Number: Jozi Gold Filmed?
