Set in Johannesburg, JUMP THE GUN follows the tangled lives of six very different working class characters, formerly kept apart by apartheid and now all striving to succeed in the new "rainbow nation". United by their insecurities - both physical and financial - the film follows their struggle to discover their niche in this brave new world, where opportunity beckons, but violence is always lurking.

This controversial political thriller, which provoked mass demonstrations and nine deaths in South Africa when it was first shown, gives dramatic form to the African National Congress's basic program of reconcilliation within a non-racialist, democratic society. A train massacre by an Inkatha militant causes the sole witness to the crime to flee the Soweto townships to take refuge in Johannesburg; but the violence follows him when his ANC comrades try to buy guns for a retaliatory raid against Inkatha supporters.

A South-African preacher goes to search for his wayward son who has committed a crime in the big city.

In this story of a black policeman during South African apartheid, Danny Glover plays the cop, who believes he's trying to help his people, even while serving as a pawn of the racist government. When his son gets involved in the anti-apartheid movement, he finds himself torn between his family and what he believes is his duty.