Deadly Harvest (38 page)
Authors: Michael Stanley
Although this is a work of fiction, it is, as were our three previous books, set on a background of reality.
Throughout sub-ÂSaharan Africa, witch doctors hold influential positions in society. Most Âpeople believe in them and their powers to some extent. Even Western-Âtrained scientists may carry a residue of belief.
Most witch doctors are traditional healers. That is, they use a combination of potions and suggestion to help Âpeople. For the most part, these potions, called
muti
in southern Africa, are made from a variety of herbs and plants. Occasionally they add some part of an animal's body, such as the heart of a lion.
However, there are a few witch doctors, regarded as very powerful, who use human body parts in their
muti
. They often choose a victim for a specific reason. If a male client wants to be virile, a witch doctor may kill a young boy and make
muti
from his sex organs to improve sexual energy. If a woman is having difficulty conceiving, a witch doctor may kill a young woman and make
muti
from her vagina, uterus, or breast. Probably all three. In recent years, a number of albinos have been killed for
muti
, because they are regarded as providing particularly powerful
muti
.
Even more horrific is that the power of the
muti
is thought to be enhanced if the body parts are removed while the victim is alive.
The success rate for bringing to justice witch doctors who are involved in
muti
murders is very low, for several reasons. First, the victim is usually not connected to the perpetrator in any way. The witch doctor finds a person who meets a particular need and kills him or her. So, unlike a normal murder, where there is almost always a connection between the victim and murderer, there is none in the case of
muti
murders. And second, because almost everyone believes in witchcraft, many in the police, as well as potential witnesses, are scared of unveiling someone as a witch doctor who kills for
muti
. They are afraid that the witch doctor will put a spell on them, which could lead to bad luck, ill health, or even death.
In this book, we refer on several occasions to the real-Âlife
muti
murder of a young girl, Segametsi Mogomotsi, which happened in Mochudi in 1994. It caused the community to come out in several violent protests, after which one person was shot by a policeman with an AK-Â47. The government eventually felt it necessary to conduct an independent inquiry, so it called in Scotland Yard from the United Kingdom. Its report was never released.
One of the Âpeople to whom we dedicated this book is former High Court judge Unity Dow. Her novel
The Screaming of the Innocent
is a powerful story about a
muti
murder. It is worth reading.
W
ITH EA
CH NEW BOOK
we have more Âpeople to thank for their generous help and support, because we keep leaning on those who have helped us before while finding new ones to impose upon.
We are extremely grateful to Claire Wachtel, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor at HarperÂCollins, for continuing to support Detective Kubu. Her edits and suggestions always improve our books. We also thank Elizabeth Perrella for her input and Tom Pitoniak for his careful copyediting.
As always we are grateful to our agent, Marly Rusoff, and her partner, Michael Radulescu, for their efforts on our behalf.
We were very fortunate to have a variety of readers of drafts of this book giving us input and suggestions and catching errors. Our sincere thanks to: Steve Alessi, Linda Bowles, Pat Cretchley, Pam Diamond, Pat and Nelson Markley, Steve Robinson, Brunhilde Sears, and the Minneapolis writing groupâÂGary Bush, Sujata Massey, and Heidi Skarie. With all their comments, it is hard to believe that the book still has mistakes. But it probably does, and we take responsibility for any that remain.
Many Âpeople in Botswana have generously given us their time to make the book as authentic as possible. It is amazing to us that so many Âpeople in Botswana are willing to take the time to be bombarded by odd questions from two authors about
muti
and
muti
murders, police procedures, and the like. We particularly want to thank Thebeyame Tsimako, previous commissioner of police in Botswana, for taking time from his demanding schedule to give us comments and advice, and for helping with our requests. Andy Taylor, headmaster of the wonderful Maru-Âa-ÂPula School in Gaborone, has been extraordinarily patient with all our questions and requests, and invaluable for introducing us to Âpeople in the know. We received helpful information from Alice Mogwe, director of the human rights organization Ditshwanelo, and Unity Dow, former High Court judge of Botswana. Their input has been invaluable, and we have dedicated this book to them and the work they do for Botswana.
We were also fortunate to spend time with Senior Superintendent Roger Dixon of the South African Police, who gave us much valuable advice on forensic matters. Similarly, anthropologist Alex Zaloumis provided insights into
muti
and the ways of witch doctors.
Finally, our thanks go to Ken Hall of Nottinghamshire, England, who suggested
Deadly Harvest
as the title of this book.
bakkie
  Slang for pickup truck.
Batswana
  Plural adjective or noun: “The Âpeople of Botswana are known as Batswana.” See M
OTSWANA
.
BDP
  Botswana Democratic Party.
dagga
  Marijuana.
Cannabis sativa
.
Debswana
  Joint diamond mining venture of De Beers and the Botswana government.
Dom
Pedro
  South African drink made by mixing ice cream with whisky or liqueur.
duiker
 Â
Small antelope,
Sylvicapra grimmia
.
Dumela
  Setswana for hello or good day.
kgotla
 Â
Assembly of tribal chief and elders.
kubu
  Setswana for hippopotamus.
leswafe
  Albino.
melktert
  Milk tart. South African dessert.
Mma
  Respectful term in Setswana used when addressing a woman. For example, “
Dumela
, Mma Bengu” means “Hello, Mrs. Bengu.”
Motswana
  Singular adjective or noun. “That man from Botswana is a Motswana.” See B
ATSWANA
.
muti
  Medicine from a traditional healer. Sometimes contains body parts.
pap
  Smooth maize meal porridge, often eaten with the fingers and dipped into a meat or vegetable stew.
pula
  Currency of Botswana. Pula means rain in Setswana. One hundred thebe equals one pula. One U.S. dollar equals roughly seven pula. See
THEBE
.
quattro stagioni
  Four seasons. Pizza with four different toppings.
rra
  Respectful term in Setswana used when addressing a man. For example, “
Dumela
, Rra Bengu” means “Hello, Mr. Bengu.”
seswaa
  Traditional Botswana boiled meat dish.
Setswana
  Language of the Batswana Âpeoples.
Shake Shake
  Common name for Chibuku Shake Shake beer, made from sorghum or corn. The name Shake Shake comes from the fact that solids separate when the beer carton is standing. The drinker needs to shake the beer before drinking.
shebeen
  Originally a place serving illicit alcohol. Now usually a licensed establishment.
steelworks
  Drink made from cola tonic, lime juice, ginger beer, soda water, and bitters.
tau
  Setswana for lion.
thebe
  Smallest denomination of Botswana currency.
Thebe
means shield in Setswana. See
PULA
.
tokoloshe
  A short, hairy creature of Southern African folkloreâÂmischievous and evil.
tuck shop
  A small shop selling snacks and nonalcoholic drinks.
MICHAEL STANLEY
is the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Sears was born in Johannesburg, grew up in Cape Town and Nairobi, and teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand. Trollip was also born in Johannesburg and has been on the faculty of the universities of Illinois, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and at Capella University. He divides his time between Knysna, South Africa, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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A Carrion Death
The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu
(
A Deadly Trade
outside North America)
Death of the Mantis
Cover design by Jarrod Taylor
DEADLY HARVEST.
Copyright © 2013 by Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-Âin-ÂPublication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-Â0-Â06-Â222152-Â0
EPub Edition MAY 2013 ISBN: 9780062221537
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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