One Tragic Night (104 page)

Writing and publishing a book, particularly one of this nature and scale, is no easy feat. It requires extraordinary amounts of time, commitment, investment, passion and attention to detail. This would not have been possible without the outstanding team at Pan Macmillan.

Andrea Nattrass, thank you for holding our hands, for the incredibly long hours, for your high standards, for the whip-cracking and the patience. You really are our favourite publisher.

Thank you Terry Morris for your trust in us and for ensuring we have felt so welcome as part of the Pan family. Laura Hammond, your tireless efforts to get the monkeys dancing are always appreciated.

Sean Fraser, your meticulous editing has earned you those whiskies. Thank you also to Sally Hines, Kevin Shenton and Michiel Botha for your outstanding work on this project.

To the team at Webber Wentzel, especially Dario Milo and Stuart Scott, we appreciate your time and your careful attention to this text. Your advice and guidance have been invaluable.

This book would not be a reality without the relentless support of our editor-in-chief at Eyewitness News, our ‘Number 1', Katy Katopodis. Katy has repeatedly allowed us to drop off the news diary and disappear to research and write. You, Katy, are a mentor and a leader who deserves the immense loyalty you inspire.

Thank you also to Terry Volkwyn and Primedia Broadcasting for backing this project and allowing us time to complete it. To the rest of the wonderful Eyewitness News team – particularly Benita, Camilla, Sheldon, Alex, Stephen, Gia, Christa, Reinardt, Landi and Pippa – we appreciate your patience as we dropped off the news planet.

Thanks, too, to the legal experts – Kelly Phelps, Professor James Grant, Tyrone Maseko, Ian Levitt and David Dadic – who took the time to assist us and to read the text.

Rebecca Davis's on-point coverage of the trial on Daily Maverick and on Twitter must be acknowledged as a continued source of both courtroom developments and of grounding perspective in a media storm of madness.

To those sources who gave of their time and their knowledge and who cannot be publicly acknowledged, thank you for your trust and for giving us custodianship of your stories.

Mandy Wiener and Barry Bateman

September 2014

My co-author Barry ‘Batman' Bateman has immersed himself in this story with a commitment that is without comparison. His detailed and wide-ranging knowledge about the case is astonishing. I know that my perfectionist, A-type personality doesn't make for the best traits in a co-author, so thanks, Barry, for dealing with me so graciously. At times it felt like those early-morning writing sessions would never end, but I have so enjoyed travelling this journey with you, one egg breakfast at a time.

Sarah-Jane Olivier has been my sounding board and ‘first reader'. Thank you for being so circumspect, for providing perspective and for transcribing hours of interviews under pressure. Your insight is beyond measure.

Katy, you have encouraged, inspired and motivated me every step of the way. I couldn't ask for a better mentor.

I'm grateful for the advice and guidance of David O'Sullivan and Jenny Crwys-Williams, both of whom are a constant source of wisdom.

Each book I have written has coincided with a major life event. This time around, I thought I'd step it up a gear and try to write this one in the months after the birth of my first baby whilst still in ‘The Darkness' of new motherhood. The trial began one week after I gave birth to our son. It made for interesting times.

I would not have survived were it not for the incredible support structure around me. Never more have I subscribed to the belief of Ubuntu, that it takes a village to raise a child. There are too many people to thank individually, but I must acknowledge Dr Rubi Gordon, Symonah, Dr Neli Stoykova, Sister Sam, Bridgette, Gil, Ang, Marie, the Gloss girls, Brett, Thendo and the staff at Billi Bi.

Thanks, too, to my friends who are always there to celebrate my success and check in to see whether I was surviving the pressures of motherhood and deadlines – Louise, Nadine, Shelley, Steve, Sim, Sarah, Kim, Dov, Glenda, Emma, Debs, Zas, Mand, Sue, Jimbo and Justin.

Annika, Nicci and Cindy, I would not have made it through those early weeks without you. Thank you for keeping me sane, feeling normal and for being just a WhatsApp away.

Judy, the comfort of listening to my boy giggling with you while I laboured to finish this book has made it so much easier. Thank you for looking after him as if he were your own. To Loretta, thank you for always making sure I am looked after so well!

Raymond and Marcelle, I cannot thank you enough for your love and support and for being such generous grandparents, with both your time and your energy. To the Meisels – the whole mad lot of you – I love being a part of your family.

Angie and Lili, thank you for being Meisels with me and for always being on the end of the phone.

To my own parents, enjoy these naartjies too. Thank you for leading the fan club and for always taking such pride in what I do. Elian and Janine, thank you for the Skype calls, the phone calls, the messages, the dinners and the unwavering love and support. I'm so proud of you both.

Finally, to my boys, Sean and Sam. You are my everything.

Sam, you have brought such light into my life and taught me how to live and to love in a way I never knew I could. Being so ridiculously cute and distracting really made this book difficult to complete. The first six months of your life have been a pretty wild ride for us all and it's only going to get more awesome from here. (I'm sorry for all the live Oscar Pistorius Trial Channel I made you watch in your first weeks on earth.)

Sean, I would not have wanted to do life with anyone else, and being on a team with you makes it all possible. I am so grateful for all those hours of daddy daycare you put in while I was typing away. Love you to there and back.

MW

I never hesitated when the opportunity arose to embark on this project with Mandy Wiener, and my expectations of what I would learn from her have been far exceeded. Mandy transformed my often dry, hard-fact accounts of events into colourful, gripping narrative. I have been the pain in her neck on the odd occasion, but I got there eventually through her patience and guidance (at least the last chapter didn't require too much hacking). Thank you would not be complete without a full appreciation for your family – Sean and little Sam – who have been without a wife and mommy for those long hours behind the desk.

I thank all my journalist colleagues, particularly those in Pretoria, who have helped me grow and develop as a professional through the years. While we are competitive and want to scoop each other on the next big break, we're also a strong community, bonded by shared experiences. I consider many of you my friends and I value the time we spend working together on stories – whether we're numbing our arses on hard court benches or being burnt to a cinder under the harsh sun at a crime scene waiting for a police briefing. Thanks to Phil, Charl, Graeme, Zelda, Fanie, Hanti, Gerhard, Cornel, Danielle and all the others who slog at it daily, gathering news and producing incredible content.

My Eyewitness News colleague Gia Nicolaides deserves special mention for her tireless coverage of the trial, which allowed me to remain inside court as she dashed out on the hour every hour to cross live and file.

To develop as a professional you require a mentor who understands your personality, who is able to nudge you when you need direction, pick you up when you trip and give you freedom to grow – my editor Katy Katopodis does all that and more.

I would not have survived the weeks of sitting in courtroom GD if it weren't for the humour and conversation in row two – Paul, Nastasya, Andrew (pass the biscuits, please), Aislinn and Alex.

Covering this trial allowed to me to develop my career in a direction I had not really considered, thanks to the vision and commitment of
Carte Blanche
producer George Mazarakis. DStv's Oscar Pistorius Trial Channel 199 was a South African first and I was part of that. Easing in to television work was made a breeze by the professionalism and cool on-air presence of John Webb. Producer Graham Coetzer and the competent team he assembled for the project kept everything under control at our ‘rooftop position'. What set the #OscarTrial apart from other stories I've covered were the tweeps, all 200 000 of you, who followed @barrybateman for the latest on this developing story. I've thoroughly enjoyed every 140-character debate, your commentary and your criticism.

To my parents, Geoff and Linda, there isn't enough space in this book to explain how much I love you and appreciate the sacrifices you've made to enable me to find direction and grow. My little brother, Colin, who has watched my back in so many ways, you epitomise the character that bonds siblings.

With me for every step of this journey have been my three girls – Sholain, Isobel and Aishwari.

My little girls, your smiles, giggles and mischief replenish that joy deep inside my heart that is too often tarnished by the world I report on every day. The adoration I see in your eyes every time you look up at me makes me want to be the best father ever.

My dear wife, it has been a year in which you have allowed me to immerse myself in a story like no other and disappear for days into the study to focus my full attention on this trial. I know how tough it is keeping a handle on our two little rats on your own, but you relieved me of this duty so often. Thank you for listening, for understanding, for consulting, for counselling and, most importantly, for laying down the law. I love you, Sholain, and I don't go a day without appreciating that you love me.