Whitethorn (100 page)

However, you can never tell. There was still the chance of a political decision. This was a South Africa living through the post-Sharpeville years: a government banning the ANC; the declaration of a state of emergency; the ninety-day detention laws without recourse for legal help; a country expelled from the British Commonwealth and one that had declared itself a republic in a ‘whites only' referendum; and finally, the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela. Taken all together it meant that we were living in a police state.

Towards the end of the second day I summarised the case for the prosecution, and by mid-afternoon, after retiring to his chambers for less than an hour, Judge Ludorf and his two assessors, Viljoen and Bekker, returned to court. The six Van Schalkwyk brothers were found guilty of murder and each sentenced to twenty years and Mevrou to twenty-five years, pending a full psychiatric report. Janine De Saxe had been correct. Judge Ludorf had proved that the law still transcended politics.

I am aware that this seems like a fairly tame ending, that it would have been a better one if Gawie Grobler had demonstrated his obvious brilliance and we'd fought tooth and nail until the best man was left bloody but unbowed. The day after the court case was complete the English press anyhow referred to my conduct of the case by using a string of adjectives, ‘brilliant' being the one most often employed.

In truth, it was nothing of the sort. I had spent the better part of my life finding evidence, thinking about it and working on how I would present it. I had taken years to compile my evidence and Gawie Grobler had been given a relatively short time to complete his. Therefore I had evidence and witnesses at my disposal that my learned friend did not know existed or, in the case of Pissy Vermaak and Fonnie du Preez, would have been unable to locate. He had only the police enquiry to work with and anything his clients may have told him. Both these sources proved to be fairly limited: Lieutenant Van Niekerk's enquiry had been restricted by the need to dispose of the body in a hurry, and the Van Schalkwyk family limited by their stubborn recalcitrance and stupidity. I had also enjoyed a great deal of luck. The discovery of the canned-fruit jar with its pickled contents was fortuitous to say the least. While he would have found the evidence of mutilation in Lieutenant Van Niekerk's murder enquiry records, he could never have expected the ‘keepsake of hate', the physical evidence, to turn up. If I had finally triumphed, it had been a case of dogged persistence rather than a brilliant display of advocacy.

I had succeeded in obtaining justice for my friend Mattress and this gave me a great deal of satisfaction. It had been a long and sometimes weary road and, in a funny way, it meant that I could get on with the rest of my life. I also confess to having been proud of one aspect of the case. I had succeeded in obtaining a verdict without having to put Mevrou on the witness stand or bring Meneer Prinsloo into the proceedings. To have wreaked revenge for all the humiliation she had caused me as a child by demolishing her in court would have been to detract from the singular reason I was there in the first place. Pissy, who had inadvertently been the cause of the tragedy that brought about Mattress's death, was ironically the one who had enabled me to obtain justice for his murder. Life and death work in mysterious ways. He had kept his end of the bargain, and together with the tragic Frikkie Botha, their evidence had been the critical element in the case for the prosecution. In turn, I had avoided any adverse publicity or police attention he may have received concerning the Lonely Hunter club. Now you may think that I should have exposed Meneer Prinsloo for the vile creature he was, but I reasoned that this was not in Pissy Vermaak's immediate interest. It would be another court case for another time and one of Pissy's choosing, when I would make myself available
pro bono
if he wanted me to act for him and all the other victims, from The Boys Farm and elsewhere, who suffered and had their lives destroyed because of the monster Prinsloo.

At the conclusion of the case, I made my way over to Gawie, though in some trepidation. What I wanted to say to him was that he'd been unfortunate as the evidence at my disposal meant that I would have had to have been totally incompetent to lose the case. But, of course, I didn't want him to think I was patronising him. So I shook his hand and said, ‘Perhaps we can get together soon, maybe talk about old times?'

He grinned. ‘Lunch, so I can eat humble pie?'

I laughed. ‘Gawie, this time it was me with the pound note concealed up my bum.'

Quick as a flash he replied, ‘
Ja
, and it bought you a green sucker!'

I laughed again and held out my hand. Gawie was still the Afrikaner Genius. ‘No hard feelings, I really would like to get together.'

‘I'd like that,
Voetsek
,' he said, taking my outstretched hand. ‘We can catch up on the news on each other's shit squares.'

There was only one further matter I needed to attend to and this was to take place on the forecourt of the High Court building where all my friends waited for me to emerge: Pirrou; Professor Mustafa; Professor Shaun Rack; Pissy; Mr Naidoo; Stompie the Pepsi-Cola vendor; Lew Fisher of Polliack's; Lofty van der Merwe, who was surprisingly still sober at this time of the day, though how he'd found his way to Pretoria was anyone's guess; Doctor Van Heerden and Mevrou Van Heerden, formerly Mevrou Booysens of the red-and-green-sucker-and-ten-toppings-on-a-one-legged-ice-cream-at-the-Impala-Café-fame; my loyal friend throughout, Lieutenant Jan van Niekerk and his ‘To thine own self be true' brother, the school principal; and, finally, my beloved ‘smelling of roses' Marie.

They cheered as I came out onto the forecourt and there commenced all-round congratulations and slaps on the back. People of every race in South Africa but one surrounded me, applauding the fact that justice had been served and the murder of a humble Zulu pig boy avenged. The only representative not present in this spontaneous cheering committee was a member of the African race.

After the unnecessary fuss had died down and I'd thanked my friends, I turned to face two people who stood waiting shyly several feet away. One of them was a woman who appeared to be in her late forties, who was barefoot and wore a faded cotton dress. Beside her stood a tall young African man, about my age, in a second-hand suit jacket and trousers that were too short and from which protruded a pair of magnificent platform feet.

‘May I introduce you all to Mrs Malokoane and her son, Mokiti “Joe Louis” Malokoane, from Zululand,' I announced proudly. Love had come full circle.

Glossary

Afrikaans
– language

Afrikaner
– one person

Afrikaners
– the people

Amabantu
– Bantu people of South Africa

Amazulu
– Zulu people

Askari
– policeman or soldier

assegaai
– spear

baasskap
– leadership, domination

bakkies
– utes, small trucks

bansela
– variation of
bonsella
, a free gift

Bantustans –
the homelands created by the Nationalist Government of South Africa

baraza
– public meeting

barbel
– mud-dwelling catfish

biltong
– beef or game jerky, sun-cured beef

Blut und Boden
– ‘blood and soil'. A phrase used by Hitler to mean that people of German descent (blood
)
have the right to live on German soil. The same phrase was used to fuel patriotism and nationalism among
Ossewabrandwag
members in South Africa.

bobbejane
– baboons

Boer/Boere
– Afrikaners

boer/boere
– farmers of Dutch and French descent

boeremense
– country people

Boerevolk/Volk
– Afrikaners

boerewors
– farm sausage

boet
– brother, younger or older

boetie
– brother, usually younger

boma
– an enclosure

bonsella
– a free gift

boom
– marijuana

braai
– abbreviation of
braaivleis

braaivleis
– a barbecue

Broederbond
– Brotherhood

buk
– bend down

charras
– South African slang for someone of Indian descent

chimboose
(Swahili) – kitchen (slang)

dagga
– marijuana

Dominee
– preacher or the minister of a church

domkop
– stupid person

donder
– thunder, to beat someone up

dorp
– village or small town

dwaal
– confused

Edelagbares
– Your Honours

eina!
– ouch!

Engelsman
– Englishman

fitina
– intrigue, tribal rows

foksterriër
– fox terrier

ganja
– marijuana

gat
– arse

githathi
– sacred stones used in Kikuyu rituals

goeie môre
– good morning

Habari yako? Jamaa endelaya mzuri?
(Swahili) – I hope that you and your family are well

Here
– God or Lord, used as in ‘God, man!'

hou vas
– hold tight

igwal
(isiZulu) – a coward

ikhaya
(isiZulu) – dwelling, house

in sy gat
– in his arse

Induna
(isiZulu) – big boss, headman

Injabulo, Baas
(isiZulu) – a pleasure, boss

inyama
(isiZulu) – meat

Itungati
– Mau Mau forest fighters

izinyawo ezinkulu zika Mattress
– Mattress's big feet

Jambo, Bwana
– hello, Boss

jankers
– punishment, detention (military slang)

japies
– simpletons

Juffrou
– Miss (an address, a sign of respect)

jy
– you

kaffir
– a derogatory term commonly used at this time to mean ‘nigger'

kaffirboetie
– a derogatory name for someone who befriends and is supportive of black people

kahle
(Zulu) – it is good or well done

kaptein
– captain

Karoo
– a very dry, arid region covering a large part of central South Africa

kêrel
– young man, chap, fellow, bloke

klaar
– finished with

Kleinbaas
– small boss. A semi-mark of respect used by Africans when referring to or talking to young white boys.

Kleinbasie
– as above but used for smaller or younger boys

kleinhuisie
– small house, outside lavatory

kloofs
– ravines or gorges

knopkierie
– club with a long shaft

koeksisters
– a traditional Afrikaner sweet made of plaited dough, fried in oil then soaked with sugar syrup

kom gou
– come quickly

kom hier
– come here

krans
– cliff, precipice, rock face, crag, high rock

ku salamu
(Swahili) – a greeting

kuke
– a derogatory name for black person and Mau Mau

laager
– a camp defended by a circular formation of wagons

lekker
– nice or good

maak
– make

maak gou
– hurry up

maats
– mates, friends

magtig
– powerful, potent, authorise

Magtig!
– Oh Lord!, Good Heavens!

makhulu
(Zulu) – big

Malokoane
– a dance group leader playing traditional flute-type instrument

maroela
– Afrikaans spelling of
marula

marula
– a much-loved tree found in the
veld
, one of Africa's botanical treasures

meerschaum
– pipe

melktert
– milktart, sweet tart akin to a custard tart

Meneer
– Mister (Mr), used alone it means ‘sir'
Glossary

Mevrou
– Missus (Mrs), a sign of respect

middag
– afternoon

mielie
– corn on the cob

mieliemeel
– ground corn/maize

mieliepap
– porridge made from ground corn