

The Mandela Effect

Vol 1.

Black and White

Eric.Blue

### Table of Contents

Preface

Author's Note

Chapter 01 - A Blast from the Past

Chapter 02 - Kill Mandela

Chapter 03 - Something about this Girl

Chapter 04 - Breaking News

Chapter 05 - Laying Down the Law

Chapter 06 - Township Times

Chapter 07 - Life on the Island

Chapter 08 - Great Discoveries

Chapter 09 - Apartheid's Watchdog

Chapter 10 - I have a Dream

Chapter 11 - Be Careful what You Wish For

Chapter 12 - A Tough Day for Pearce

Chapter 13 - Getting inside the head of Mugabe

Chapter 14 - Zimbabwean Transformation

Chapter 15 - A Visit to Gogo

Chapter 16 - Three is a Crowd

Chapter 17 - Tell Me More

Chapter 18 - The Race for the Truth

Chapter 19 - A Night in Mbabane

Chapter 20 - Lindiwe's Disclosure

Chapter 21 - Hanging on to Love

Chapter 22 - Immaculate Conception

Chapter 23 - Pieter Keeps his Secret

Chapter 24 - The Capture on the Border

Chapter 25 - The Grilling of a Lieutenant

Chapter 26 - Lockdown

Chapter 27 - Dead or Alive

Chapter 28 - Learning New Things

Chapter 29 - Apartheid Through a Looking Glass

Chapter 30 - Chaos Reigns

Chapter 31 - Pieter on the Trail

Chapter 32 - For Love of Thy Country

Chapter 33 - Pearce Hits the big time

Chapter 34 - The Race to Robben Island

Chapter 35 - On the Trail of a Killer

Chapter 36 - Flashback Time

Chapter 37 - Blocked and Frustrated

Chapter 38 - Out for the Count

Chapter 39 - Taking the Bullet

Chapter 40 - All over Bar the Shouting

Appendix

### Preface

Book <The Mandela Effect Trilogy>

Vol.1 Black and White, edition 1, published at 20 May 2020

**This book is FREE to read and download, visit** <https://eric.blue/b/mandela-effect>

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Eric Blue is a modern era storyteller who sees things differently than most writers do. He spots the 'story behind the story' and his mind works on the 'what could have been' scenario. He focuses on the mirror image to give the readers an in-depth look at how life could have been. His work may be fiction, but it also could be today's headline news. Eric's writing is built on a passion to boldly go where other writers seldom think about going. Kindly note that Eric's work is on a free-to-the-public basis.

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© Eric Blue 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the author. Brief extracts may be cited in book reviews, provided the narrative quoted is verbatim and due credit is given by way of the book title and name of author.

Although this is a reality-based novel, it is a work of fiction nonetheless. Names, characters, businesses and most incidents and events are either the products of the Author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, genuine businesses or actual incidents and events is purely coincidental. Artifacts, businesses, events, incidents, institutions, names and places evident and occurring in public domain source documents and resource repositories are true to life and therefore factual.

### Author's Note

Ever wondered about how it would be to go back in time and change history?

The satirical novel, The Mandela Effect, gives an insight into how a Rainbow Nation South Africa of 2010 celebrated the hosting of the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Of course, it wasn't always like that.

When a gas pipe blast in a local restaurant takes law student Lindiwe Buthelezi out of her comfort zone and back to the year 1987 when apartheid (racial segregation) was at its worst, she soon realises the important role that she has to play in following in her late mother's footsteps.

Lindiwe gets to experience the bad of Black and White on all fronts of life before getting to the blessings!

African National Congress icon Nelson Mandela is believed to be locked away on Robben Island for failing to renounce violence against the state. While some hard-line left wingers felt that Mandela may sell out to the apartheid government, several right-wing members believed that eliminating Mandela would send a strong message to the so-called communist liberation struggle.

Add in the African American duo of CNN political reporter Louise Burrell and Washington D.C.-based human rights lawyer Pearce Ellison, and the race is on to plot a smooth way to democracy for the New South Africa.

Eric Blue

May 2020

### Chapter 01 - A Blast from the Past

Goal! Siphiwe Tshabalala, the South African international winger had fired a left-footed drive across the body of Mexican goalkeeper Oscar Perez to put the host nation into the lead in their 2010 FIFA Group A match at Soccer City stadium on the fringe of the Soweto township, outside of Johannesburg.

For those at the stadium, the moment would be carved into their memory banks forever.

However, unlike the 84 490 fans who were able to witness the moment first-hand, many took the other option and enjoyed the game on the television screens in fan parks, pubs and lounges across South Africa.

Black and white people galvanised as one. Not even the 79th minute equalising goal from Mexico's Rafael Marquez could dampen the spirit as the match ended 1-all.

Bafana Bafana, as the South African men's senior football team are known, could play with the best.

At the far end of the bar counter inside the Vosloo Grill in Jorissen Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, nineteen-year-old bar lady Lindiwe Buthelezi shared in the moment. She wasn't a huge football fan but one day she would be able to tell her kids all about it.

Wearing a white dress with shoulder straps and a friendly smile, Lindiwe was certainly not difficult on the eye. Her tall, slim model-like figure and brown eyes was enough to catch the attention of most young men. However, there was much more to Lindiwe than just her looks.

The Mamelodi-based girl was a first year law student at the University of Pretoria. In the dark days of apartheid, very few black students, indeed girls, got an opportunity to study at what had been a tertiary Afrikaner stronghold.

The times, however, were changing fast. apartheid had effectively ended in 1990 when the African National Congress's iconic leader, Nelson Mandela, was released from prison after 27 years by South African President F.W. de Klerk.

His release brought in a new dawn for black South Africans. Previously, there looked like there was no future for anyone who did not have the correct credentials - a white skin.

The Vosloo Grill was packed to capacity as a mix of black and white people celebrated Bafana's result. Blacks and whites were mingling together discussing football.

Black and White?

No man! In the past, blacks and whites certainly did not mix and even if they did, the blacks discussed their favourite sport being football, while rugby was on the tongues of the white Afrikaner.

Of course, Lindiwe and her friends were the new generation. They had heard stories of how brutal the apartheid regime's South African Police were against black people, but were they really as bad as the black elders said it was?

No, it was worse. Any black person who stood up for their rights during the heart era of apartheid in the turbulent 1960s, 1970s or 1980s, was jailed or simply disappeared off of the face of the earth.

"Another drink, chomi (friend)!" requested the young Lerato Chuene to Lindiwe.

"The Friday night crowd at Vosloo Grill is always great but today is something else."

Lerato gazed at a group of young black men standing about two metres to her right. Like Lindiwe she was single and available, but the difference between the two girls was that Lindiwe was more focused on her law studies when she was not serving drinks at the Vosloo Grill.

Lindiwe had set a goal to end the year with an 80 percent aggregate while Lerato was quite happy to dip in just over the 55 percent mark. Lindiwe was eyeing a prosperous future in law while Lerato had discovered that there was more to life that just studying.

The sound of vuvuzela trumpet blasts could be heard in the street outside as excited fans got into the World Cup spirit.

Lindiwe tapped her neatly-painted fingernails on the bar counter to try and attract the attention of Thabo, the head bartender, who was rushed off his feet with the influx of the customers requiring drinks following the football match.

"Do you think it was that bad?" asked Lindiwe out of the blue.

Lerato looked at her.

"You mean the service here at the bar?" joked Lerato.

Lindiwe grinned.

"No, I meant South Africa in the apartheid days," explained Lindiwe.

"I mean, we keep hearing how brutal the system was against black people but it is so hard for us to imagine. Had this been the 1980s, you and I would certainly not have been allowed into this Sunnyside bar, or the University of Pretoria law class."

Lerato shrugged her shoulders.

"Where do these apartheid thoughts now come from?" questioned Lerato.

Lindiwe sighed and stepped on the bar foot rail with her right hand in the air to try and catch the attention of Thabo.

As her foot slipped from the rail, her body dropped ten centimetres to ground level and she caught sight of three black young men looking at Lerato and her.

Lerato also noticed the men looking at them following which the males immediately changed their focus in a bid to pretend that they had not been staring.

"Aren't you the popular one, chomi," remarked Lerato, who herself wasn't too difficult on the eye. A good fifty centimetres shorter than Lindiwe, Lerato had slightly rounder hips and larger breasts than her friend.

"What do you mean?" asked Lindiwe, in pretending that she never knew what her friend was talking about.

"7-o-clock," responded Lerato, as she tried to let her friend know of the direction where her admirers were seated.

Lindiwe glanced at the three men again and then turned her face to Lerato.

"I don't cradle-snatch," said Lindiwe as both girls burst out in wild fits of laughter.

"I don't know, _chomi_ ," said Lerato, with tears of laughter in her eyes and with her right hand placed over her aching ribs.

"I always thought of you as the perfect sugar mommy type."

"Very funny, _sisi_ (sister)," said Lindiwe, as she wiped some laughter tears from her face.

Finally, Lindiwe managed to attract the attention of Thabo, the barman, and soon, she passed an ice cold cider across to her friend.

"Seriously, _sisi_ , I mean, if we were in the mid-1980s now, we would probably be living in a shack in Mamelodi, possibly both pregnant with the neighbour's children," said Lindiwe.

"Remember, _Malome_ (uncle) Josiah who lived next door to you in Mamelodi East when we were growing up?" teased Lerato.

Lindiwe gasped.

"Malome Josiah? Oh, you mean the one with no teeth?"

Lerato giggled before taking in a sip of cider.

"He always pleaded poverty but I heard he was worth quite a bit when he died," said Lerato, as she wiped her cloth across the counter in front of Lindiwe in typical bar lady style.

"You could have been a rich _ragadi_ (aunt) now."

"Oh come on, sister, but now that you mention it, we really don't know how blessed we really are sitting here in 2010," summarised Lindiwe.

"If the Nationalist Party had kept Nelson Mandela behind bars for another ten to twenty years, we would hardly be studying law at the University of Pretoria."

Lerato nodded.

She had been friends with Lindiwe for over fifteen years and knew how the young Buthelezi liked to go down memory lane.

One of the young black men who had been eyeing Lindiwe made his way over to the bar to get another beer and accidently spilt what was left in his beer glass on to the blouse of Lerato.

" _Ekskies, sisi_ (sorry, sister)," said the well-built man.

" _Hamba, man_ (go away, man)," retorted Lerato as she wiped her blouse with a tissue.

Lerato wasn't born with the patience that Lindiwe had which probably explained why she battled to find a long-term boyfriend.

Lindiwe was different. Unlike Lerato, she was not looking for a long-term relationship. She saw her life as stepping stones and right now building a future was more important than men, marriage and kids.

Lerato placed the tissue down on the bar counter and instantly pulled her hand away. It was almost as if the bar counter had heated up a few degrees Celsius. She touched the counter again and speedily withdrew her hand. Yes, something was definitely up.

Above all the noise in the bar, she could make out a slight humming sound coming from the bar counter. Was there a fridge underneath the counter? However, fridges aren't hot!

Before she was able to refine her thought a popping sound was heard followed by a flash of light so bright that it flung most of the customers to the floor.

.......................

Lindiwe Buthelezi felt the world spinning in front of her eyes. She could make out that she was wearing that white dress with shoulder straps, but was forced to then close her eyes as her head thumped with pain.

Moments later, she managed to open her eyes again and the pain was gone. It didn't take long for her to work out that she was inside the Vosloo Grill, but things were different. The Wi-Fi router which had stood next to the cash register was gone. Also missing was the DSTV satellite decoder which had been behind the bar.

Where was Lerato? Was Lindiwe going mad? The young law student lost consciousness and the next thing that she could remember was awakening in a hospital bed.

"Bafana Bafana," she muttered.

"What is a Bafana Bafana?" asked the black nurse who was checking her blood pressure.

Lindiwe tried to sit up but the strain on her body was too great.

"Where is Lerato?" she asked to the nurse.

"Who is Lerato?" questioned the nurse.

"Is there World Cup football on television?" asked Lindiwe.

The nurse must have thought that the young patient was losing her mind.

"South Africa can't play in any World Cup sport because our country is suspended due to apartheid," explained the nurse.

"Where am I?" asked the law student.

"You are at Pretoria East General Hospital, sisi," said the nurse.

"It is a good thing that the paramedics got you here when they did."

Again, Lindiwe tried to sit upright.

"Lerato!" she screamed.

"Who is Lerato?" asked the nurse.

Lindiwe fell back on to her bed. She needed to rest and regain her strength, doctors' orders!

"DSTV," said Lindiwe, as she wiped her hands over her eyes.

"What?" said Nurse Gugu.

"MNET," mumbled Lindiwe.

"Oh, yes," exclaimed the nurse.

"Let me switch it on for you."

"Try the SuperSport channels," requested the patient.

"What, Ms Buthelezi, MNET only has one channel. They just launched last year in fact." (normal people will only say last year, and not the year in number)

Lindiwe's eye sockets stretched to the full. What was going on here? Did the nurse just say that MNET launched last year, or were they both or just she going mad?

Lindiwe tried to gather her thoughts.

"Are you a Nurse or a Sister in this hospital?" she asked to Gugu Molepo.

The nurse laughed.

"Us blacks will never be Sisters," she said.

"The apartheid government will make sure that we get the bare minimum in terms of rights and opportunities. Maybe, twenty years from now, if Mandela gets out, things will be different."

Lindiwe shook her head viciously.

So Mandela was still being held captive by the Nationalist Party government, thought Lindiwe.

At least the nurse's comment indicated that Nelson Mandela was still alive so that was a good thing.

Again, Lindiwe wiped her hands over her eyes. What was going on? Apparently she was in 1987, but people knew her name?

How did she get from 2010 to 1987?

"You seem quite interested in the news, so should I change the MNET channel to the SABC news for you?" asked Gugu Molepo.

Lindiwe nodded gracefully.

Without waiting on Lindiwe's response, Gugu changed the channel on the television set.

The face of South African President P.W. Botha immediately appeared and his words hit home.

"I am not prepared to lead white South Africans and other minority groups on a road to abdication and suicide," said the country's No 1, while standing at a podium in Pretoria.

The _Groot Krokodil_ (the Big Crocodile), as Botha was known, was in top form, waving his right index finger to get his point across.

"As soon as Nelson Mandela renounces violence and undertakes not to start violence in South Africa, government will release him," Botha went on.

A cold sweat broke out down the face of Lindiwe.

What was going on here? Who was this Botha character and why was Mandela in jail?

Moments later, another white politician in a suit appeared. His surname was also Botha, and who went by the nickname of 'Pik'. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was addressing media after the convention in Pretoria where his boss has delivered the key note address.

The Minister was being questioned on the South West Africa issue.

South Africa still currently governed their northern border neighbours, but there was international pressure for South West Africa to become an independent country.

The South African government were weary of the communist Cuban support for Angola, just north of South West Africa, and would not give independence to South West Africa until the Cuban troops had returned home.

"No", thought Lindiwe, this was all wrong. Her mind raced as she battled to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. Then she folded back the top sheet on the bed and tried to get from the bed to her feet.

"Don't do that," shouted Gugu Molepo, as she rushed over to help the patient.

"You are still on a drip and need to preserve your strength."

" _Ausi_ , please help," said Lindiwe as she collapsed in the arms of the nurse and passed out.

Clearly, the spirit of Lindiwe Buthelezi was battling to come to terms with how South Africa used to be.

"Everything will be fine, Sis Lindiwe, everything will be fine," said the nurse.

### Chapter 02 - Kill Mandela

In 1987, P.W. Botha was not only the country's President. He was a hero to many, at least those born with white skins.

However, there was something that most white South Africans admired even more than _Die Groot Krokodil._

Rugby! In Pretoria, Northern Transvaal, affectionately known as the Blue Bulls because of their jersey colour and on-field tenacity, were idolised by many.

People event painted their houses blue in support of the team and the favourite Afrikaans name was Naas, to herald the South African and Northern Transvaal fly-half kingpin, Naas Botha.

While the crowds streamed in to take up their regular seats to watch the Currie Cup rugby action at Northern Transvaal's Loftus Versfeld stadium fortress, a conversation with a difference was happening at the Vosloo Grill.

Off-duty policemen in the form of Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus and his superior, Colonel Jaap Cornelius, were knocking back Lion Lager beers as they pondered over the future of their country.

It had been a sombre week for the two cops. The African National Congress and their alliance partners was the enemy of the state, affectionately known as the 'Underground Movement'.

Two days earlier, Pieter and Jaap had attended a function that they did not enjoy. Police Constables Jacques Cronje, Leon van Zyl and Kerneels Jansen, had joined an underground movement. All three were now in their coffins and below ground level, courtesy of being on the receiving end of a fatal explosion fifty kilometres north of Pretoria.

The ANC cadres, part of the movement's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), were known to be pretty good at planting landmines.

The situation was even more personal to Colonel Jaap Cornelius, in his late thirties, as he had been the godfather to twenty two-year-old Kerneels Jansen.

" _Gee my n kans om al die swart fokkers vrek to skiet_ (give me a chance to shoot all of the black fuckers)," said Jaap in a stern voice as he sat next to Pieter at the bar counter inside the venue.

" _Hulle het geen respek vir ander mense nie. Ons sal nooit met hierdie spul in vrede kan saamleef nie_ (They have no respect for other people. We will never be able to live in peace with this bunch)."

Twenty four-year-old Pieter nodded. While Jaap seemed to have no problems in shooting blacks, the Lieutenant had something bigger on his mind.

" _Daar is net een oplossing vir hierdie land_ (there is only one solution for this country)," muttered Pieter.

Jaap waited patiently to hear his colleague's next sentence.

" _Iemand moet vir Nelson Mandela doodmaak_ (someone must kill Nelson Mandela)," quipped Pieter.

" _Dit is die enigste taal wat die klomp barbare verstaan_ (it is the only language that this bunch of barbarians understand)."

" _Weet jy waar die regering vir Mandela agter tralies hou_ (do you know where the government are keeping Mandela imprisoned)?" asked Jaap.

" _Die Intelligensie afdeling papiere wys dat hy nie meer op Robbeneiland is nie_ (the Intelligence department papers shows that he is no longer on Robben Island)."

" _Glo jy vir ons base_ (do you believe our bosses)?" asked Pieter.

Jaap did not answer. Instead he slammed his right fist on top of the bar counter to attract the attention of the barman, Jan de Koker, in an attempt to get another round of beers.

" _Ek kan dit doen, Kolonel, jy weet ek kan_ (I can do it, Colonel, you know I can)," said Pieter.

" _Ek wil geskiedenis maak as die man wat Suid-Afrika van die swartes gered het_ (I want to go down in history as the man who saved South Africa from the blacks)."

" _As jy die kans kry_ (if you get the chance)," replied Jaap, as he adjuted his large body frame on the barstool.

" _Wat bedoel jy_ (what do you mean)?" questioned the Lieutenant.

Jaap looked to his left and then to his right to make sure nobody was listening in on their conversation.

" _Ek weet nie hoe lank_ P.W. Botha nog President van die land gaan wees nie (I don't know for how much longer P.W. Botha will still be President of the country)," said Jaap.

" _Sekerlik, die ANC kan hom nie uitwis nie_ (surely the ANC can't eliminate him)?" asked Pieter.

" _Die ANC is nie ons enigste probleem nie_ (the ANC is not our only problem),"explained Jaap.

" _Die regter vleuel het planne om die regering oorteneem_ (the right wing has plans to take over the government)."

Pieter puffed out his cheeks.

" _Jy bedoel die AWB_ (you mean the AWB)?" he asked.

The _Afrikanerweerstandsbeweging_ , better known as the AWB, wielded much militant support among the Afrikaners, and many felt that even hard-lined apartheid men such as PW Botha, were becoming too soft in their approach to the challenge posed by the ANC.

The AWB, led by the no-nonsense Eugene Terblanche, controlled the hearts and minds of many Afrikaners, including several key decision-makers in the ranks of the apartheid army, police and other forms of law enforcement.

Neither Pieter nor Jaap were members of the AWB. Their first calling was to protect the South African government from the ANC and any other threat to the country's minority rule.

Pieter let his mind wonder over the latest information from Jaap. The elimination of Mandela would make the AWB happy and perhaps prove the point that P.W. Botha was here to stay and a one man-one vote system in South Africa was still a pipedream.

Jaap swirled a mouthful of beer in his mouth and thought carefully before speaking.

" _Ek kan vir jou tot by the Kaap kry_ (I can get you to the Cape)," he eventually said.

" _Hoe so_ (how)?" asked Pieter.

Jaap explained that the Western Cape South African Police unit was preparing to see off a major black uprising at the Gugulethu Township, outside of Cape Town.

Police reinforcements had been requested to be sent through from Pretoria, and this created the perfect opportunity for Pieter to travel to the Mother City, as Cape Town is known.

Following the tussle in the township, Jaap's plan was for Pieter to abscond and to make his way to the Cape Town railway station, where he would phone Jaap's police contact, which would get him from the harbour to Robben Island.

From there, Pieter would be on his own. Jaap could not help any further as nobody was keen to say whether or not Mandela was still on the island, or indeed whether the ANC man was still breathing.

" _Moet ek n polisie pistool gebruik teen Mandela_ (must I use a police pistol against Mandela)?" asked Pieter.

Jaap shook his head.

" _Ek ken die regte persoon wat vir jou die perfect geweer sal gee vir dir taak_ (I know the right person who will give you the perfect gun for the task)," grinned the Colonel.

Pieter didn't press the issue any further. He wasn't sure whether Jaap would provide the weapon himself or if he was going to source it elsewhere. Quite frankly, the Lieutenant didn't care. His focus was simple... Kill Mandela.

While censorship on the ANC and its alliance partners was tight, Pieter did know that Mandela was not the be-all and end-all of the uprising. It was impossible for one man to be working alone against the apartheid regime.

However, the one man was the one that needed to be removed in order to make the ANC retreat into its shell. What they would do next was anyone's guess but at least the assassination would send out a clear message to any black opponent who wanted to put white minority rule to the test.

Pieter poured the last contents from his Lion Lager beer bottle into his glass.

" _Wat is the ergeste wat kan gebeur as ek vir Mandela doodskiet_ (what is the worst that can happen if I shoot Mandela dead)?" asked the Lieutenant.

Jaap looked at him.

" _Stel maar so, vier miljoen wittes sal jou hand wil skud_ (put it this way, four million whites will want to shake your hand)," replied the Colonel.

Pieter rubbed his chin with his left hand, while clutching on to his beer glass with his right.

" _Kolonel, wat sal gebeur as the AWB oorvat_ (Colonel, what will happen if the AWB do take over)?" he asked.

Jaap put his beer glass down on the bar counter.

" _Dir maak nie saak of P.W. Botha se manne of die AWB in beheer is nie_ (it doesn't matter if P.W. Botha's men or the AWB are in charge)," remarked the Colonel.

" _Suid-Afrika is afgesny van die wereld. Maar fok die wereld. Ons is fyn net soos ons is_ (South Africa is cut off from the world. But fuck the world. We are fine just like we are)."

Even Jaap was battling to believe himself. The South Africa situation was one big mess. International sanctions had crippled the economy and the well-oiled apartheid machine needed just that... Oil!

Few in the oil industry were keen to touch South Africa. However, Belgian-born Marcus Rich felt different about it all and was happy to go anti-world by doing oil deals with Libya, Iran, Cuba and the Botha government.

Multi-millionaire Rich had a bit of a dodgy business career and years later in 2001, only a final-day-in-office presidential pardon from US President Bill Clinton, got a serious tax evasion case off of his shoulders.

However, this was 1987 and the South African government was only willing to accept the help from men like Rich when other international so-called friends showed them the middle finger.

Yes, thought Pieter. South Africa can survive on its own Stuff the world.

Pieter's thought pattern was broken as Jaap interrupted.

" _Ek het nog n bietjie nuus_ (I have some more news)," said the Colonel as he straightened the collar on his blue golf shirt.

" _My bron by die Parliament vertel dat P.W. Botha baie ongelukkig is dat sekere van sy top manne in die kabinet blykbaar Lusaka toe was om to onderhandel met die ANC leiers_ (my contact in Parliament told me that P.W. Botha is very upset having learnt that some of his top men in his Cabinet have been to Lusaka to negotiate with the ANC leaders)."

This news sapped the energy out of Pieter. "What? Why are Cabinet Ministers meeting with the ANC leaders in exile without the permission of P.W. Botha?" This amounted to treason.

Pieter was too shocked to ask Jaap for the names of the Cabinet Ministers who had made the trip to meet with the in-exile ANC top brass in the Zambian capital.

Eliminating Mandela had to be done soonest before the Botha government was removed by one of several forces.

Maybe he would get lucky on Robben Island and be able to take out more than one ANC top dog. That is of course, if the captured ANC men were on the island!

" _Wat dink jy_ (what are you thinking)?" asked Jaap.

Pieter's eyes were blood red. Not from crying or even a large intake of alcohol, but from the very thought of the task that he was to carry out.

" _Ek dink dat die gouer dat ek in die Kaap kom, die beter_ (I am thinking that the quicker I get to the Cape, the better)," replied Pieter.

He had already developed a strategy that ten blacks must be killed for every white who perished. That was easy to do, but the No 1 priority was to eliminate Mandela. He needed to do it before someone else did, for the sake of his country.

Jaap gulped back the last of his beer just in time as Naas Botha put the icing on the cake in slotting a drop-goal to allow Northern Transvaal to thrash Transvaal at Loftus Versfeld

The white crowd inside the Vosloo Grill erupted. If Pieter had his way, the applause would go his way after doing the deed on Robben Island.

Pieter Erasmus would be a national hero in the eyes of the whites. As for the blacks, stuff them, they are and always will be second-rate citizens in a country that they would never govern, he thought.

" _Dis tyd om jou goed to gaan pak want die polisie vervoer Kaap toe waai twaalfuur_ (it is time for you to go pack because the police transport to the Cape leaves at midnight)," quipped Jaap.

The Lieutenant nodded and swallowed down what was left of his beer.

Whether he got captured or not after committing the deed on the island was not important to him. Pieter was on a mission to save his country from the so-called liberators. Besides shooting a black or ten was quite an appealing thought to him.

" _Geen meer polisie begrafnisse tot Mandela dood is nie_ (no more police funerals until Mandela is dead)," said Pieter, as he held out his right hand to Jaap to shake.

" _Die saak is reg_ (all is in order)," replied Jaap with a wink, as he shook the hand of his Lieutenant.

Pieter opened the Vosloo Grill door for his superior to walk through. Something in his spirit told him that he would one day return.

South Africa had too many of the proverbial chiefs and not enough Indians. It was time for Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus to step up to the plate.

If he had his way, Nelson Mandela's days were numbered.

The thought of why nobody had previously tried to carry out the hit on the world's most famous prisoner, did not even go through Pieter's mind.

He was on an adrenalin rush second to none. He thought of Ian Fleming's James Bond movies. Pieter was indeed 'licenced to kill' like the 007 agent but the difference was that Pieter was the bad guy.

He lived by the motto that there was no such thing as a clever crook, but like hell if he was going to stand by and watch the ANC and their cronies take over the running of South Africa.

He had no intention of saluting a black boss in the future.

You live by the sword, you die by the sword! That is the lesson that Pieter needed to teach to Nelson Mandela!

### Chapter 03 - Something about this Girl

Whether it was midday or midnight did not really matter to Lindiwe Buthelezi, as she lay on her back in a bed at the Pretoria East Hospital.

Suddenly a white man in a doctor's coat appeared around the corner of a grey curtain next to her bed.

Lindiwe gulped. What was going on here? A black nurse and then a white doctor!

"Buthelezi?" asked the doctor, tall and in his late thirties.

"You are lucky to be alive after that gas pipe blast. Some of your friends were not at lucky as you were."

Lindiwe remained silent as she tried to take in what the doctor had just said.

She stared at the name tag on the doctor's white coat.

Johnson!

"A white doctor treating a black woman in 1987?" thought Lindiwe.

Back in the townships, most blacks were cautious of any white person who tried to help them. There were rumours of white medical people injecting poison into the bodies of blacks. Was she about to become another apartheid statistic?

"I didn't know that white doctors worked in this part of the hospital?" said Lindiwe, who then wished that she hadn't.

Lindiwe had been an overnight patient in a hospital on two occasions before, for minor operations such as tonsilitis and treatment of a fractured wrist when she fell off a wall in Mamelodi while playing as a kid.

On all of the occasions, she had been treated by white doctors.

"Am I going to live, Doctor?" asked Lindiwe, as she gripped the hospital sheet with her fingers.

Doctor Craig Johnson smiled.

"You have a few cuts, bumps and bruises and you hit your head quite badly during the blast, but you are going to be just fine," said the doctor.

"I imagine you may have cut yourself on some of the beer glasses which you were cleaning behind the bar counter when you fell."

She slowly lifted the hospital linen and stared down at the white dress that she was wearing. It was her mother's dress from years back and ... Hello, what is this? It was a Vosloo Grill logo on the front top left side.

Oh my gosh, Craig Johnson was right! What is going on here? Lindiwe Jnr, University of Pretoria law student of 2010, you are now living the life of Lindiwe Snr, waitress of 1987!

For a moment, Lindiwe had more than cuts and bruises to worry about. She was battling to take in air. Was she breathing for two Lindiwes or was she on the brink of having a heart attack?

The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were beginning to fall into place in her mind. Lindiwe Jnr is how people see you.

Her mind shifted back to Nelson Mandela and what P.W. Botha had said about him on the television news.

This made Lindiwe think about what her father had once told her about the ANC man.

Lindiwe took in a sip of water from a plastic cup which had been placed on a small table next to her bed.

She needed to get all the facts straight in her head. Her father had once told her that her mother, Lindiwe Snr, had once stopped a man from carrying out the most evil dead that once could do in South Africa. Someone had wanted to get to Robben Island to kill Nelson Mandela and Lindiwe had saved the day.

However, there was one piece of information which had not been shared with Lindiwe Jnr and that was the identity of the potential hitman.

Now, with Lindiwe Jnr back in 1987 and Mandela seemingly alive and still locked up by his apartheid oppressors, what if history was to repeat itself?

Having been a part of the future, Lindiwe knew just how important Mandela was to the blooming of a New South Africa. If someone eliminated him, goodness knows how history would turn out for the most southern country on the African continent!

Despite being on medication to control the pain from her wounds sustained during the bomb blast, Lindiwe was able to think straight.

It was becoming clearer to her that she had been sent back to the past to save South Africa. "What if Mandela kicked the bucket...?" No Lindiwe, let's not even think that way!

Of course, if she knew the identity of the man who had been on a mission to kill Mandela, that would have helped much, as the potential killer could well look to strike again.

As the apartheid leaders suspected, a hit on Mandela could come from the left or right wing. If the left wing felt that he was too lenient in starting talks with the ruling Nationalist Party, they could deliver the hit.

Likewise, some crackpot conservative-minded Afrikaner wanting to make news headlines could also look to deliver the fatal bullet.

Lindiwe needed to get to Cape Town, to Robben Island and to Mandela sooner rather than later.

"So how long do you think I will still be here?" asked Lindiwe to Doctor Craig Johnson.

"You should be discharged by early next week," said the medical man.

Lindiwe winced, not out of pain but from frustration.

"What is today's date?" she asked.

"It is Friday, 12 June," replied the doctor.

That could be another three or so days here in the hospital. That was too long. She needed to get out on to the street as soon as possible.

Lindiwe placed her hands over face. It was like she could remember parts of the future but not everything. She realised the importance of Mandela, but couldn't quite work out just when he would be released from prison and who he would negotiate with as far as the New South Africa was concerned.

It was like she could only see bits and pieces of the new dawn of South Africa. She could make out that a civil war was highly unlikely to happen. However, if someone got to Mandela before she did that could all change.

She began to stretch her memory banks for more information on what her father had told her about the Mandela situation. It wasn't easy as the press was censored and the faces of Mandela and his fellow prisoners on Robben Island.

Even the famous Drum Magazine was banned. Any person, black or white, who was seen to be opposing the apartheid machine, was declared an enemy of the state.

.......................

Meanwhile, in Pretoria, the apartheid propaganda machine was about to be put into full swing. With the world crying for the Nationalist Party government to release Mandela and his co-accused of treason, South Africa's circle of friends was getting smaller by the hour.

Economic sanctions were sending the once proud South African Rand to the dogs. P.W. Botha's brain-trust needed a plan.

" _Haai julle_ (hey, you guys)," said one brain spark in a packed meeting room at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

" _Wat as ons vir hulle vertel dat Mandela oorlede is_ (what if we tell them that Mandela is dead)?"

"Ja (yes)!" shouted another in the room.

" _Ons is Suid-Afrika. Die wereld haat ons. Niemand gaan die Mandela liggaam will sien nie. Hulle weet nie eers hoe lyke hy nie_. (We are South Africa. The world hates us. Nobody will want to see the Mandela corpse. They don't even know what he looks like."

Going for broke seemed to be the way out of a tricky situation. What was the worst that could happen? After an hour of caucusing, the bigwigs of SA politics were ready to give their cutting edge plan over the phone to P.W. Botha.

The plan was simple enough to action. The guards on Robben Island would be divided into two groups. Those that could keep their mouths shut would work the midnight shift. On a certain night, Mandela would disappear out of his prison cell and be ferried to the mainland where he would be kept in a 'safe house' where the Nationalist Party negotiators would try and work his mind in their favour.

The real line given to the world would be that Nelson Mandela had kicked the proverbial bucket. Funeral arrangements would follow soon.

Bingo! The plan was a winner. Not only would the strategy keep Mandela safe and in the hands of the apartheid men, but it would also move him away from any of his prisoner cohorts on the island, who may plant violent thoughts in his mind.

Mandela was no fool but was known to be a good listener and a seeker of advice. He believed that many minds brought about a great idea.

To action all of the above, nobody, including the B team security guards, would be allowed to go anywhere near the Mandela prison cell.

All would be implemented in the dark and at extreme short notice so that Mandela's fellow prisoners would also be none the wiser.

No press would be allowed across to Robben Island. This was usually the case but the implementation of the laws would be increased dramatically.

So the apartheid regime killed Mandela, the world would say. Government wasn't too worried about that. A doctor would be well paid to sign off a crooked death certificate that would indicate that Mandela passed on from pneumonia.

He died because of the cold and dirty conditions of the prison on the island, many would state.

No, the government would reply. People, and not all of them prisoners, do pass away from pneumonia.

The medical team had tried their best to care for Mandela, but when it is one's time to go and meet your maker then so be it. Nobody can change the plans or the timelines of God.

This was the world of P.W. Botha. His South Africa may be cut off from the world, but he believed that he was always one step ahead of anyone else on the globe.

Yes, Botha's boys were brilliant and the rest of the world was fools!

So who would go on television and make the announcement of Mandela's death. Well, nobody had to because most South Africans did not know who Mandela was due to the strict censorship rules.

Those who knew a bit about him certainly did not know much about the Freedom Charter adopted by the Congress of the People in Kliptown, near Johannesburg in 1955.

This was the core document that was the guideline of the liberation struggle and the most hated piece of paper in the eyes of Botha and company.

The People shall govern!

Every man and woman shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a candidate for all bodies which make laws;

All people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country;

The rights of the people shall be the same, regardless of race, colour or sex;

All bodies of minority rule, advisory boards, councils and authorities shall be replaced by democratic organs of self-government.

All National Groups shall have Equal Rights!

There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races;

All people shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own folk culture and customs;

All national groups shall be protected by law against insults to their race and national pride;

The preaching and practice of national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable crime;

All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside.

The People Shall Share In The Country's Wealth!

The national wealth of our country, the heritage of all South Africans, shall be restored to the people;

The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole;

All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the people;

All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.

The Land Shall Be Shared Among Those Who Work It!

Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land redivided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger;

The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers;

Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land;

All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose;

People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour and farm prisons shall be abolished.

All Shall Be Equal Before The Law!

No one shall be imprisoned, deported or restricted without a fair trial;

No one shall be condemned by the order of any Government official;

The courts shall be representative of all the people;

Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance;

The police force and army shall be open to all on an equal basis and shall be the helpers and protectors of the people;

All laws which discriminate on grounds of race, colour or belief shall be repealed.

All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!

The law shall guarantee to all their right to speak, to organise, to meet together, to publish, to preach, to worship and to educate their children;

The privacy of the house from police raids shall be protected by law;

All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town, from province to province, and from South Africa abroad;

Pass Laws, permits and all other laws restricting these freedoms shall be abolished.

There Shall Be Work And Security!

All who work shall be free to form trade unions, to elect their officers and to make wage agreements with their employers;

The state shall recognise the right and duty of all to work, and to draw full unemployment benefits;

Men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work;

There shall be a forty-hour working week, a national minimum wage, paid annual leave, and sick leave for all workers, and maternity leave on full pay for all working mothers;

Miners, domestic workers, farm workers and civil servants shall have the same rights as all others who work;

Child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished.

The Doors Of Learning And Of Culture Shall Be Opened!

The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life;

All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands;

The aim of education shall be to teach the youth to love their people and their culture, to honour human brotherhood, liberty and peace;

Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children;

Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit;

Adult illiteracy shall be ended by a mass state education plan;

Teachers shall have all the rights of other citizens;

The colour bar in cultural life, in sport and in education shall be abolished.

There Shall Be Houses, Security And Comfort!

All people shall have the right to live where they choose, to be decently housed, and to bring up their families in comfort and security;

Unused housing space to be made available to the people;

Rent and prices shall be lowered, food plentiful and no one shall go hungry;

A preventive health scheme shall be run by the state;

Free medical care and hospitalisation shall be provided for all, with special care for mothers and young children;

Slums shall be demolished, and new suburbs built where all have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, crèches and social centres;

The aged, the orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state;

Rest, leisure and recreation shall be the right of all;

Fenced locations and ghettoes shall be abolished, and laws which break up families shall be repealed.

There Shall Be Peace And Friendship!

South Africa shall be a fully independent state, which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations;

South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation-not war;

Peace and friendship amongst all our people shall be secured by upholding the equal rights, opportunities and status of all;

The people of the protectorates-Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland-shall be free to decide for themselves their own future;

The right of all the peoples of Africa to independence and self-government shall be recognized and shall be the basis of close co-operation.

Let all who love their people and their country now say, as we say here:

'THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY.'

### Chapter 04 - Breaking News

Stressed, tired and confused. That summed up Lindiwe Buthelezi's mood as she stepped from a twenty four hour bus trip from Pretoria to Cape Town Railway Station.

Escaping from the Pretoria East hospital had been a mission in its own right, let alone the bus trip down to the Mother City.

She found herself living on a diet on headache pills. At least they seemed to numb the pain from the cuts and bruises on her body. Right now, the Vosloo Grill gas pipe blast was furthest from her mind. She was a woman on her own mission.

Lindiwe needed to find the potential killer who was on a mission to eliminate Nelson Mandela. Faceless he but Lindiwe was confident she would know the person when spotting the individual.

She made her way into a small coffee bar at the Cape Town Railway Station and ordered a coffee. The white lady behind the counter serving the coffee looked at Lindiwe suspiciously. "A white woman serving a black? No, what was this country coming to?"

Lindiwe looked at the large clock on the wall inside the coffee bar area. It was 09h00 and the railway station was quite busy. People were rushing to meetings. Of course, it was mainly white people who frequented the range of shops inside the large building.

She tried to spot a few black people but they were hard to see. Coloured people, yes. These were plenty of them, but very few black people seemed to be making use of the trains or the shops or eating places there.

Many blacks felt that apartheid would never end or at least not in their respective lifetimes. There seemed to be no solution on the horizon as far as creating a one-man-one-vote state or equality for all. The station reeked of white superiority.

"Yeah, you can put extra cream in the coffee, how much will that be?" asked a woman with a strong American accent to the lady behind the counter.

Lindiwe cast an eye to see who the visitor was. She didn't have to turn her head much as the American took up a seat at the small table next to which she was seated.

Lindiwe smiled at the white American who was in her early thirties.

Louise Burrell took a folder out of her briefcase and placed it on the table. Lindiwe noted the CNN logo on the folder and knew enough to know that it represented the 24-hour Atlanta-based television news network.

Louise, dressed in a grey overcoat and with her brown hair tied back in a ponytail, took out some papers and one word on the top sheet, caught Lindiwe's eye - MANDELA.

Lindiwe pushed up the sleeves of her brown jersey and chose her words carefully.

"You know about Mandela?" she asked and then wished she hadn't.

Louise tore open a white sugar sachet and then poured its contents into her coffee cup.

"Not many people here seem to know that Mandela holds the key to a transition from apartheid to a democratic country," smiled Louise.

Lindiwe smiled in return. At last, here is a white person, albeit a foreigner had some understanding that South Africa was not a normal country.

"You can say that again, sister," replied Lindiwe.

Wait a moment. Did Lindiwe just refer to a white person as a 'sister'? If a cop was nearby she would have been handcuffed and thrown in the back of a police van for saying that she thought she was at the same level as a white woman.

"What do you think of Mandela?" asked Louise.

Lindiwe cleared her throat.

"To be honest, I don't know too much about his personal life, but if something happens to that old man, history could take a turn for the worst in this country," quipped Lindiwe.

Lindiwe took out her red lipstick and pulled a small mirror from her handbag, as she began touching up her make up.

"How long do you think it will be until Apartheid falls?" asked Louise out of interest.

"Possibly another seven years," gauged Lindiwe.

Louise sighed. Had she come to South Africa too early? Anyway, something made her decide to confide in Lindiwe.

She sat forward in her chair to make sure that nobody was listening in on the conversation.

"I am going to meet Mandela later today," said the CNN political television reporter.

"It has been cleared with the state security. I am so excited to be going to Robben Island. They just won't let me go near his prison cell though. I will meet him in an office on the island."

Lindiwe felt a new sense of energy flow through her body.

What she wouldn't do to be on the ferry with Louise to the island!

How could she go with Louise? Maybe she could carry the luggage for the CNN reporter. That is what black South Africans were forced to do for white people, right?

"Can you keep a secret?" quipped Louise.

Lindiwe nodded.

"I am informed that Mandela's release from prison is imminent," said the reporter.

"It is the only way that the South African government can stop the black on white violence and economic sanctions against the country."

Courtesy of a tip-off, CNN had sent Louise to South Africa in expectance of the release of Mandela.

However, the media had been fooled before. P.W. Botha was meant to read the Rubicon Speech in Durban in 1985, which would have brought about the release of the ANC men that were in captivity.

Back then, Foreign Affairs Minister Pik Botha had put the court before the horse by telling some media that a huge announcement was to be made.

When it came to reading the speech, P.W. Botha read all out loud except the part relating to the release of the ANC stalwarts.

Louise's eyes continued to sparkle Was she about to break the biggest story on the planet? Was South African society about to change forever?

"Until now, a black person looking or talking to a white person was deemed to be a sin in the eyes of the National Party who brainwashed the white people of South Africa into thinking their way." said Lindiwe.

"If your sources are correct, millions of black lives could change within days or weeks," added the excited law student.

Louise grinned.

How close was South Africa to having equal rights for all? Would Nelson Mandela be the country's first democratically-elected black president?

Wow! The thoughts were mind-boggling.

Lindiwe knew that many black people had laid down their lives in battle against the apartheid forces in order to get to this stage. If Louise was telling the truth, the history books of not only Africa, but the world, were about to be rewritten.

Lindiwe pinched her left arm in order to bring herself back to reality. She suddenly remembered her goal.

"I need to get to Robben Island too, sister," quipped the younger woman.

Louise looked puzzled.

"Excuse me for asking, but why do you need to go to the island?" questioned the reporter.

"Do you have a relative locked in one of the prison cells there?"

Lindiwe took the bait that was being offered.

"Yes, I do but the authorities won't let me visit him. Please help me to see my long last uncle."

Lindiwe tried her best to force some tears to come out of her eyes.

This time it was Louise who took the bait, hook, line and sinker. The American woman needed allies.

"Fine, I will help you," said Louise.

"You will have to speak with an American accent and pretend to be my media assistant. I know that the South African authorities won't enjoy seeing a black person venturing on to the island, but these are changing times so let us show them the future rather than the present or past."

"Yeah," said Lindiwe, as she tested her American vocabulary and both women giggled.

To Lindiwe, it was as if her whole world had changed in just over a day and a half. From escaping from Pretoria East Hospital, to a long and boring bus trip from Pretoria to Cape Town during which she pondered on how she was going to get across to Robben Island.

Now it was like God had sent an angel to make a way for her. Louise Burrell was an angel who had just provided her with a golden ticket.

Again, she felt positive that she would know the potential assassin of Nelson Mandela when she saw him. Her spirit would guide her. It already was. Lindiwe's spirit was telling her that Louise Burrell definitely was the person that God had sent to help her.

If only Lindiwe's father had given her the identity of the would-be-killer all those years ago. Who was the mysterious person that her mother had stopped from eliminating Mandela?

Louise Burrell glanced at Lindiwe Buthelezi.

"Well, you certainly can't go to Robben Island dressed like you are," said the reporter with a wry smile.

"Nobody will believe that you are a journalist. Let's get you a change of clothes and a notepad and pen. You need to look the part or else you will give the game away."

Lindiwe grinned.

"Is my fashion sense that bad?" she asked jokingly.

"No, it is actually too good," responded Louise.

"When have you ever seen a well-dressed journalist? Media pay isn't that great unless you are an editor or media company board member. So it is a case of affordability."

"In America, many journalists attend media briefings wearing jeans or sometimes shorts if the weather is good," continued Louise.

"I am not saying that you must wear jeans or short to Robben Island but a dress won't do."

Lindiwe looked down at the bottom of the white dress that she was wearing. If only the dress could talk. The garment could tell a few stories from her mother's days through to the blast in the Vosloo Grill in 2010 and then back to 1987.

Louise was right. Besides the white dress was no longer white and needed a good wash.

The two ladies finished their coffees and headed out into the main area of the train station. The building was large with a high roof and was the home of twenty four platforms for trains to either begin or end their journeys. The last few platforms were the glamour ones. That is where the holiday-mode famous, luxury Blue Train and Trans Karoo trains were usually found.

Many people visited the platforms there just to take photographs of the famous trains, knowing that they would probably never have the cash to travel on them. Of course, it was only the white people who took such trips or photographs.

Louise and Lindiwe walked to the far end of the railway station and out into the city. They crossed the busy street next to the Golden Acre amid some strange looks from some of the white people.

Lindiwe could read the minds of the whites who were staring at her. _Oh look, this white woman is taking her domestic worker to town._

That is how it was in South Africa in 1987. If a black person was with a white person, the black had to be the white person's maid or gardener. What else could they be when blacks were prohibited from entering whites-only areas due to the Group Areas Act.

If a black person was given a bag of clothes or other goods by their white employer, they needed a note to go with it, or else if stopped by the police, it would be thought that the goods were stolen.

Louise spotted a small clothing shop next to the large Woolworths store on the corner of Adderley and Strand streets and tugged at Lindiwe's arm to move her in that direction.

Once inside the store, a white lady greeted both woman and seemed to take a liking to Lindiwe.

"Don't worry, we sell goods to all clients regardless of race, colour or creed," said the woman.

Of course, this all seemed a bit strange to Louise as America was quite different to this. Yes, America also had their own black vs white issues going back centuries, but people could buy or sell their goods where they pleased, regardless of skin colour. No explanation was ever needed.

Louise spotted a range of blouses and eventually decided on two items for Lindiwe to choose from. Then she focused on a selection of women's slacks pants. Once Lindiwe had made up her mind she went to a small change room to try on the clothing and it fitted like a glove.

Louise smiled. These were all experiences that few people would get. She would write her own biography one day so that her grandchildren would know what she did with her life.

Now it was time to pay and Louise suddenly realised that she had a problem. She had used what little South African Rands she had on her to pay for her overnight accommodation in Johannesburg before heading to Cape Town. Then of course, her small change had covered her coffee bill at the railway station.

"Oh no, madam, I can't accept US Dollars as payment as much as I would like too," said the shop manager, as Louise offered to pay in her own currency.

This was becoming embarrassing. Louise left Lindiwe at the shop and headed off up Adderley Street to Standard Bank where she changed some Dollars into South African Rands.

Back at the shop, she paid for the clothing and Louise dressed up in it before the pair headed off.

Lindiwe spotted a Central News Agency (CNA) store and pointed at it. Louise wasn't too sure what a CNA shop was, but as soon as she set foot in it she realised that it was a place to buy stationery.

The American woman smiled. She sensed that Lindiwe was the right person to have at her side. The black South African girl was street wise and matured for her age. Lindiwe was a go-getter who could capitalise on an opportunity offered to her. Louise admired those qualities. In fact, she saw Lindiwe as a carbon copy of herself when she was that age.

Now all roads led to the Cape Town Harbour. Louise took a small notepad out of the inner right pocket of her coat and gazed at the name 'Koos Greyling'. He was to be her contact at the harbour as far as getting her on to a ferry and across to the island was concerned. The trick would be to get Lindiwe on to the boat too. Not many Afrikaners were believed to be liberal-minded but Louise was not one to stereo-type or generalise. She was secretly hoping that Koos would be able to look past the colour of Lindiwe's skin. Louise didn't want any trouble.

All she wanted was Mandela time.

### Chapter 05 - Laying Down the Law

The rain had poured down non-stop in Washington D.C. for the past day and a half.

Human Rights lawyer Pearce Ellison watched as the rain drops collided with his office window on the fourth floor of a plush building in Main Street.

Pearce's problems were bigger than the rain. Six months back, he had been appointed to the board of the legal firm, Stephenson and Partners. The African-American was no fool. He knew that he was being used as a pawn to add some skin colour diversification to the lily-white company board.

Like many such black appointees in South Africa would found out over the years, Pearce's ideas were always shot down and his input was frowned upon by his more experience white colleagues. _No man, what does a black know about law? He should rather listen to the wise whites and learn from them._

Having just celebrated his 30th birthday, Pearce was beginning to wonder if he made the right decision by accepting the position on the company board. Sure, his salary had doubled and he was now driving a Ford Mustang instead of his old Toyota Corolla, but was it all worth it?

Of course he cannot feed himself on principles alone, but the daily downplaying of his skills and knowhow, made it a huge task to motivate him to come to work each day. The first few weeks had been pleasurable, however, that feeling of pleasure had long since drifted away.. Reality had set in.

Pearce needed a big name client that would see his colleagues take him seriously. Even if it meant doing a big celebrity case for free, the publicity would be huge for Pearce and his company.

"Good morning, Pearce," said Petronella Flusk, as she placed a copy of the Washington Post newspaper on his desk.

This was a part of her daily routine. At least the board had given Pearce a pretty African-American secretary. However, the reasons were always sinister, with the other white board members not keen on having a dark-skinned person as their right-hand woman.

Pearce smiled. It felt like his face was about to crack as his cheek muscles hadn't gone into smile mode for quite some time.

He looked down at the newspaper and his eyes got stuck on the face of South African President, P.W. Botha. The story was that Nelson Mandela would be released within days if the ANC man renounced violence against the state and was prepared to go live peacefully in one of the Bantustans (black homelands) inside the borders of South Africa.

These homelands had their own so-called black governments, but these leaders were nothing more than puppets towing the line laid down by Botha and his apartheid regime.

Mandela was nobody's puppet and refused to back down, hence the government's decision to move him from Robben Island and to try and chip away at his resistance in a more comfortable, civil environment.

What Pearce wouldn't do to become the human rights lawyer for Nelson Mandela!

Imagine the newspaper headlines - _Mandela praises Ellison for his hand in South African freedom_

Pearce's mind drifted back to reality.

"Petronella, please bring me the Mandela file from the library," he requested to his secretary.

The tall woman nodded.

"You're thinking of taking on Mandela as a client, aren't you?" she said.

Pearce grinned.

Having been his secretary since his elevation to board level, Petronella gelled quite nicely with him in terms of thought.

"If only I could," muttered Pearce.

Petronella smiled.

"Nothing is impossible to the human brain, particularly to a black human brain," she joked.

Petronella's words seemed to be the last bit of convincing that Pearce needed.

"Please book an air ticket for me from Washington D.C. to Johannesburg, and remember to give me two hours before I take the connecting flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town," said the lawyer.

"I will sort myself out with accommodation. Bring me the cash withdrawal request and I will sign it off, but don't tell anyone about my mission."

Petronella grinned.

"You know me better than that, Pearce," she said.

Pearce raised his hands apologetically.

"I am sorry, the whiteness of this company is getting to me, but I mustn't complain, I signed up for the deal," he remarked.

"Yeah, rather be the change-maker than the quitter," she said.

"You know what they say, a winner never quits and a quitter never wins."

Pearce nodded.

"Ain't that the truth," he remarked.

Petronella headed off to sort the travel arrangements for her boss and Pearce returned his focus to the Washington Post newspaper in front of him.

Hell would freeze over first before the South African government allowed a black human rights lawyer to meet with Mandela on Robben Island.

Petronella returned a short while later with a provisional travel itinerary for him.

Pearce wasn't a big fan of flying and his day wasn't about to get any better.

"Wow! Twenty three hours in the air from Washington D.C's Ronald Reagan International Airport to Jan Smuts International Airport in Johannesburg."

Pearce began to chuckle and said to himself, "America's Reagan and South Africa's Smuts - two of the less popular politicians to walk the planet."

Reagan, of the Republican Party, was President of the USA from 1981 to 1989, while Smuts was the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and again from 1939 to 1948.

Anyway, Pearce had no time to ponder on a history lesson when he was on a mission to make history himself.

He was full aware that he would be watched throughout his visit to South Africa. A foreign black man wanting to get to Robben Island, that could only spell trouble, would be the view of the authorities there.

Petronella departed from office and returned a few minutes later with the Mandela/ANC file from the legal library of the company.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" she asked.

Pearce shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's try the good news, I do need some," he replied.

"The bad weather has seen all flights at the Reagan airport suspended until at least the morning," updated the secretary.

Pearce puffed out his cheeks. If his master strategy was to work he needed to get to Mandela before any other lawyer did.

"What is the good news?" he asked.

Petronella grinned.

"We managed to get you the last available seat on a flight to Johannesburg, for when the plane eventually takes off," she said.

"Awesome," replied Pearce.

"Does it come with a stiff drink? I think I am going to need it."

Petronella laughed.

"Is there anything else that I can bring you?" she asked.

"I will be just fine," said the lawyer, who then turned his attention to the file in front of him as Petronella left the office and shut the door behind her.

Pearce from pretty clued up on American history and the human rights stories relating to activists such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jnr.

The Mandela story fascinated him. Why was the apartheid government so determined to avoid putting this man to death when they executed many other opponents to white minority rule?

His thoughts had hardly worked through his mind when an excited Petronella appeared at his office door.

"Pearce, you got to see the story on CNN cable news network," she said.

The lawyer rushed to the empty company boardroom where some of the staff was watching a breaking story.

The CNN story consisted mainly of old footage where P.W. Botha indicated his happiness to release Nelson Mandela and his ANC colleagues if they promised to suspend the armed struggle against the country.

A relatively new clip had Botha indicating that his government was engaged in talks with Mandela to speed up his release.

Did this mean that Mandela was selling out the ANC and on the Freedom Charter?

Or were Botha and his white supremists bluffing?

The in-studio television anchor mentioned that political reporter Louise Burrell was in South Africa and would provide daily updates on the South African story.

"It is safer if Mandela is inside the cage," quipped one white junior staff to another.

"What do you mean?" asked Pearce sternly.

"Oh, nothing, I just feel that South Africans will be able to live peacefully as long as Mandela is kept behind bars," the young law staffer said.

Pearce's face tensed up. This was the typical blinkered mindset of a white person be it in South Africa or elsewhere on the globe.

"Do you realise how the black South Africans are being butchered and imprisoned by the apartheid regime in South Africa?" asked Pearce.

"Do you know what the black living conditions are like in a township? How would you like to live in a shack without electricity or running water?"

The young legal man cleared his throat.

"I am sorry, I did not mean it that way, I just figured that the bombings against civilians in the country would stop if the law enforcement agencies were a bit sterner in their approach. I mean the law is the law irrespective of what colour skin you have."

Pearce wanted to respond but then thought better of it. Knowledge was power, and in fairness, the censorship of the South African press prevents many, like this young law person, from knowing the true story of what was happening in South Africa.

The South African government only allowed the world to see what they wanted it to see.

Pearce moved over to the boardroom window and pushed aside the curtain. Blast! The rain was not letting up. He needed to get to Cape Town and the weather gods were not helping him.

While walking down the passage towards his office, he asked Petronella to check on the weather forecast for the next two days.

"Clear skies in two days' time," was the report back that he received from the secretary.

Once back in his office, Pearce began to gather his thoughts. The CNN news clip had convinced him that the South African government had no plan of eliminating Mandela. Clearly, Botha and company felt that if they could change the mind of anyone in the ANC that 'anyone' was Mandela.

To make the mission a success, Pearce needed to find a liberal-minded ally in the South African government. Basically he needed someone who was a good person stuck in a bad establishment.

Once Petronella had brought in three thick files containing the history of South African politics, Pearce set to work.

He looked at the current leadership in South Africa. Chris Heunis seemed like a reasonable choice. The Afrikaner lawyer had taken over as the leader of the Cape from P.W. Botha and had been a driving force in creating the tricameral system in Parliament.

This system allowed Coloureds and Indians to have their separate chambers in Parliament, with the people of these skin colours also having a vote at elections. So it was just the blacks (the majority) who were left out in the cold.

Heunis was thought to be a potential successor to PW Botha.

Then there was Barend du Plessis, the Minister of Finance. Pearce did not fancy his chances of forging a relationship here as du Plessis was known to be PW Botha's blue-eyed boy and a possible future President.

Another character in the mix was the Minister of Education, F.W. de Klerk. The general feeling was that if de Klerk got the No 1 job in South Africa after Botha retired, the situation could take a turn for the worst. Little did anyone know, but it would be de Klerk who would turn out to be the deal-breaker as far as South Africa's new dawn was concerned.

There were other names too. Roelf Meyer (Deputy Minister of Law and Order) was unknown to Pearce but this politician would also later emerge as a key negotiator when the Nationalists and the ANC sat down to work out a way forward for the New South Africa.

Pearce was unlikely to approach high ranking military men like Constand Viljoen and Georg Meiring, as the Afrikaner male, particular ones with access to weapons, were the least to be trusted by the blacks.

Three hours passed by before the sound of the rain that had been tapping on the office window pain was no more.

Was Pearce's luck turning? He looked through the window and saw a ray of sunshine in the direction of the White House, where his country's government was in session.

Ronald Reagan may have had an airport named after him, but he had been in the midst of heavy politics with the Russians, let alone the US' main opposition party, the Democrats, waiting for him to make a mistake so that he and his Republican Party colleagues could be exposed.

Politics was, and is still a dirty game no matter on which continent or in which country you live.

Pearce grabbed his leather briefcase and the raincoat off the back of his chair and headed out of his office. He picked up his final travel plan from Petronella.

"Where are you off too?" she whispered.

The African-American lawyer smiled

"I am going to camp at the airport," he said.

"I have to get to Johannesburg soonest, and then down to Cape Town."

Pearce Ellison was a man on a mission. The stakes were high. He wanted to prove to his white legal colleagues in the company that he was not a token _darkie_. He was pure merit and worth every dime of his monthly salary.

Then there was the Mandela issue. Pearce was embarking on a campaign that would not only change his life forever, but the lives of millions of South Africans too, if he played his cards right.

### Chapter 06 - Township Times

Just like Lindiwe Buthelezi, Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus was not enjoying the long, boring trip through from Pretoria to Cape Town.

It felt like the South African Police buses transporting the one hundred men in uniform, were moving at snail's pace. While most of the policemen were thinking about their strategy to squash the much-expected large black uprising in the Gugulethu Township, the Lieutenant had something completely different on his mind.

When Pieter closed his eyes, he could see the frightened face of Nelson Mandela, who was about to have a bullet neatly positioned between his eyes. This was a sense of motivation to the cop. He was about to do something that would save white minority rule in South Africa, or so he thought.

As long as the white army and police were in power, and a white government was calling the shots, the blacks had no chance. He remembered what his father had told him about how the blacks had taken charge of the countries in Africa which had been under colonial rule. Not one of them had turned out to be a success. All were run by cruel military dictators and not as democracies.

This was the typical view of an elderly white Afrikaner who had little understanding of the black man or quite possibly had never been in a township, other than to end a black protest by force.

Pieter noticed the rain on the bus window but it didn't matter much to him. He had pulled enough police shifts in the wet during his time as a cop. He relished the task in Gugulethu.

With the Western Cape cops, the police had about two hundred men ready for duty. Two hundred heavily armed white men against a few hundred unarmed blacks!

The police convoy of buses and patrol vehicles stopped at the Karoo town of Laingsburg situated about 270 kilometres north of Cape Town.

The small town had become famous on 25 January 1981, when a flash-flood saw the waters burst the bank of the local river, rising about ten metres higher than normal. The flooding saw 104 killed and to this day, another 72 people have never been found. The local old age home suffered the most in this regard.

Even the pride of the Afrikaner, the Great Trek Monument, got washed away, with only 21 houses in the town, surviving the massive surge of water.

The police convoy pulled in at a Shell garage in the town and the men, now wearing their police rain-jackets over their blue uniforms, formed a line at the local cafe to order coffee and hamburgers.

Two middle-aged coloured ladies behind the counter in the shop had the tough task of facing up to two hundred predominantly racist Afrikaner cops.

" _Luister, Hotnot se kind, ons soek twee honderd koppies koffie en twee honderd kaasburgers, verstaan_ (listen Hottentot's child, we want two hundred cups of coffee and two hundred cheese burgers, understand)?" asked Captain Louis Marais.

The term _'Hottentot'_ was slang and a derogatory word used in reference to the early generations of coloured people who lived in the Cape, many of whom served as slaves to the whites.

The women behind the counter did not like the tone that the Captain used on them, but what could they do? This was South Africa 1987 where the whites ruled and those of colour had to toe the line or else. This was a society where whites were classified as human beings and any other person of skin colour was seen as being inferior in terms of brains and ability to do almost anything.

The cops chatted among themselves as they waited for their refreshments. Due to the small size of the shop, only half of the queue of policeman could fit inside the building, while the rest stood in the rain outside.

Fifteen minutes passed and the coffees and burgers were still being prepared. Some of the cops began to get restless.

" _Die mate agter die toonbank beter vinnige bewig_ (the mate behind the counter better move faster)!" shouted a Constable near the back of the queue outside the building, which brought an outburst of laughter from his colleagues.

The term 'mate' in Afrikaans was another derogatory word used against a coloured woman.

The cops began to get their coffees and cheeseburgers, but not without a few quips towards the shop staff."

" _Nie net leelik maar stupid en stadig ook_ (not just ugly but stupid and slow too)," said one cop to the coloured woman who served him.

" _Bly by vloerwas_ (stick to washing floors)."

This was an age where politics did not allow the person of colour to respond in any way. The oppressor held all the cards and any form of reaction by the belittled person of colour could lead to an arrest of the victim.

Some of the cops were a little more courteous and even said thank you to the shop staff. Not all of the policemen came from right wing Afrikaner homes. Some of their parents had taught them to treat people as people irrespective of which government was running South Africa.

The men in blue consumed their refreshments amid chit-chat over how they looked forward to finishing off a few hundred uncivilised blacks in the Gugulethu Township.

The strategy was similar to the manner in which they dealt with the blacks in other townships. The cops would work out an imaginary line across a street. They would take their positions and tell the crowd not to advance. Should refuse to listen and charge across the imaginary line, this gave the cops the right to open fire. The police would use rubber bullets, but even this form of ammunition could have a devastating impact on the human body, or something a deadly result.

Well, if they listened and didn't cross the imaginary line, then no harm would have been done, would be the typical response of the cops at the end of the day.

Only in dire situations, would the police resort to using live ammunition. Many of the police always hoped that such a situation would arise as using real bullets on unarmed blacks was a pleasing thought to many of the whites cops.

Once back in the buses, the police convoy began the last part of the journey down to Cape Town. The sky was still dark at 05h00 and even if the sun was up, the picturesque drive through the De Doorns valley towards Worcester, would have been far from the minds of the cops.

While many of the police may have heard the name Mandela before, few knew anything about the power of the ANC or that a document such as the Freedom Charter even existed.

No, man, we are P.W. Botha's men and no group of blacks will ever take our country away from us. This is a country that our ancestors fought for. No darkie is going to tell us that it is theirs now.

It took a good four hours before the police convoy stopped again on the N1 outside of Cape Town. Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus noticed the large number of shacks on the left-hand side of the road. That was a township known as Khayelitsha, but that was not where the trouble was.

Due to the shortage of jobs in the black homelands, many Africans headed to the major cities in search of employment. Of course this created an accommodation problem too and so the development of townships and the structuring of shacks happened.

When the anger of oppressed blacks rose to new levels, protests became the order of the day.

Queuing up was a part of a cop's life. This time thought it wasn't for hamburgers and coffee. Each policeman was being handed a rifle and a load of rubber bullets. The rain had now stopped but the area next to the tarred road was very muddy.

The cops climbed aboard Casspir mine-ambush resistant police vehicles provided by the Western Cape branch of the South African Police.

Soon, the twenty Casspirs, painted yellow with a blue stripe around, were heading towards the anticipated trouble in Gugulethu.

As the vehicles approached the area where the protest was set to be held, liberation chants could be heard. _Amandla_ (power)!

The hatred between blacks and whites had grown to new levels. We will not allow apartheid to go on forever, thought the blacks. Well, at least another one hundred or two hundred years will be just fine, anticipated or dreamed many whites.

Life was great if your skin colour was white. For the blacks in the shacks, life was almost not worth living.

The sound of the stamping of feet and a cloud of dust were some of the first signals that the group of protestors was large.

With the Casspirs parked and the cops in position to fire, it was show time!

The noise made by the protestors was literally enough to wake the dead!

A well-built black man in a white t-shirt was at the front of the protestors.

Closer and closer to the imaginary line...

The police took aim with their rifles. It was only rubber bullets after all, many thought. It wasn't the real stuff.

As the first feet of the protestors crossed the imaginary line, the opening round of gunfire could be heard for miles.

The man in the white t-shirt was the first to drop as the bullet hit the target just above his right knee. He started prancing around like a wounded animal.

" _Kyk vir daai bobbejaan_ (look at that baboon)," said one of the cops with pride.

Many of the protestors were armed with sticks, clubs and simply anything that they could use against the white oppressor.

The next few blacks to cross the imaginary line met the same fate as the first lot.

The chanting of the mass of people had now become irrelevant. The noise had changed to sobbing and cries of pain.

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus took aim at a young man in his early twenties. He could see the hatred in the eyes of his target. It was tit for tat as Pieter felt the same for the protestor. Had the protestor been white, would Pieter have felt any different? Probably, yes.

The Lieutenant pulled back the trigger of the weapon and released it. The rubber bullet unleashed a zipping sound as it left the gun before striking the man above the heart. The youngster fell to the ground and was eventually carried away by two of his colleague.

Pieter did notice how quick the wounded were removed from the scene by their comrades. The Lieutenant grinned _. Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika_ (us for you, South Africa).

The dust in the air had settled as the group of blacks retreated, but not before some hurled some stones, rocks and anything that they could lay their hands on at the cops.

About twenty of the protestors refused to leave the scene and bellowed insults at the police.

To prove a point, the cops went into the final stage mode, as some of the Constables ran forward with German Shephard dogs on leashes. Some riflemen stood back at the ready just in case of more trouble.

There are two elements in life that many black people do not enjoy - swimming pools and dogs.

The latter did the job as the remainder of the protestors fled at the sight of well-groomed, hungry dogs charging towards them.

A short man in torn jeans and a blue t-shirt tried to throw a rock towards the nearest German Shephard. This forced it's handler to release the canine who effortlessly caught the target, knocking the man to the ground.

Soon, the individual's blue t-shirt had red blood stains on it and the cop handler had to call the dog off from its prey. The protestor was on his feet with speed, holding his injured right arm, and ran away faster than an Olympic sprinter.

The cop handler grinned. Another day, another stupid black!

The police regrouped to pack up their operation and had a few good laughs over the morning's happenings.

One cop even summed up the situation in English.

"A protest, they said, they can't organise a piss up in a brewery and then they want to run this country."

Pieter Erasmus returned his weapon to the man in charge. He noticed a colleague from the Western Cape branch tossing his head from side to side to grab his attention.

"Erasmus?" said the man, who had a nametag stating 'Van der Merwe' pinned above his shirt's left breast pocket.

Pieter nodded.

" _Kom saam met my, ek vat vir jou Kaap toe sodat jy eiland toe kan gaan_ (come with me, I will take you to the Cape so you can get to the island)," the cop said.

Clearly this was one of Colonel Jaap Cornelius's connections, as Jaap was the only other person who knew of Pieter's plan to eliminate Nelson Mandela.

Pieter climbed into a cop vehicle alongside the Van der Merwe who was in the driver's seat.

He was very cautious of what he said to the Western Cape-based policeman. The trip to the Cape Town harbour took less than twenty minutes.

At the jetty, Pieter climbed aboard a ferry. The rain clouds had lifted slightly and he had a clear view of Robben Island.

Pieter was a man who did not smile much, but his face lit up when he saw the landmass that allegedly was the home of Nelson Mandela since his court sentencing and incarceration.

Cape Town was notorious for the strong northern wind which brought the rain. The cold wind made the ferry struggle on the sea, but Pieter's mind was far from worrying about the choppy waters.

He put his hand on his left hip to make sure that the pistol that Jaap had organised for him was there. In fact he checked his hip holster quite a few times on the trip to the island. The last thing he needed was to arrive on Robben Island without a weapon.

The world remembered parliamentary messenger Dimitri Tsafendas as the man who stabbed apartheid architect to death during a parliamentary session on 6 September 1966.

Now it was the turn of Pieter Hendrik Erasmus to be globally acclaimed as the man who murdered the world's greatest communist, and threat to a peaceful South Africa - Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela!

### Chapter 07 - Life on the Island

Ever seen white people turn green? Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus, one of six people on the ferry to Robben Island, was still quite composed when the boat docked. The other visitors seemed to be really struggling.

A middle-aged woman in a floral dress spent much of the boat trip throwing up over the right hand -side of the vessel. Two younger girls tried their best to put up a brave face but eventually also lost their breakfast overboard. The two boatmen seemed to be comfortable with the swaying ferry, as they clearly faced up to these conditions on a regular basis.

Once on dry land, Pieter headed for the administration office. He noted the Correctional Services guards were armed with rifles. They seemed to have the same attitude as he did... _Just left the first black make a run for it and ... Bang!_

Of course, the blacks would not make a run for it. There was nowhere to run to. Most blacks couldn't swim and were weary of the rough waters. That is what made prison life on Robben Island into a scary thought in the minds of anyone who opposed the state. It was a case of 'Cowboys don't cry' if they opposed the apartheid regime and got caught.

Pieter walked into the office as if he owned the place. He knew that he had to ooze confidence. At the nearest desk, sat a Correctional Services official, with the nametag 'Vorster' pinned to his shirt.

" _Is jy Colonel Jaap Cornelius se pal_ (are you Colonel Jaap Cornelius' friend)?" asked Vorster, as he removed his spectacles from his face.

Pieter nodded.

Vorster pointed at a chair and Pieter sat down, again, checking that the pistol in the holster on his left hip was safe.

" _Jy soek vir Mandela_ (you are looking for Mandela)?" asked the prisons official.

" _Wel, hy is nie meer op die eiland nie_ (well he is no longer on the island)."

Pieter's eyes widened following Vorster's latest remark.

" _Wat bedoel jy_ (what do you mean)?" asked the Lieutenant.

Vorster fiddled with his wedding ring on his left forefinger and then started pressing on the top of a BIC pen which made an irritating sound.

" _Hy was hier tot gister, maar iets het las nag gebeur_ (he was here until yesterday but something happened last night)," explained Vorster.

Pieter sat forward in his chair.

" _Ek het vanoggend n oproep van die Minister van Korrektiewedienste gekry en die Minister het vertel dat Mandela gisteraand oorlede in sy tronksel is_ (I got a call from the Minister of Correctional Services who said that Mandela passed away in his prison cell last night)," went on Vorster.

" _Waar is die liggaam_ (where is the body)?" asked Pieter.

Vorster picked up a pack of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes from his desk and offered one to Pieter who declined. Once Vorster had lit one of the fags, he inhaled and puffed out a huge cloud of smoke.

" _Ek het persoonlik nie Mandela se liggaam gesien nie want dit was klaar weg toe my oggend diend begin het_ (I didn't personally see Mandela's body because it was already gone when my morning shift started)," said Vorster.

Pieter did not believe a word of it. He worked for the South African Police and knew just how devious his bosses could be. They learnt from the best. PW Botha and his cronies knew how to fool the world. The South African cabinet could side step better than a Springbok rugby centre ever could.

" _Dis 'n pot stront_ (that is a load of crap)," said Pieter.

Vorster shrugged his shoulders.

" _Ek kan nie ja of nee se nie want geen van my aandskof manne was gisteraand naby Mandela se sel toegelaat nie_ (I can't say yes or no as none of my nightshift guards were allowed near Mandela's prison cell last night)."

This convinced Pieter even more that the apartheid regime was playing a game of hide and seek between Mandela and the rest of the world.

" _Ek het na Mandela se medieserekord gekyk en dit wys dat hy met longontsteking gesukkel het_ (I looked at Mandela's medical record and it did show that he battled with Pneumonia)," said Vorster.

Pieter shook his head. He smelt a rat. A football game was being played here and he refused to be used as the ball. He knew that Vorster was not deceiving him but he was adamant that Mandela was alive and well. P.W. Botha's men must have transported the ANC man off of the island in a bid to try and turn his mind in their direction, thought the Lieutenant.

The danger was what if Mandela managed to get his way and force the Nationalist Party to compromise on certain whites-only privileges?

" _Meneer, jy moet vir my uitvind waar Mandela nou is_ (sir, you need to find out for me as to where Mandela is)," said Pieter in a stern voice.

" _Ek gee jou n brief, Erasmus, Mandela is oppad graf toe_ (I am telling you, Erasmus, Mandela is on his way to his grave)," said Vorster adamantly.

The Afrikaner military men, be it army, navy, air force or prison personnel, were not known to be the most patient and it seemed that Vorster's patience with Pieter was starting to run out.

Vorster was beginning to feel that his authority was being questioned by the younger policeman.

" _Iemand moet weet wat gisteraand op die eiland gebeur het_ (someone on the island must know what happened last night)," said Pieter in an aggressive tone.

Vorster rose from his desk.

" _Ek dink ons afspraak is verby_ (I think our meeting is over)," said the prison official as he looked to point Pieter towards the office door.

" _As ek uitvind dat jy inligting van my weghou gaan jy spyt wees_ (if I find out that you are withholding information from me, you will be sorry)," said Pieter.

" _Uit_ (out)!" commanded Vorster, and Pieter left the room.

Something was indeed fishy. Was Vorster on a mission to beat him in terms of murdering Mandela?

Pieter stepped out of the office and Vorster shut the door behind him.

Robben Island was indeed a creepy place. The prison wardens' faces looked so glum. They looked like they hadn't heard a joke in years. As he headed towards the Post Office and small shops, people walked past him. He presumed that the women on the pathway and even those on the ferry with him were family members of the prison wardens who live on the island. Nobody greeted. Everyone just kept walking doing their daily chores. It was like some people had not experience the reality of life yet. Perhaps life on Robben Island was like this.

What was next for Pieter? He knew that getting to Mandela's prison cell was a tough exercise as the security there would be tight. Anyway, he was sure that Mandela was no longer in his cell. The question was, where did the government move him to?

Pieter glanced at his wristwatch. It was already 11h00 and he had made very little progress. He walked down the path towards the ferry area, where he had arrived a few hours earlier. He noticed a second ferry had arrived with a load of women on it. More family members of the prison wardens, he suspected.

As the group of women walked passed him, he noticed a white and black woman in conversation. This was rare on a good day in South Africa, but it was the foreign accent of the white woman that caught his attention.

The white woman stopped to chat to a prison warden.

"Good morning, I am Louise Burrell from CNN television in Atlanta, US, and this is my media assistant... Ur...Vikki Jackson. We have government clearance to conduct a television interview with Nelson Mandela."

"How are ya?" asked Lindiwe as she tried to push out her best American accent.

The prison warden looked stunned. He couldn't take his eyes off the black girl. Since when did black people come to the island other than when they were prisoners?

"I have to ask my superior, please wait here," he said.

Minutes seemed like hours before the prison warden returned with his superior, who happened to be Vorster, the man who Pieter Erasmus met with earlier.

"Sorry, madam, but who told you that you can shoot an interview with Mr Mandela?" asked Vorster.

Louise cleared her throat.

"Sir, I have a letter right here in my file and ..."

Vorster changed his tune and all forms of friendliness were gone.

"It is the island's rules that nobody speak to Mr Mandela or any other prisoner here," he said.

"Also, what is inside that bag that you are holding?" he asked.

"Well, sir, I work for CNN, so this is a camera," she replied.

"As I said, I have written permission from the South African government to interview Mr Mandela."

Vorster called two of the nearby prison wardens to come closer.

" _Vat daai kamera na my kantoor toe_ (take that camera to my office)," he ordered, to which the prison wardens complied.

"Madam, this is not America, do you understand me?" he said in a harsh tone.

"I have that letter right here if you will just let me take it out," retorted Louise.

Vorster refused to allow her to show the letter to him.

"I am confiscating your camera equipment and will only release it once my authorities tell me too. Cameras and media in any form are forbidden on this island, as I am sure you are well aware."

"But..." began Louise.

"No, madam, I am going to have to ask you and your friend to leave this island immediately," commanded Vorster, as he pointed to two other prison wardens to escort the women back to the jetty.

Reluctantly, the women headed back to the sea edge.

Pieter watched on with interest. Something was up with the Mandela situation. How he would have loved to see the letter the white American woman claimed that she had in her possession.

As for the black woman, Pieter had an inkling that she was far from an American. The younger girl looked so familiar. He was convinced that she was far from being an American. He knew a South African posing as a foreigner when he saw one.

However, the mere fact that the black woman had made it on to a security tight island was strange. How did she give the security at the harbour the slip?

All this time, Vorster had his back to Pieter. The Lieutenant moved to the side of a building so that it would be more difficult for Vorster to spot him. He watched as the prison official read the riot act to two prison wardens. Clearly, Vorster was not happy that the security levels on the island were slipping up badly.

Then he turned and headed back to his office.

At the jetty, Louise was still arguing with the prison wardens. Lindiwe was backing her up in her best American voice. Like Vorster, the prison wardens at the jetty were not keen on seeing the government letter that Louise alleged she had, which gave her permission to be on the island to interview Mandela.

Once on the ferry, Louise and Lindiwe were mainland bound.

What was the big secret that the clan on Robben Island were trying to keep from the world? How could the South African government grant CNN permission to interview Nelson Mandela and then snub her when she arrived?

If Mandela had been moved from the island, why did the government not inform her?

Louise had more questions than answers. She had travelled all this way and was still not closer to getting face-time with the world's most famous prisoner.

......................

Tring... Tring.... Tring....

A phone in Pretoria was ringing.

" _Ja, hy was hier_ (yes, he was here)," said Vorster from his desk on Robben Island.

" _Ek het gedoen wat jy vir my vertel het_ (I did exactly what you told me to do)."

Pieter Erasmus would have been foolhardy to think that he wasn't being watched. Was the National Party government quite happy for Pieter to eliminate Mandela after all? Did they need someone to blame it on?

" _Hou hom dop_ (keep an eye on him)," said the voice over the phone from Pretoria.

" _Reg so_ (alright)," answered Vorster.

" _Maar waar is Mandela. Is hy oorlede_ (but where is Mandela, is he dead)?"

The voice on the other side was not too helpful.

" _Dis vir ons om to weet_ (that is for us to know)."

The apartheid government did not like to be beaten when it came to playing games, especially games that they invented. They considered themselves to be masters of deceiving people. They believed that they could fool the world forever.

Apartheid was not a sin in their eyes. Black people were simply not as intelligent as whites. That is why a merit system would always be the way to go. The cleverest, most skilled person would be first pick for jobs. Of course, blacks were way behind in many skills because the skills were barred from them for centuries.

On the mainland, many whites had coloured men working in their garden and coloured maids in the house. There was always a fear that black gardeners and black maids may work a plot against the white _baas_ or madam.

South Africa would never change, most whites thought. They were keen to live that way. They could sleep peacefully at night and have solid medical and education systems. All the best job opportunities would go the way of the whites -too.

However, whether or not Pieter Erasmus eliminated Nelson Mandela or not, the apartheid regime could not hold power forever.

### Chapter 08 - Great Discoveries

One of the great characteristics of Louise Burrell and Lindiwe Buthelezi is that they never give up.

In wanting to learn more about South Africa and the black upbringing, Louise accompanied Lindiwe on the bus trip back to Pretoria. Of course, the American could have paid for Lindiwe's air ticket but... a black woman on a plane in 1987, no, not in South Africa!

Louise was already not very popular back in Atlanta having travelled all the way to South Africa for the Mandela story and having ended up with nothing to report on.

The story of Mandela's 'death' had not yet been made public by the apartheid government, so Louise was none the wiser of the conspiracy that was happening.

Another reason why Louise agreed to the bus trip was because she wanted to do things the 'Lindiwe way'. Louise wanted to see how black people lived in South Africa and how they were treated by white people. Then she would be able to make an informed decision on how impactful apartheid really was.

It didn't take long for Louise to get a full dose of reality. She eventually got used to the side-on glances that she was receiving from white people on the bus. She could read their minds -"a white woman sitting next to a black woman? Surely not" This was South Africa 1987.

Eventually, the bus stopped, ironically at the same Shell garage where the South African policemen had stocked up on cheeseburgers on their way to Cape Town to see off the uprising in Gugulethu.

The same two middle-aged coloured women, who had been belittled by the police, greeted the people from the bus with friendly smiles.

The bus driver had announced that they would take a forty five minute break before departing, so Louise and Lindiwe found themselves seats in a small restaurant area, where they waited for their refreshments.

"So where do you stay in Pretoria?" asked Louise.

"I stay in Mamelodi East, about a half an hour's drive by taxi from the city," replied Lindiwe.

"That seems silly," replied Louise.

"You study at the University of Pretoria, so that is quite a bit of travelling each day. Why don't you find a cheap apartment near the university?"

Lindiwe looked sad.

"The Group Areas Act prohibits that," explained the law student.

"There are some areas in the cities where only white people may live and Pretoria is the cornerstone of apartheid. The rules are probably stricter here than in any other part of the country."

Louise nearly choked on a mouthful of her hamburger which had just arrived. Of course, she had been stupid to ask the question. She had forgotten about the racial segregation in terms of where people of certain skin colours can live. It was not like that in America, well not officially anyway.

Louise has reported on several black uprisings or protest marches in the US over the years but the South African situation was totally different. Any protest by blacks or people of skin colour other than white would be met with the full force of the policeman's rifle - rubber bullets.

Did many of the white American police have a racist attitude towards the blacks who lived there? For sure, but the anti-black laws were not cast in stone like in South Africa.

"So tell me more about your early life, Lindiwe, I never hear you speak much about your family," commented Louise.

Lindiwe sighed. Her life had been a tough one to date. Her family upbringing was complicated indeed. Her mother had passed away while giving birth to her and her father, a white man, had much influence on her early life. Here we go again. A white man in love with a black woman in the apartheid era. That was bordering on treason.

Lindiwe was having mixed feelings as she told her life story. She felt the impact of being two Lindiwe persons, with one from the future and one of the current. She was battling to find a balance between 2010 and 1987 as far as her life was concerned. Her mind was filled with mixed emotions. She really felt like she was two persons trapped in one body. It was like she didn't know if she was to speak as Lindiwe Senior her mother, or Lindiwe Junior. She found herself making up stories and Louise believed every word.

Lindiwe explained to Louise about how she had been raised by her grandmother and had become so used to the apartheid way of life in South Africa.

"There are times when I think that life as it is will never change," quipped Lindiwe.

"I have to wonder why God does not intervene. Millions of black people believe in God but if He loves us so much as the Bible says, then why are we being subjected to the oppression that we face every day of our lives?"

Louise nodded.

"Well, it won't last forever, I am sure," said the CNN reporter.

"Remember how the Israelites suffered at the hands of the Egyptians, before Moses led them to the promise land, Canaan?"

This time it was the turn of Lindiwe to nod.

Louise's Biblical reference made her realise just how these sort of situations work out but at the expense of the leader.

"The more I think about it, Mandela is the Moses that we need, but I hope he gets to enjoy the benefits," grinned Lindiwe.

Moses, the leader of the Israelites, led his people to Canaan, but did not set foot in the land himself. Here was Nelson Mandela, locked away by the oppressor, but the question was would he be able to see the day when he would experience freedom along with his people, or would history gobble him up too?

This was the likely scenario, thought Lindiwe, as she remembered how her mother had stopped someone from executing the great ANC man. If only someone could give her the name of the person who had wanted to carry out the evil deed!

It was almost 11am and how strange that Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus would walk into the same restaurant in Laingsburg to get some coffee.

He instantly spotted Louise and Lindiwe, although they did not see him as they had their backs to the doorway.

" _Tafel vir een_ (table for one)?" asked the coloured waitress.

" _Asseblief_ (please)," he replied.

There were only two open tables left in the eating place and he followed the waitress to one of the openings which happened to be three tables away from Louise and Lindiwe.

Pieter ordered a cheeseburger and a soft drink and looked around the restaurant. He didn't recognise anyone else as having been on the island.

While both Louise and Lindiwe were quite pleasant to look at, there was something about the black girl that kept attracting his attention. He had seen her before but where?

Being a cop, Pieter took pride in his memory. However, he was struggling to work out where he had seen the black girl before the Robben Island adventure.

_Dink, Erasmus_ (think, Erasmus), he told himself. As he stretched his brain to find the answer, he tried his best to hear what the ladies were talking about. If he stretched any further towards them he would have fallen off his chair.

Then he caught on to two words that Lindiwe mentioned. Vosloo Grill.

Of course! The Vosloo Grill! The black girl was a waitress there. That is where he had met her. Pieter grinned. Perhaps the girl looked a bit different without a drinks tray in her hands.

Again, he tried to listen in to what they were talking about. By hearing Lindiwe speak, he worked out that she was far from the American CNN Media Assistant that she portrayed to be on Robben Island.

She was a black South African with a good command of the English language. The main question in Pieter's mind was why this girl and her white American friend had made the trip all the way to Cape Town. Why would an American journalist befriend a black South African youth and go to Robben Island? If there was one place in South Africa where blacks did not want to be it was that island.

Well, thought Pieter, there is only way to find out. As the waitress placed his soft drink in front of him, he picked it up and raised himself from his chair.

The ladies had their backs to him so they were none the wiser that he was approaching them.

Pieter did not always enjoy speaking in English but this was one of those moments in life when you had to do things that weren't top of your list.

The cop was no fool. He had already devised the perfect strategy. He needed to pretend that he had a liking to the white woman while secretly being on a mission to get any form of information out of the black one.

Executing the plan was not going to be difficult. However, there was something about the black girl that was appealing to him. Stop it, Erasmus, this is 1987. Die enigste goeie swarte is n dooie een (the only good black is a dead one).

"Hello," he said with a smile, as he greeted the two women.

"I know this will sound like a pick-up line but I think that we have met somewhere before."

Lindiwe rolled her eyes and stared at Pieter. There was something about the man that made her think of her white father. It was almost like this man was a younger version of her dad. No man, Lindiwe, get back to reality, she told herself.

"Come on now, you are going to have to do a lot better than that," Louise said, which caused Lindiwe to giggle.

Pieter grinned. He had only been in two serious relationships of a romantic kind in his life and was not good and never rated himself as a champion when it came to picking up women in restaurants or bars.

"Alright, you got me, I saw you getting chucked off Robben Island," he said.

Louise gasped and Lindiwe let out a sound like a boxer who just had the last of his energy punched out of his stomach.

"I didn't see you on the island," said Louise.

"Me neither," remarked Lindiwe.

"Are you a cop or something?"

Pieter laughed.

"Bingo, you girls are smart," he said.

"Look I am not here to arrest you for anything. I am just interested to know why you were so keen to get to Nelson Mandela."

Lindiwe narrowed her eyes and gave Louise a 'be cautious type of look'.

"Well, why don't you pull up a chair and explain to us why you are so keen to know about our passion to interview the ANC man," said the CNN reporter.

Pieter took up the offer and joined the ladies at the table.

"Look, this country can't stay the way it is and something has got to give, but the government has kept this Mandela guy well tucked away from the world," commented Pieter.

"The question is why?"

"Why do you think?" Louise returned the question to him.

While Louise and Pieter spoke, Lindiwe was having flashbacks. Was this guy the one who was the man out to kill Mandela, as her father had told her? No, Lindiwe, this guy said he was a cop, surely not!

The next few seconds were as if Lindiwe had gone mad.

"A winner is a dreamer who never gives up," said the law student.

"It always seems impossible until it is done," she went on.

"I never lose. I either win or learn," she concluded.

Lindiwe, what is going on, she thought. Where are these quotes coming from? Then she realised that they were Nelson Mandela quotes from the post-1994 period that she had read.

Pieter and Louise looked at each other and the American shrugged her shoulders as if to say she was not sure what Lindiwe's comments meant.

"Are you alright, Lindiwe?" asked Louise.

The young girl smiled.

"I am fine, I am just trying to understand why Mandela spent so many years in jail and refused the government's offers of freedom," she said.

This prompted the conniving Pieter to do his best to sell the idea to Louise and Lindiwe that Mandela was the key to negotiating a democratic South Africa and he needed to be protected at all costs. The cop had to hide a smile. _"Erasmus, jou ster_. (Erasmus you legend)". Pieter spoke with such passion and confidence that he even believed himself for a moment.

Of course, Pieter's plan was anything but sincere. He just wanted Louise and Lindiwe to lead the way to Mandela, then... Bang!

Being a cop, Pieter knew how to interrogate criminals and he used the same, hidden strategy to bring out answers from Louise and Lindiwe.

He learnt that Louise was a political reporter for CNN and had been sent to South Africa to land the Mandela interview as the cable television network believed that the ANC hero was about to be released from prison.

Pieter had no intention of letting on that the official line from Robben Island was that Mandela has passed on from pneumonia. He certainly did not believe a word of what Vorster had told him on the island. Vorster was nothing more than a yes-man to his bosses and did what he was told.

The cop was adamant that Mandela was alive and well and being tucked away by the apartheid leaders in a bid to find a peaceful solution as far as the future of the country was concerned - the kind of future where South Africa has a one-man-one-vote system and a black president? No, Mandela had to take the bullet, thought Pieter.

When Lindiwe spoke, Pieter listened with even greater intent. He had several questions that he would have loved to put to her, but it would have spoilt the mood. What was her affiliation to the liberation movement? Which political party did she belong too? What was her real reason in befriending Louise and getting to the island? Did she plan on eliminating Mandela because he was too open to negotiations with the Botha regime?

At this point, nobody could be trusted. Not P.W. Botha and his hierarchy, not any member of the army or police. Of course the left and right wing were problems too and there were always the chances of other crackpots in their individual capacity, stealing the headlines.

Pieter had no real issue if someone potted Mandela before he did. He just wanted the ANC and its Communist alliance to get the message that the Blacks will never rule South Africa.

His first conclusion was that while Louise was very clued up on politics as a CNN political reporter should be, Lindiwe was just the opposite. She seemed naive on the political knowledge front. No, thought the cop. She was not the one to put a bullet into Mandela. She was just too sweet for that. _"Erasmus, sit jou hart binne jou sak. Fokus op die taak_ (Erasmus, put your heart in your bag. Focus on the task)", he thought.

During the discussions, Pieter noticed Lindiwe looking at him in a charming sort of way. He didn't have time to play the hard-to-get game. Perhaps she found him to be just as approachable.

This was new territory for both of them. They had never been this close to a person of another colour. This made Pieter check over his shoulder to see if he was being watched. A cop having lunch with a black woman... This could only lead to trouble back at South African Police headquarters!

Pieter was adamant that Louise was telling the truth about her CNN brief regarding an interview with Mandela, but he needed to find out the real reason behind Lindiwe's trip to Robben Island before it came back to haunt him.

Pieter offered the two ladies transport back to Pretoria. He was driving on his own in a police vehicle, but having civilians aboard would certainly be against regulations. Even if he allowed it, the black lady would have to go in the back cage compartment where criminals were transported, while the white woman would travel in front next to the driver.

Fortunately both women rejected the lift and decided to return to Pretoria in the bus.

"Let's meet at the Vosloo Grill at 11h00 tomorrow," whispered Lindiwe to Louise, in an effort to exclude Pieter from the meeting.

Louise nodded.

### Chapter 09 - Apartheid's Watchdog

If Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus had been operating in the early 2000's, he could have been a television star. In the future years, the reality television show 'Big Brother' took the world by storm as cameras followed participants each and every move as they were locked in a house for a lengthy time.

While there was no 'Big Brother' in 1987, Pieter was still under the watchful eye of his principals, even when he was seated with Louise and Lindiwe in a one-horse Karoo town like Laingsburg.

" _Erasmus is saam met sy floppie en die Amerikaner_ (Erasmus is with his floppie and the American)," said a voice over the pay phone in Laingsburg.

The term _floppie_ originated during the Rhodesian (Zimbabwean) Bush War based on how the liberation struggle soldiers flopped over to the ground once shot by members of the white government regime.

In South Africa, the term was used in a derogatory fashion by whites in reference to blacks, implying that the dark skins had no spine or were just basically good for nothing.

" _Bly agter hom_ (stay behind him)," said a voice on the other end of the phone.

When a white person was too close to a black person in 1987 it meant that the both individuals were enemies of the state.

" _Hoe het Erasmus op Robbeneiland aangekom_ (how did they arrive on Robben Island)?" asked the office-bound man to the spy in Laingsburg.

" _Ek weet nie maar iemand moes vir Erasmus toesteming gegee het_ (I don't know but someone must have given Erasmus permission)," answered the spy.

The apartheid regime's intelligence unit were keeping an eye on Pieter, Louise and Lindiwe, with Pieter, as a cop, being watched like a hawk.

The so-called wise men and women at their secret hiding place in Pretoria thought that they could keep 'Black and White' apart forever.

P.W. Botha's kingpins were on high alert. Any South African Police Services person who was remotely thought to be in touch with the 'Liberation Struggle' would be thrown out the door at police headquarters. No trial would be required. There was no time to waste. The statements from two witnesses would be enough to prove a case of treason.

Just like the Intelligence Unit had a list of 'Dangerous Members of the Armed Struggle', their list of potential traitors _(verraaiers)_ was even longer.

Any liberal-minded cops got off lightly by just being chucked out into the street. The anti-Apartheid activists were not so lucky.

The list here is endless but high profile persons who ended up in coffins for standing up for their human rights beliefs includes Ruth First, the wife of South African Communist Party strongman Joe Slovo), who was taken out by an Apartheid-sponsored parcel bomb in Mozambique in 1982.

Others like black consciousness leader Steve Biko and white doctor Neil Aggett did not have to wait for a parcel to end their lives. They were arrested and beaten to death while in police detention.

" _Is jy seker ek moenie n stop sit aan Erasmus nie_ (are you sure I mustn't put a stop to Erasmus)?" asked the spy over the phone.

" _Nie nou nie, volg hom net en laat weet my_ (not now, follow him and let me know)," said the voice in the office.

The spy kept his eyes focused on Pieter and the two girls, as his mind wondered back the question as to how the Lieutenant got security clearance to visit Robben Island. It was not normal protocol for a South African Police Services person to be there, at least not for a meeting when the rank was as low as being Lieutenant.

The spy was a man who was dreaming about greater things. Killing blacks was close to his heart, not snooping on policemen. He wanted a peace of the real action. The spy, in his forties, and dressed in jeans and a green golf shirt, wiped his brow.

What game was Pieter Erasmus playing? Why was he so keen to get to Robben Island and Mandela? What was his connection with the young black girl? Where did the American reporter fit in and how would she react now that she had been stopped from interviewing Mandela even though she had been given a signed letter to do so by the South African government?

These were the sort of questions that the Intelligence Unit had to find answers too on a daily basis.

Judging by the body language of Pieter, the spy was sensing a connection between the Lieutenant and the black girl. While Pieter did not kiss the girl, it was clear for the spy to see that the cop favoured the black girl in terms of conversation, more than the white American woman.

"I think I left my jersey on the chair in the restaurant" said Pieter to Lindiwe.

"Let me go and fetch it."

The Lieutenant jogged across to the restaurant at the Shell garage and his turn of speed was so sudden that the spy had to run for cover inside the eating area.

Pieter ran at such pace that he never saw the spy hiding his face behind a copy of the Die _Burger_ daily Afrikaans newspaper.

Grasping his grey jersey, Pieter turned and left the restaurant. Would the Lieutenant have recognised the spy? Definitely, they had been in the police force together two years earlier.

The spy watch as the bus, with Lindiwe and Louise aboard, began to make its way out of the Shell garage area, followed by the car, with Pieter at the wheel.

Five minutes later, the spy climbed into a Toyota Corolla and set off, keeping his distance from the convoy so as not to be noticed.

..........................................

Tick, Tick, Tick! South Africa was sitting on a potential time bomb with the ANC and the Afrikaner right wing both sick and tired of the PW Botha government.

The one thing that the apartheid regime was sure about was the Nelson Mandela had to stay alive. Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus would feel differently about it.

The bigwigs in Pretoria were not aware that Jaap Cornelius had been the one who had opened the doors for Pieter to get across to Robben Island, or else the Colonel would have been without a job too.

Special Agent Johan de Witt sat at his desk, with his mind in thought over the Erasmus saga.

" _Spesiaal Agent, koffee_ (Special Agent, coffee)?" asked one of his junior staff members.

Johan, in his mid-thirties, shook his head.

Coffee was least important now. He needed to find out why Pieter was so keen on getting to Mandela and what the link was between the Lieutenant, Lindiwe Buthelezi and the ANC icon.

He stared at an open file on his desk. Intelligence reports indicated that the Liberation Struggle was going up a gear. Back in April of 1987, Joe Slovo had resigned his post as Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe to become General Secretary of the South African Communist Party Chris Hani would take over Joe's old job.

Also, a Release Mandela committee had been put in place by the left wing. Aubrey Mokoena was appointed National Co-Ordinator and Paul David was positioned as Secretary.

1987 was also the year that P.W. Botha's National Party won the (white) National Elections with 52 percent of the vote.

A roar of happiness broke out down the passage. Johan rushed from his desk to see what the excitement was all about.

" _Dikaledi en Make is dood_ (Dikaledi and Make are dead)," said an excited agent.

Johan grinned as he looked at the telegram sent from Swaziland to Intelligence headquarters.

ANC members David Dikaledi and Diamond Make had been on the apartheid government's radar for quite some time. Both had now been killed by apartheid gunfire when the taxi that they were in, had been ambushed in Swaziland.

Black life had never been so cheap! Little did Johan know but things would get worse in the 1990s, but this time it would be black on black violence when the Nationalist Party used the last kick of a dying horse to support the pro-Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party against the ANC uprising.

Johan had worked hard to climb the ladder in intelligence circles but his eyes were opening faster than those of his colleagues.

He walked back to his office. Was it good to celebrate the death of two human beings irrespective of their skin colour or political affiliations?

His mind reverted back to the Pieter Erasmus situation but before he could give it much thought, Junior Agent Schalk van Wyk arrived at his office door with sweat shivering down his face.

" _Is dit waar dat hulle vir Mandela gaan vrylaat_ (is it true that they are going to release Mandela)?"

Johan stared at the young man. The senior staffer could see the fear in the eyes of the youngster and this was clearly no different than the anxiety in the eyes of most white youths in South Africa.

" _Ek mag niks uitlaat nie_ (I can't say anything)," said Johan.

The younger man nodded.

" _Wat van Erasmus_ (what about Erasmus)?" quipped the junior.

Johan was astounded. The Pieter Erasmus situation was meant to be top level intelligence so what did a junior staffer know about it. However, he felt a sense of compassion for the youngster.

" _Miskien het ek my mond verby gepraat_ (maybe I have spoken out of turn)," said the junior.

Piet Engels realised that he had overstepped his area of responsibility.

" _Ek is jammer_ (I am sorry)," he said.

" _Luister, alles is n gemors op die oomblik_ (listen, everything is such a mess at the moment)," said Johan.

" _Die ANC en Mandela is n groot probleem en ek weet nie of die regering redig weet hoe om die to hanteer nie_ (The ANC and Mandela is a big problem and I don't know if the government knows how to handle them)."

" _En Erasmus is n ander perd_ (and Erasmus is another sort of guy)," went on Johan.

" _Hy het baie gesien en gehoer in sy polisiedae, so ons moet sien of hy gaan saamstaan met Mandela of gaan hy probeer vir die ANC man uitwis_ (He has seen a lot in his police days, so we have to see if he is going to stand by Mandela or kill the ANC man)."

" _Ek hoop Erasmus maak vir Mandela vrek_ (I hope Erasmus kills Mandela)," said Piet with a smile.

" _En wat gebeur volgende_ (and what happens next)?" asked Johan.

" _Ons manne skiet vir die swartes Gugulethu styl_ (our men shoot the blacks Gugulethu style)," said Piet, describing the shooting with his hands in pistol-like positions.

" _Engels, die probleem is daar is sowat 45 miljoen swartes en net so 4 miljoen wit mense so ons kanse om te wen is nie goed nie (Engels, the problem is that there are about 45 million blacks and about 4 million whites so our chances are not too good),"_ explained Johan.

" _Ja, maar weet die swartes die een end van die geweer van die ander_ (yes, but do the blacks know the one end of the gun from the other)?" laughed Piet.

Johan bit on his bottom lip. The words from Piet Engels were typically Afrikaner right wing words. It was not necessarily a case that young Piet was a racist at heart. It was simply parents who influenced their children with that type of thinking.

Johan could understand as he had been through the same earlier in his life. His father refused to even look at a black man and his mother was a firm believer that all blacks were born of the offspring of Satan. "A black person being a Christian? Why, that is simply impossible," was her view.

One thing that Johan's mother said did happen.

" _Hulle gaan eendag ons land van ons steel_ (they will oneday steel our country from us)," Johan's mother had often said.

Johan was bright enough to realise that the black man had been in South Africa before the white settler arrived, although it was the white man who developed infrastructure on the property. However, Johan would never take his parents on about these issues as they were hard headed and racist to the core.

At this point, Johan's office phone began to ring.

" _Swartgevaar, hier, hulle is verby Kroonstad_ (Black Danger here, they have passed Kroonstad)," said the intelligence man at roadside.

" _Hou hom dop, hy kan ons maak of breek_ (keep an eye on him, he can make or break us)," answered Johan.

" _En SwartgevaarSwartgevaar, kyk uit vir daai Buthelezi meisie. Daar is iets daar wat Erasmus weet maar ek weet nie net wat nie._ (and Spy, look out for that Buthelezi girl. There is something there that Erasmus knows but I just don't know what it is yet)."

" _Ek sal uitvind_ (I will find out)," said Spy before ending the call.

Johan de Witt shook his head. Something was not quite right.

What did Erasmus have up his sleeve? He needed to find out before it was too late.

Johan knew Pieter as an aggressive cop, not only against the blacks, but some of his Afrikaner colleagues too. Pieter was a my-way-or-no-way character. There was only one man who the Lieutenant seemed to listen to and that was Colonel Jaap Cornelius but of course Johan was not to know that.

Tick, Tick, Tick! Who would complete the complicated South African political jigsaw puzzle first? Would it be Pieter, Johan, Louise, Lindiwe or Pearce?

### Chapter 10 - I have a Dream

I could have got from Cape Town to Pretoria quicker by foot! That is how Louise Burrell felt as she exited the bus. At least the trip had given her a chance to get to know Lindiwe Buthelezi a bit better.

The CNN reporter had a good understanding of South Africa and the country's racist policies, but some of the things that Lindiwe told her were still quite astounding.

Blacks using blacks-only toilets at public areas!

"I am going to Mamelodi now and I will catch up with you in the morning at the Vosloo Grill," said Lindiwe with a tired smile.

"Let me come with you," said Louise.

"That won't work as you as a white person need a pass to be in the townships," explained the law student.

Another rude awakening went the way of Louise. "What! A white person needs permission to be in a township? That can be only in South Africa!"

Louise's shoulders slumped as she began to accept that she would have to spend the night alone in a Pretoria hotel.

Lindiwe bid her friend goodbye and climbed on to a taxi which would transport her to within one kilometre of her home.

One day she would put her whole life story into a book for her children and grandchildren to reflect on. She had been to Robben Island even though she never got to see Mandela. Few blacks ever got to see Cape Town never mind the island.

On board the taxi, she peered out of the glass window and saw black people on the streets going through their usual routines from gardening, to looking after kids for the whites.

The police seemed to be out in full force too. She saw a huge Afrikaner cop gesturing with his hands in an aggressive manner to a black man. This was South Africa. Most whites understood that blacks were sub-human.

There was Lindiwe Buthelezi, with a white father. The average white person would not want to hear this. Multiracial relationships were another form of treason in the eyes of white South Africa.

Once at home, Lindiwe threw her two small travel bags on to her bed and flung herself down next to them. She had tried to sleep a bit on the bus trip, but the vehicle's seats were not at all comfortable.

What if South Africa would not change as Louise had led her to believe? What if 'Black and White' would be separate forever?

' _I have a dream'_. Where did those words in her head come from? They certainly weren't Mandela words but rather those of Martin Luther King Jnr, who delivered them in an emotional speech in a bid to strive for equality for jobs and freedom back on 28 August 1963.

Lindiwe drifted off into dreamland and white privilege flowed through her mind. How would life be if she, Lindiwe Buthelezi was white and married a white man? She certainly would not be living in Mamelodi, that's for sure.

Imagine having a driver's licence or even sitting in the passenger seat of your white husband's car? Or even to be sitting on a train in a whites-only train carriage or in a whites-only restaurant?

White people wouldn't stare at her for being with a white man. Now they would doubt her abilities. They always did when a black person began to climb the ladder of success. This situation would be totally different if it was a white woman living in a plush white suburb with her white husband. There would be no more Group Areas Act issues for Lindiwe. She could walk and live where she wanted too.

Lindiwe went deeper into the dream. There would be no more of the white mentality that blacks breaded by the dozens. Many white people believed that if blacks did eventually move into the house next door to them, half the township would squash into the house too, like eight in a room.

Then Lindiwe's dream went more positive. She saw the back of the head of a white man kissing her on the lips. It was clear that this was her future lover. She couldn't quite make out the face.

Would she fall in love with an English speaking man or, thought of all thoughts, an Afrikaner?

Personally, Lindiwe did not have a problem with the Afrikaners. Her life had never been directly impacted on. No Afrikaner had yet called her the derogatory K-word to her face. (The word _Kaffir_ is banned in the New South Africa and as hurtful to a black person as the word Nigger is to a black American).

"More juice, darling?" asked the white man to Lindiwe in the dream. At least Lindiwe was still a tea toddler in her dream. She stayed far away from alcohol entering her mouth even though she worked in the Vosloo Grill.

After consuming some juice, she kissed the white man goodbye as she headed off to work. Where was she going? Ah, an upmarket law firm in the centre of Pretoria. Hang on; something was seriously wrong in this dream! Lindiwe was travelling in a yellow cab taxi with two white women next to her.

Was this a taste of the new South Africa?

"Hello, Lindiwe," greeted the one woman with a strong Afrikaans accent.

"Oh my God, how did this Afrikaner woman know my name?" thought Lindiwe out loud.

"Don't worry, dear," said the other white woman in the taxi.

"This is a different South Africa now. We are all equal since Mandela came to power."

" _Never, never and never again, shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another."_

"Who said that?" thought Lindiwe again out loud.

Those words were certainly not of Martin Luther King Jnr, but of Nelson Mandela.

She saw herself climbing out of a taxi at a busy street in Pretoria.

"Hello, Lindi," greeted a familiar voice.

Lindiwe looked up into the face of Louise Burrell.

"Louise, what is going on?" asked Lindiwe.

"No more tray days for you now that you are on the brink of marrying a handsome white man?" said Louise with a smile.

Lindiwe battled to take in air in order to breathe.

White man? What white man?

"This may sound quite stupid but what is the white man's name again?" asked Lindiwe, pretending to joke with the American.

Louise ignored the comment and Lindiwe never got her answer.

"Let's do steak and chips for lunch, on me," said Louise as she pointed to a classy restaurant in Church Street.

Wow! Lindiwe Buthelezi set to eat with a knife and fork instead of pap (mielie meal) en vleis (meat) with her hands like the way that most white people thought blacks ate their meals!

Lindiwe stared at the restaurant with the name Koos' Kitchen on the door. She knew it used to be the home of firebrand Afrikaners when they wanted to treat their women to a class meal.

With Louise leading the way, Lindiwe followed and stopped in her tracks at the door, in front of her, stood a large Afrikaner man in an apron.

"Oh, it is the bride-to-be, I am sure that you must be excited," said the man.

"Let me send some complimentary bread rolls to your table while you look through the menu."

Lindiwe gulped. Bride-to-be? This was all becoming a bit much, and since when did white men send complimentary bread rolls to the table of a black person? Hello, Lindiwe, don't you get it? You are not are black person anymore. You are white now, she reminded herself.

"My name is Koos," said the large man in a deep Afrikaner accent.

Again, Lindiwe was taken aback. She had never called a white Afrikaner man by their first name. What if she pronounced it wrong and the man took offence and called her by the K-word _? Lindiwe, for goodness sake, white people don't call other white people by the K-word!_

"What would you like to drink so long?" asked Koos.

"Seen that it is a special occasion, perhaps you would like some fresh juice as I know that you don't drink alcohol."

Lindiwe was stunned. Why did so many people seem to know so much about her life and she knew very little or nothing about them?

"Thank you," said Lindiwe with a smile.

As Koos headed off she popped the most important question to Louise.

"What is the story that Mandela is out of jail?" she asked.

Louise nodded.

"I did get my exclusive interview with Mandela and I suppose it was only obvious that he would be the first President of a democratic South Africa," said the reporter.

Phew. This good news was mind-boggling to Lindiwe.

"Now, enough of Mandela and the New South Africa, tell me how it feels now that you are about to become a lady of leisure?" asked Louise.

Lindiwe gritted her teeth together. How could she find a way to get Louise to release the name of her husband-to-be without looking stupid.

What is it like living in Waverly?" asked Louise.

"A step up from Mamelodi, I am sure?"

Lindiwe grinned. Property in the Waverly suburb in Pretoria was anything but cheap. It was the most sought after physical address in Pretoria.

"I am still proud of my Mamelodi roots and upbringing, but yes, there is nothing wrong with a change," replied Lindiwe, as she still tried to make sense of how she had transformed from black to white.

"So those years of studying law did work out well for you after all," said Louise.

"I mean that is where you met him."

Him? Come on, Louise, you got to give me a break here, thought Lindiwe.

"I bet you ever even forgotten what it is like to travel on a township taxi," teased Louise.

"You really have landed with your butt in the butter, so to speak," went on Louise.

"Well, I didn't ask for any of this, it just kind of happened," replied Lindiwe.

" _Tloo banana, oa tseba hote o lula o batla sena_ (Come on, girl, you know you always wanted this)," said a familiar voice in her mind.

For a split second, she saw the face of the speaker. Gogo Albertina Buthelezi, Lindiwe's mother's mother!

"That is how love works, it has no barriers irrespective of race or creed," quipped Louise.

"Here is your juice, Lindiwe, enjoy," said Koos, as he placed a glass of orange juice in front of the lawyer.

Lindiwe wiped her face with her hands.

"You know, Louise, life has been going so fast, I can't even remember all the blessings that have come my way but I am oh, so grateful."

"Well, I am just so glad that we met up at Cape Town station on the way to Robben Island," said Louise.

"It was fate that drew us together. Things happen for a reason. I believe that you deserve everything that is coming your way."

" _U na le karolo e kholo eo u lokelang ho e bapala_ (you have a big part to play)," said that Gogo Albertina's again.

Lindiwe thought hard before making her next comment. She was afraid that she was losing her mind.

"Tell me, Louise, have you ever felt like you went forward in time, you know to like twenty-odd years ahead of where you were in life?" asked Lindiwe.

"What do you mean?" questioned the reporter in return.

"No, forget I even asked," said Lindiwe.

Louise giggled.

"You have been watching too many space movies, I think," commented the political reporter.

"Nothing special happens in my life, although my work has allowed me to travel the world. Outside of that, it is just me holding a microphone looking into a CNN television camera every day."

Lindiwe decided to press her friend further on the time element.

"Sometimes I feel like I was put in the 1980s to gain the experience to live out in the 2000s," said the lawyer.

Louise laughed.

"I will tell the waiter to take it easy on whatever they are putting in your orange juice because it is making you go crazy," said the American.

"I am not making sense to you, am I?" questioned Lindiwe.

"No, you are not," replied Louise.

A thunderbolt of lightning struck the Mamelodi East area and Lindiwe Buthelezi woke up to reality.

What? No Louise? No husband-to-be? No wedding? No Koos' Kitchen? No Koos? No house in Waverly? No law firm? No Mandela out of jail as the country's new No 1?

So Louise hadn't been to the future. It was just simply Lindiwe's mind running in a dream of how life as a white woman in love with a white man would be.

The black girl began to shed tears. One day everything will work out, Lindiwe, and that day is not too far off, she told herself.

Suddenly, she felt a pounding feeling. Was there about to be another blast like the one at the Vosloo Grill? Surely not as there were no gas pipes at the house in Mamelodi!

The pounding feeling was not coming from anywhere external. It was coming from Lindiwe's heart. What was causing the pounding?

Pieter Erasmus! There was something about the Lieutenant that made Lindiwe weak at the knees. Come on, Lindiwe, this was 1987 and a 'Black and White' relationship would never work out as it would not be acceptable to most white people.

Even some hardline blacks would find such a relationship difficult to accept. However, Lindiwe was mature enough to know that she could not live her life to please family members. She needed to follow her heart, but was determined that Pieter should make the first move if there was to be one at all.

Oh, Lindiwe, who are you kidding? How could an Afrikaner look at a black girl from Mamelodi from a sexual perspective?

Of course, Lindiwe had no proof that Pieter was the husband-to-be that Louise and others had referred to in the dream.

What she wouldn't have given to have has just a peak at the face of the man who gave her something to drink in the dream before she headed off to lunch at Koos' Kitchen.

Her thoughts returned to Pieter. There was something about this Afrikaner. It was like he had a sense of fatherly-figure about him.

No, Lindiwe. Louise was right. Cut back on whatever you are putting in your orange juice before you embarrass yourself.

She could have almost any black man that she wanted to have, but Pieter was Pieter. Something could happen here at any time and she was sure that in one way or another, Pieter must feel the same.

The ball was in Pieter's court. Little did she know, but Pieter was ready to play!

### Chapter 11 - Be Careful what You Wish For

_Moenie Saterdag winkels toe gaan nie, die swartes trap vir jou vrek want daar is so veel van hulle_ (don't go to the shops on a Saturday, the blacks will stamp you into the ground because there are so many of them)."

If Pieter was a racist, his parents were one hundred times worse. Pieter's father, Frik Erasmus, had been a car mechanic having left school in grade ten after his parents could no longer afford to pay his school fees.

As he grew older, Frik, moved from the grease-covered workshop in Church Street, Pretoria, to the spares department. This is where the hatred grew in him as he had to sell spare parts to people of all skin colours.

His command of the English language was close to non-existent and when he spoke his home language of Afrikaans to the blacks at the shop, few responded. They saw it as the language of the oppressor.

*His wife, Petro, did not interact with blacks at all. She believed in the conservative line of ' _hou misdaad af, skiet n swarte'_ (reduce crime, shoot a black)'.

Petro was of the mindset that all blacks died of the HIV-Aids virus; hence she referred to them as _'HIV-positief'_ (HIV positive).

The stereo-type conservatives often referred to blacks as 'HIV positives'. The belief was that blacks had umpteen children out of wedlock and due to being promiscuous; they often succumbed to the dreaded HIV-Aids virus.

It is the above thinking of racist parents that rubs of on the children and Pieter Erasmus grew up believing that people of skin colour were criminals and a danger as well as being inferior to whites.

As he sat down again at the kitchen table, Pieter could no longer hold off the tiredness. He drifted off into dreamland and found himself on a journey that few white men are privy too.

" _Waar die bliksem dink jy loop jy_ (where the hell do you think you are walking)?" said a burly Afrikaner policeman to Pieter.

Pieter's natural reaction was to attempt to right-hook the cop but something stopped him. It was as if he could not lift his right arm to apply the punch.

Before Pieter could answer, the cop had pushed him out of a whites-only row of people waiting for a bus and towards a township taxi queue. In most white circles, the taxi was known as a _kaffir taxi_ (a taxi that only transported blacks).

As he climbed on to the nearest taxi, Pieter tried to make head or tail on what is happening.

" _Dumelang, ntate_ (good day, father)," said a young boy to Pieter, who was seated in the front of a township taxi next to the driver.

" _Chelete ea ka ke ena_ (here is my money)," said the youngster, as he tapped Pieter on the shoulder.

What does this kid want? I have my own money, thought Pieter, who never knew that it was the job of the person in the front seat to collect the cash for the driver, who was busy behind the steering wheel.

As he took the coins from the young boy, he caught sight of his own hands. Pieter, you are black!

Few people ever speak on a township taxi and they never sit with their back to each other as this is deemed disrespectful.

Forty minutes passed as the taxi made a trip from Pretoria central to Mamelodi East, where he disembarked.

Pieter Erasmus took a closer look at his hands. They definitely were black. As he walked past a hair salon situated on the pavement, he managed to see himself in a mirror. Pieter, your face is black too.

As he broke out into a sweat, he felt like he was on the brink of having a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. What was going on?

_Two Tsotsis_ (thugs) had been watching him and quickly worked out that he was short of confidence. Before Pieter knew what was happening, the thugs had him up against a concrete wall. One pinned him to the wall, with a knife place across the victim's throat, while another checked his pockets and eventually found his wallet.

Both men disappeared at the speed of light, but their escape was not as smooth as they expected. Another two men who saw the attack, set off in hot pursuit of the thugs.

Pieter was shocked. This was all new to him. He had never been mugged by black men before. Usually, his violent streak would have seen him react. However, here he was... a white man in a black skin in a black township. Even if the cops were around, they were most unlikely to help a black man from being attacked.

Within five minutes, Pieter's luck had taken an amazing turn. A black youth wearing an Orlando Pirates Football Club cap jogged towards him. Was this going to be another mugging, thought Pieter.

No, the young man produced Pieter's wallet and handed it to him. Out of habit, Pieter checked the contents of the wallet and saw that nothing had been removed.

The young man explained in English.

"The two guys who mugged you are visitors to our area and don't understand the trouble that they could have caused so our local guys sorted them out," said the youngster, wearing old denim jeans and a tattered white t-shirt.

"We don't want any trouble in the area. We have our own gangs that run this part of Mamelodi. The last thing they want is you running to the cops. Our gangsters do their own policing here and are pretty good. People think twice before committing a crime here as they know that local mob violence is the price they will pay if they get caught."

Pieter caught on quickly. Clearly Mamelodi gangsters only fight with their opponents in the area.

"You look familiar," said Pieter to the youngster.

"I am Diamond Sindani," said the youth.

"I belong to the Hard Dazzlers gang here in Mamelodi East. You have probably heard of Bra Ace Khune?"

Pieter shook his head.

"Well don't mess with him," quipped Diamond.

"If you owe Bra Ace anything, make sure you pay up otherwise things get hectic. Last month, two guys tried to run away without paying Bra Ace and they are now a part of the underground movement, and I don't mean the ANC, if you know what I mean."

Pieter nodded as he listened with intent.

"How often do the police patrol this area?" asked Pieter.

Diamond grinned.

"They patrol regularly but more so to make sure that there are no illegal political gatherings," said the youth.

"They are quite happy to watch black-on-black violence."

Pieter nodded again.

"You seem quite mature for your age," he said.

Diamond sighed.

"My father left home when I was three years of age and my mother died five years later," explained Diamond.

"My gogo (grandmother) raised me. Unfortunately, when she retired as a school teacher, her pension money was really small. I made the commitment to provide for myself and my two young brothers as well as gogo."

"Provide, you mean as in ..." said Pieter.

"One has to do what one has to do to survive," replied Diamond.

The youngster could see the worry in Pieter's face.

"We don't steal or kill, well not unless we really have to defend ourselves," said Diamond.

Pieter tried to sum up the situation.

"So if you don't steal it means..."

Again Diamond cut him short.

"Heroin and Mandrax," quipped Diamond.

"Are you on the hard stuff?" asked Pieter.

"Let's just see when the need arises," answered Diamond.

"I have tried to kick the habit but it is not easy, although I have cut back a lot these days."

"So who do you sell too?" asked Pieter.

"Youngsters, I would imagine?"

Diamond sighed.

"Yes, the market is quite young, but there are some seasoned customers too, even some cops."

"Cops, do they buy it to use it or sell it?" questioned Pieter.

"I don't know and also don't care as long as the money is green," retorted Diamond.

"You mean black cops?" asked Pieter.

"There is no such thing as black cops, we call them informers," answered Diamond.

"However, yes, the blacks who are siding with the government do buy here."

"So, if you know that those blacks are siding with the government, then why don't you sort them out?" asked Pieter.

"What, and lose a customer or two?" responded Diamond.

Pieter then set his mind off in a different direction.

"What about the girls in the area?" he asked.

Diamond smiled.

"Do you want me to organise one for you?" he grinned.

No sooner had Diamond said that than a young, slim girl walked by and her face immediately caught Pieter's attention.

"Lindiwe!" said Pieter.

The girl stopped and stared at the black Pieter.

"I am sorry, do I know you?" she asked.

Pieter's mind was racing.

"You are a law student at the University of Pretoria right, at least that is what you told me," quipped Pieter.

Lindiwe looked the man up and down.

"Yes, I am a law student at the university but I really don't think that we have met before," she said.

"I never forget a face."

"He is a visitor to Mamelodi East," said Diamond to Lindiwe, with reference to Pieter.

"He seems like a psychic, how he knows about me?" said Lindiwe to Diamond, before heading off.

Lindiwe was used to having men stalking her. Many of her friends went the sugar daddy route and slept with older men in order to fund their dreams, but she wasn't like that.

As Lindiwe walked on, Pieter turned to Diamond.

"How close to the end of apartheid do you think we are?" he asked.

Diamond shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't see apartheid ending in the next twenty years, it is what it is," said the youth.

"What when it does end, the whites will pay the ultimate price."

"What do you mean, do you believe South Africa will go the Zimbabwe route and chase all the whites out?" asked Pieter.

"Or worse," said the youngster.

"I would love to be given the opportunity to shoot some whites to get justice for what they have done to our people over the years."

Pieter sighed.

"I understand the black frustration, but two wrongs don't make a right," he said.

"When Mandela is released from prison, I am sure he will go the route of reconciliation."

Pieter could still see Lindiwe walking away in the distance. Even in his dream there was something special about that girl.

If he recognised her, why didn't she recognise him?

"I wonder if I will be black forever?" muttered Pieter to himself, but loud enough for Diamond to hear it.

"Most of us stay that way," giggled the youth.

"We can only dream about what it would be like to be white."

Pieter narrowed his eyes. The youngster was indeed very intelligent for his young age. With a bit of mentoring he could be a future leader. This is the type of talent that the ANC needed to nurture and guide in the correct manner for when they finally did get into power.

"I never did get your name," commented Diamond to Pieter.

Pieter gulped.

"It is... Prince... Prince Ndlovu."

"Strange, you don't sound Zulu," said Diamond.

At that point, the phone in Pieter Erasmus' flat began to ring causing him to sit up in the kitchen.

"Wake up, Erasmus, it was just a dream."

### Chapter 12 - A Tough Day for Pearce

Pearce Ellison tapped the fingers of his right hand on his briefcase as he sat at a small table at a bed and breakfast in Mowbray, a southern suburb of Cape Town.

A day earlier, he had witnessed apartheid when the owners of two accommodation houses in Rondebosch, about five miles away, would not allow him to stay over.

The Group Areas Act was pretty severe on whites who allowed blacks to stay in white areas. The fear was that the blacks could well be ANC operatives, even if they were foreigners like Pearce, the African-American human rights lawyer.

Pearce finished his breakfast and paid the bill for the overnight stay. At least in Mowbray, he had been able to find a more liberal-minded bed and breakfast owner who was prepared to defy apartheid and allow the American to stay overnight.

With sunglasses hiding his brown eyes, Pearce headed off to the main road to catch a cab to get to the centre of Cape Town. Of course the metre cabs did not stop. No man, those were only for white people. Blacks needed to travel in the township taxi.

" _Uphi ntata_ (where to baba)?" asked the taxi driver in Xhosa language to Pearce.

"Cape Town harbour," said Pearce, as he clutched on to his briefcase.

"Oh, a black foreigner, you don't sound African," said the driver as Pearce settled himself in the front seat of the taxi.

"I am from America," explained the lawyer.

"I wish America would help us end apartheid," quipped the driver.

"Botha is a mad man. He is not our President. He hates the blacks."

Pearce couldn't argue with the comments. The driver was quite possibly that. However, Pearce was fully aware that Botha was doing and saying what he needed to in order to stay in power. If the President appeared weak, the cabinet would work him out and replace him with a hard-line Afrikaner who would be even less accommodating to the blacks of the country.

Pearce kept a close eye on the goings-on on the sidewalk as the taxi headed towards the city. He didn't see any cops pounding blacks like it was portrayed in the news back in the US. In fact he didn't see many blacks. That would make sense with the Group Areas Act prohibiting blacks from staying in so-called 'white areas'.

"What do you do for fun around here?" asked Pearce to the driver.

"There is no fun," quipped the man behind the steering wheel as he swung the vehicle to the right to avoid a small car. The white driver of the other vehicle hooted at the taxi and pointed the middle finger of his right hand at the taxi driver.

Pearce certainly did not enjoy the manner in which the taxi driver drove his vehicle, but was astounded by the road rage shown between the two drivers. Of course this was much more than road rage. It was racial hatred between the white oppressor and the black oppressed.

As the taxi made a way along the busy De Waal Drive road, Pearce noticed Table Mountain on his left and could see the cable car station at the top. The cable car transported thousands of visitors from the bottom of the mountain to the top each year, from where the whole of the city could be viewed.

Pearce also saw the Castle of Good Hope. Originally, a fort in the 17th century, the old building was demolished, and with tensions between the Netherlands and Great Britain on the rise, a castle was built between 1666 and 1669.

The taxi made its way around the city's freeway until it got to the harbour area where Pearce thanked the driver and climbed off.

At the gate in full view of the public, a white security guard was busy punching a coloured junior staffer.

" _Jou dom donner, hoeveel keer moet ek vir jou die selfde ding vertel_ (you dumb asshole, how many times must I tell you the same thing)?" said the aggressor.

Quite a few white people were making their way past where the confrontation was happening, but nobody intervened. This was racist South Africa. White was right and black was sub-human!

Pearce thought of getting involved but then was concerned that as a visitor to a foreign country, it may hamper his chances of getting to Robben Island.

He gave the Afrikaner security official a stare, and he got the same back.

" _Wat kyk jy_ (what are you looking at)?" asked the senior official, with his right hand still around the neck of the junior coloured man.

"You can't treat people like that," said Pearce.

The senior security man laughed.

" _Ek sal doen wat ek lus is tot dat hierdie appies n brein grooi en leer om to luister_ (I will do what I like until there monkeys grow a brain and learn to listen)," said the Afrikaner.

Pearce thought of taking things further but moved on. His mission was much bigger than liberating one person.

As he walked towards the security office at the ferry area, Pearce began to thank God for allowing him to be born in the US. Not that America was free of racism as it too had its own issues, but nothing like what he had just witnessed.

It took Pearce a good thirty minutes to find the security office at the harbour. He would have got there a lot quicker if the whites had not given him the run-around. Either few knew where the office really was or they were just messing him around by giving the wrong directions. It was probably the latter, he decided.

Through the office window, a tall Afrikaner security officer in a grey uniform stared at him as he approached.

" _Hier kom nog een van hulle_ (here comes another one of them)," said the taller man to his colleague.

Pearce smiled at the two men and focused his attention on the taller one.

"Good morning, sir," said Pearce.

The taller man liked the fact that a black man was calling him 'sir'.

" _Hoe kan ek vir jou help_ (how can I help you)?" said the security man, who made a point of speaking only in Afrikaans language to black people just to show them who is the boss.

Pearce shrugged his shoulders.

"I am not from this country," he remarked.

"I am a lawyer and need to get to Robben Island for meetings."

"Do you have any paperwork which will give you access to the ferry which goes to Robben Island?" asked the shorter of the two men in the office.

"Well, I don't but ..." quipped Pearce.

"Dan vat jou goed en trek, Ferreira (takes your stuff and leave, Ferreira)," butted in the taller man. The expression that he used was an expression from an old Afrikaans song.

From there, the men ignored Pearce.

" _Van Zyl, gaan boot toe met die briewe maar kom spoedig terug_ (Van Zyl, go to the ferry with these letters, but come back quickly)," said the taller man to his colleague.

" _Ek gaan gou koffee haal by die winkel langsaan_ (I am going to get coffee at the shop next door)."

Pearce watched as the security men headed off leaving the office unattended. He took his chance and charged towards the small office. On the desk were a batch of paper passes which allowed VIPs and other visitors to board the ferry. He clutched one of the pieces of paper and hid it inside his shirt breast pocket as he left the area with speed.

He had just made it back to the main pathway when he nearly ran straight into the tall security man.

" _Is jy nog fokken hier, verstaan jy nie dat ons nie vir jou kan help nie_ (are you still fucking here, don't you understand that we can't help you)?"

Pearce did not respond, but walked as if he was going away from the path to the boats. When he noticed that the shorter security man had returned from the jetty, the lawyer made a beeline for the waters.

Once there, he presented his ferry pass to a security man at the boat who looked at him suspiciously. Hey, the black man has a ferry pass so he must be allowed aboard, thought the security official.

It seemed to take forever before the boat was untied from the jetty and headed off to Robben Island with a total of eight passengers.

The sea was quite choppy and the boat tossed to and fro on the waters as the north wind, affectionately known as the Cape Doctor thrust into the bodies of the persons in the ferry.

Time seemed to come to a standstill, but eventually, Pearce watched as the boat approached the famous island where Nelson Mandela and many of his colleagues were believed to be held captive by the apartheid regime.

Pearce was the last to step on to dry land from the ferry and a Correctional Services official greeted him and asked where he was heading.

"I am Pearce Ellison, an American human rights lawyer, and I am here to meet with the person in charge of the prison on the island," said the African-American.

Pearce was led to the same office where Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus had met with the prison chief Vorster a few days earlier.

"I am very busy, may I help you?" asked an agitated Vorster as he stood up from his desk. Pearce grinned. He was certainly not going to be treated with respect and called 'sir' by this Afrikaner in the same way that he was greeted at the harbour security office.

If the Correctional Services man did not like Pearce because he was black, he certainly could not deny the confidence with which the American was speaking.

"Sir, I am here to meet with Mr Mandela," quipped Pearce.

Vorster's eyes were raging. He was a busy man and the last thing that he needed now was a wisecrack black, especially a black foreigner, who thought that he could gain access to Mandela.

"How did you get on to the island?" asked Vorster.

Pearce produced the ferry pass and Vorster's face turned from white to red and then to a blueish colour. Clearly somebody at the security office at the harbour was going to feel his wrath for letting unqualified persons board the ferry!

"Look, I don't know who you are or what you want here but this is a restricted area and anyway, Mandela is not on the island," said Vorster in a stern voice.

"You mean that government has transferred Mr Mandela to the mainland?" asked the lawyer.

Vorster was losing patience. He wasn't used to interacting with a black person.

Keeping in mind that Vorster himself was unaware of whether Mandela had died or had been moved from the island, he chose his words carefully.

"I cannot say where Mr Mandela is, and please understand that I have to ask you to return to the ferry and to leave this island immediately," said the prisons boss.

Pearce gritted his teeth in as he thought carefully before speaking.

"Look, sir, I don't want any trouble, I have flown all the way from the US to speak with Mr Mandela and..."

Vorster cut the lawyer short.

"You don't want any trouble, you say, then why don't you get off my island and climb back on to the plane that brought you here!" said Vorster aggressively.

"You don't have any idea of the politics of our country and the challenges that we are facing here!" snapped the prisons boss.

Pearce responded.

"Actually, I do, but I believe that Mr Mandela is a key role player in getting South African to a peaceful outcome," replied Pearce.

Vorster's temper went to the next level.

For a moment, Pearce just stood still and stared at Vorster. He didn't enjoy being spoken to this way by any person irrespective of skin colour

"Did you not hear me? I said get off my fucking island as in now... fuck off!"

Pearce could feel the heat of Vorster's raging eyes burning into his skin realised that it was only a matter of time before he joined the ANC men in a cell if he didn't obey the prison chief.

Vorster screamed to attract the attention of two of his henchmen who were outside his office door.

" _De Jongh! Du Plooy!"_

The office door opened and two uniformed men with biceps the sizer of Pearce's waistline came in.

" _Vat hierdie ou weg en sit hom op n boot stad toe voerdat ek hom toesluit_ (take this guy away and put him on a boat to the city before I lock him up)!" ordered the prison boss.

Pearce turned and left the office peacefully.

Clearly access to Mandela was going to be much tougher than he originally thought. He had read stories back in the US that Mandela's own family often battled to get access to visit him. Now he was finding out first hand.

Pearce walked back to the jetty with the two prison officials behind him. Not a word was spoken between the three individuals.

All the time, Pearce's mind was racing. He needed to come up with a plan to gain access to Mandela, but that he could only work out when he could know what was going on between the ANC man and the apartheid government.

At the jetty, Pearce was in for a wait as the ferry had returned to Cape Town to fetch other people. He sat on a rock and stared up into the blue sky. The sun was now close to its highest point and he could feel the rays baking down on his shirt.

Perhaps he should not have told Vorster that he is a human rights lawyer - the term 'human rights' often scared people who were uneducated and insecure.

His thoughts crossed borders and he began to wonder how South Africa's northern neighbours, Zimbabwe, would have turned out if their first democratically-elected head, Robert Mugabe, had listened to reason and the people. Currently, both South Africa and Zimbabwe were staring down the barrel and faced with a decision to adapt or die situation.

White minority rule had ended in Zimbabwe in the late 1970s, with the former British colony becoming a republic in 1980. South Africa.

South Africa too, had been a British colony and had become an independent republic in 1961. However, if Mandela was to play the role that Pearce and many others thought he would, the country was about to undergo another metamorphosis.

Back in the prison office, Vorster was on the phone to Pretoria.

" _Nog een wat stel belang in Mandela. Hierdie keer n swart Amerikaner. Hy vertel dat hy n prokereur is (another one interested in Mandela. This time a black American. He says he is a lawyer)."_

### Chapter 13 - Getting inside the head of Mugabe

Pearce Ellison had a plan and a good one! Since he could not get to Nelson Mandela, he went for Plan B - a trip to visit Zimbabwean Prime Minster, Robert Mugabe.

Back on Cape Town mainland, he made a call to his long-time contact, Bishop Reginald Banda, who himself was trying to bring about peace in the hostile country called Zimbabwe.

Pearce had met the Bishop at an International Human Rights Congress in Miami, and something told him that this Man of God would one day be of great help to him. Pearce was a part-time Pastor at his home church, so there was always a common thread between the two men.

Next, Pearce booked an air ticket to fly to Johannesburg and from there to the Zimbabwean capital city, Harare.

"So you honestly believe that you can do it?" said Bishop Reginald Banda, seated across the dining room table from Pearce Ellison at the Bronte Hotel, in Baines Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe.

"Yeah, God has sent me on this mission," said Pearce.

"You know that I am from Zambia and I would have thought that the Prime Minister would have been open to listening to an African brother, but he is just so stubborn," said Bishop Reginald, as he fidgeted with his gold Bishop's ring on the index finger of his left hand.

Now in his fifties, the Bishop's fully shaven head had sweat on it.

Pearce knew where the clergyman was coming from. If Mugabe refused to listen to a black Zambian man of the cloth, what chance did an American have of convincing the Zimbabwean No 1, that the beautiful Southern African country could be the success story on the continent?

Zimbabwe had been an independent country for seven years now, but the honeymoon period had ended a while ago. The challenges facing the Mugabe regime were increasing by the day. Job shortages and foreign market issues were just the tip of the iceberg.

Mugabe a veteran military man from the Bush War days, was a firm believer that the Zimbabwean land needed to be returned to the rightful owners in order for true black economic empowerment to take place.

The fear that whites could be pushed off of their farmlands was very real. Ironically, it was the white farmers who had played a major role in building the Rhodesian (now Zimbabwean) economy through the tobacco and maize exporting sectors.

Like South Africa, it was inevitable that white minority rule would not be able to sustain itself forever, and the challenge of the liberation struggle plus the world outcry against Rhodesia's poor human rights record, forced Ian Smith's white government to keep looking over their shoulders.

With the Bush War gaining momentum, Smith needed a plan. In March 1978, an accord was reached involving Smith, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and two other African leaders. This agreement ensured that the whites in the country would not be harmed in exchange for a biracial democracy.

Following elections, Muzorewa, the head of the United African National Council, became Prime Minister at the start of June 1979 and the country's name was changed to Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. Smith's masterpiece saw his white party still in control of the Rhodesian security forces, civil services, judiciary and having a third of the seats in Parliament.

However, this did not solve all of the political problems. In August 1979, the British government invited Muzorewa, Mugabe and Zimbabwean African People's Union leader, Joshua Nkomo to a meeting in London. The agenda was to structure an independent constitution for the country and allow it to reach its independence via a firm legal route.

Smith saw the writing on the wall as far as the end to white minority rule was concerned, although he would never admit it.

Eleven days into December of 1979, the white minority government voted 90 to nil in favour of returning the country to British colonial status.

It was inevitable that one-man-one-vote elections would eventually take place, and in February 1980, the Zimbabwean African National Union party, led by Mugabe, recorded a landslide win.

Canaan Banana, a Methodist minister, served as the country's first President, from 1980 to 1987, while Mugabe occupied the office of Prime Minister. Nkomo would serve as the country's Vice President until 1987, when he wasn't avoiding attempts on his life, allegedly by Mugabe's hit squad.

"I need to get Mugabe to understand that he can be portrayed as the saviour of the African continent if he plays his cards right," muttered Pastor Ellison.

"I know I can do it, Bishop. I can feel it in my spirit. Mugabe needs to realise that if he doesn't seize the moment, Mandela will when the apartheid regime eventually let him out of prison. Mandela's release will happen sooner rather than later."

The Bishop finished off a piece of toast and thought carefully before speaking.

Robert Mugabe was indeed a tough nut to crack. Initially, upon coming to power, the ZANU man had been a seeker of advice and keen to include the Zimbabwean whites in the New Zimbabwe. However, those days were now far gone and he had very little time for any colour skin other than his own.

"Look, Pastor, I can get you a meeting with Mugabe, but I can't promise how open he will be to hear what you have to say," said Bishop Reginald.

"Mugabe listens to the first few comments that you make and if he doesn't like what he is hearing, his mind switches off and the meeting will end rather abruptly."

Pastor Pearce grinned.

"I will take my chances, I know I will be able to get through to him," he said.

The Bishop got up from his seat and moved over to a telephone in the corner of the hotel's dining room.

"Yes, it is Bishop Reginald Banda here," said the Zambian over the phone after dialling the number to the ZANU head office.

"I would like an hour of Prime Minister Mugabe's time as soon as possible, he knows me well. I will be bringing a colleague by the name of Pastor Pearce Ellison with me. What's that.... The Prime Minister has been looking to speak with me? Alright, when can I meet with him? Tomorrow, 11h00? That is fine. I will be there, thank you."

Bishop Reginald picked up a pencil that lay on top of a notepad next to the phone and jotted down some notes.

ZANU head office, corner Samora Machel Avenue and Rotten Row, Harare. 11h00.

"What does Mugabe want to talk to you about?" asked Pearce.

"The Lord only knows," responded the Bishop.

"However, it created the perfect platform to get you in to meet the Prime Minister. Just position yourself as a Pastor rather than a Human Rights lawyer, as the No 1 is not a big fan of rights, as you may have read."

Pearce opened his Bible on Mark 6:13. _"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you."_

The part-time Pastor understood that leaders were put in place not by voters, but by God. They needed to be respected.

....................................

Almost everyone in Zimbabwe knew how fired up the country's No 1 could get. He was a 'my way or no way' type of guy.

A 1980 Toyota Corolla taxi smelling of fuel dropped the two clergymen at the entrance to the ZANU head office. The street outside looked like a war scene with cops on motorbikes parked next to the smart vehicles with tinted windows that transported Mugabe and his top men.

Inside the foyer, VIP protection unit men in suits, with sunglasses positioned on top of their heads checked the two visitors up and down. There is only one element that Mugabe protected more than the ZANU and that was Mugabe himself. The Prime Minister was paranoid that the western world would pay locals to eliminate him.

The white man was the enemy! Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU was another. Mugabe, of the Shona tribe, was being blamed for the killing of thousands of Ndebele people. Who were believed to be linked to ZAPU.

Initially, Mugabe had been keen on ensuring that the white brain drain did not run to the emigration office as he looked at ways to keep the economy and other departments strong. However, he seemed to have adopted a blacks-only approach in recent times.

"Please follow me," said a pretty woman in her late twenties to the two men, as she led the way to the lift which transported the trio to the 15th floor of the building which was rumoured to have been funded to the tune of US$15 million by the Chinese government.

Pastor Pearce noted the armed security guards on each corner as they made their way to the meeting room. Yes, Mugabe really must be expecting a coup d'état at any given moment. Years later this would prove correct when the military placed him under house arrest on 14 November 2017, before he was forced to resign after losing the support of his ZANU leaders.

The two Men of God were ushered into the meeting room and were offered tea or coffee ahead of their meeting with the country's No 1.

It wasn't long before the meeting room door flung open and two armed VIP protection men escorted Robert Gabriel Mugabe, flanked by two senior government officials, to their seats.

The visitors moved across to shake hands with the leader, but the VIP protection men had their hands on their pistol triggers just in case the white visitor tried anything tricky.

Once all were seated, the conversation began.

"Prime Minister, I would like to introduce you to Pastor Pearce Ellison," began Bishop Reginald.

"Good day, sir," said Pearce.

"You are an American?" replied Mugabe.

Pearce nodded.

"I have been sent here by the Holy Spirit who has advised me that Zimbabwe has the potential to be the flagship of Africa in terms of peace, economy and transparency," said Pearce.

"It is only a matter of time before Mr Nelson Mandela is released from prison by the South African government and he is almost sure to institute a climate of peace among all people should he become President there."

Pearce went on.

"However, time is on your side, and Zimbabwe could jump the gun, so to speak, in being the leader on the continent on all fronts."

Mugabe took in a deep breath and let loose.

"Let's get one thing straight, Pastor Pearce, I think you said your name is," said the 64-year-old leader.

"The reason why both South Africa as well as Zimbabwe and indeed most if not all former colonies on the continent are in the poor state that they are is because of the exploitation and racist policies of the white man."

Pearce gulped. Here we go, he thought.

"The white man has oppressed our people for so many years," went on Mugabe.

"In fact, as we sit here now, the whites still own the majority of the land in a country which quite frankly, does not belong to them. They are actually visitors here just like you, but they don't seem to understand that."

Mugabe continued to explain.

"Thousands of our black brothers were murdered in the Bush War by Ian Smith's white minority government and now we are supposed to forget all of that?" he asked in rhetorical fashion.

"With respect, Pastor, I don't trust the white man and I don't think you can blame me for that if you look at history," commented Mugabe.

"As for Mandela, yes, it will be a great day when he is released from prison. I was also locked away because I stood up for the rights of my people so I know how that feels, but it is not that simple to action peace. There are also other parties here in Zimbabwe like ZAPU who want to oust me from power. It is not just the white man that we are cautious of."

Pearce thought long and hard before responding.

"President, I know that you grew up as a staunch Roman Catholic."

Mugabe nodded.

"I believe in the Word and also believe that I am doing what God wants me to do in the best interest of my people," said the Prime Minister.

"Let me ask you a question, what would you do if you were in my position?"

Phew, at last there was a question that Pearce could answer with ease but he needed to get his wording just right.

"I would distribute farmland but not by force," said the Pastor.

Mugabe stared at the clergyman.

"The problem is the only language the whites know is when we use force," remarked the Prime Minister.

"They don't understand the sharing part which you just mentioned."

Pearce went for broke.

"Perhaps the starting point is black reconciliation.

"Meaning what?" asked Mugabe.

"Mr President, as a Man of God, I am prepared to facilitate a meeting between ZANU and ZAPU," said Pearce.

Mugabe and the man seated to the right of the boss broke out in laughter.

"Pastor, you don't know what you are dealing with in ZAPU, but I don't have a problem accepting your offer in terms of a meeting with them," said Mugabe.

"This country can only move forward through dialogue."

The last two remarks were music to the ears of Pearce and Bishop Reginald noticed how his colleague's eyes lit up.

The question now was would Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU be open to a meeting with ZANU? Pearce was quite aware that he would have to do some smooth talking to get both of these factions to the table.

"You do realise that the meeting will need to happen somewhere in Harare," said Mugabe.

"We understand that ZAPU won't want to meet at the ZANU offices so we are happy to meet at one of the hotels in the city, but we definitely won't travel out of the capital to meet."

Pearce looked at Bishop Reginald who nodded.

Clearly Mugabe and company had no intention of going anywhere near the Ndebele people in the rural areas.

"I understand, sir," said Pearce.

"I would like to thank you for this fruitful meeting and will revert soon with a potential date, venue and time for the meeting in Harare," said the Pastor.

Mugabe nodded and rose from his chair. He shook hands with the Pastor and the Bishop and was ushered away by his security team.

As the door closed behind them, Pastor Pearce Ellison was beaming from ear to ear.

"He never mentioned what he wanted to talk to you about," said Pearce to the Bishop.

"I am sure he will in due time but you did really well here today," quipped Bishop Reginald.

### Chapter 14 - Zimbabwean Transformation

Zimbabwean Vice President Joshua Nkomo, accompanied by five of his ZAPU 'wise men' made their way through the door of the Royal Hotel in Harare.

Standing next to Bishop Reginald Banda, Pastor Pearce Ellison smiled at the ZAPU leader. There was no return smile from Joshua Nkomo. In fact, the expression on the ZAPU faces were so long it looked like they hadn't heard a joke in years.

Pearce helped himself to a scone from the buffet table. Covered in strawberry jam and cream, the scones looked delightful to everyone except the ZAPU team. Their leader eyed the scones. Was this another scheme from Robert Mugabe to try and poison them?

Nkomo and Mugabe were no strangers to each other. They were exact opposites.

Both spent time behind bars courtesy of the Ian Smith government. Nkomo had been detained from 1964 to 1974 in the company of none other than Mugabe.

The big difference between ZAPU and ZANU was that Nkomo and company believed in guerrilla and conservative warfare against the state, while Mugabe's men only believed in the former.

Like most politicians, Nkomo was far from being an angel. Fearing that the west was using civilian airlines to assist the Smith regime, ZAPU operatives shot down two civilian planes.

On 3 September 1978, an Air Rhodesia Vickers Viscount plane was shot down, with 38 of the 56 passengers killed. The weaponry was provided to ZAPU by the Soviet Union. Another ten on board were allegedly killed by on-the-ground soldiers at the crash site, who were sent to inspect the wreckage. The other eight, some with major injuries, walked 20 kilometres to Kariba where the flight had taken off from and were comforted by the Rhodesian army.

On 12 February 1979, ZAPU gunners shot down a second civilian plane, with 59 fatalities. The attack was a strategic one as they looked to eliminate General Peter Walls (Commander of the Combined Operations in the Rhodesian Special Forces) who was believed to be in the flight.

Some Rhodesian militants suspected that Nkomo was more dangerous than Mugabe, and the ZAPU man was lucky to be alive, having survived two assassination attempts by the white minority government.

In the early 1980s, the South African government assisted in creating havoc between ZAPU and ZANU, in planting arms on ZAPU-owned properties and then tipping the Mugabe regime off in this regard.

This led Mugabe to say the following about Nkomo in 1984: "ZAPU and its leader, Dr. Joshua Nkomo, are like cobras in a house. The only way to deal effectively with a snake is to strike and destroy its head."

While Nkomo ran for his life, and believed to have crossed the Zimbabwe-Botswana border illegally dressed as a woman, Mugabe unleashed the Fifth Brigade military on the Ndebele people, with 20 000 of Nkomo's followers believed to have perished. This was done by Mugabe in a bid to try and destroy ZAPU and to create a one-party state.

Now the Holy Spirit was at work. Pastor Pearce and Bishop Reginald were actioning the near impossible by getting Mugabe's men and his most fierce black enemies around one table for the sake of a nation.

Pearce tried again to open dialogue with the ZAPU boss. His timing was off, since as he pushed his hand forward to officially greet the politician, Robert Mugabe and his side-kicks walks into the hotel meeting room.

Typical, western mentality, thought Mugabe. So you want to shake hands with ZAPU? I will teach you a lesson!

Pearce moved over to greet the Zimbabwe Prime Minister, however, he was ignored as Mugabe walked on to take his place at the main table.

It was 10h20 and the meeting was due to start at 10h30, but Mugabe was clearly agitated. He glanced at the time on his wristwatch and then clapped his hands together out of irritation. He wanted the meeting to start.

Nkomo sat on the opposite side of the table but furthest from Mugabe. If the ZAPU boss sat any further away he would have been in the hotel kitchen.

The tension in the room was like a knife cutting through butter. Nkomo gave Mugabe a stare of death but the Prime Minister refused to look at the ZAPU man.

"Gentlemen, thanks for making the time to be present at this important meeting, let's open with a prayer," said Bishop Reginald.

"Amen," muttered Joshua Nkomo, who had been ordained as a Methodist preacher before later converting to Catholicism. Mugabe remained silent, as he stared at a pile of notes in a file in front of him. The battle lines were already drawn and Pastor Pearce would need some Divine Intervention from above to get a favourable outcome here.

Robert Mugabe adjusted his tie and for the first time in the day, looked at Pastor Pearce Ellison. He had his own plan. Yes, he was keen on having a one-party state, and if he could not exterminate the Ndebele tribe, then he had to go to Plan B.

He would need to keep his friends close and his enemies even closer. So, the plan was to give Nkomo a powerless seat in Parliament, and offer a few seats to the other ZAPU men in the room, in areas where they could contribute little in terms of influencing decisions.

"Honourable leaders, we are here today to put a constructive plan in place that will take Zimbabwe forward, but this can only happen if we work together in a peaceful and positive atmosphere," said Pearce.

Nkomo nodded and Mugabe stared at the speaker.

"The Zimbabwean economy has the potential to be the leading financial muscle in Africa, if all forms of mining and agriculture are actioned to their full potential," went on Pearce.

"A greater demand for Zimbabwean products will lead to job creation. The big question is how Zimbabwe can transform to a peaceful land and be able to convince the world that it is worthy of being the platform for foreign investment?"

One of Nkomo's sidekicks raised his hand to speak but Pearce went on.

"Mr Nelson Mandela of the ANC is likely to be released from prison by the South African National Party government. Exactly when, we do not know, but it is imminent as the political climate keeps changing."

"Zimbabwe is left with a choice to make," continued Pearce.

"Our country can be seen as followers in being a few steps behind Mandela, who is certain to action a climate of peace for all in his country, or Zimbabwe can take the lead role before Mandela is released and be the flagship success story on the continent."

If there was one thing that Mugabe liked about Pearce's speech, it was about getting one up on Mandela. What had Mandela ever done for his people, thought Mugabe. All the ANC man did was sitting on his backside in a prison cell on Robben Island!

"Prime Minister Mugabe, as leader of this wonderful country, I would like to ask you for your thoughts on a way forward," said Pearce.

Mugabe adjusted his spectacles and shuffled some papers in front of him. Nkomo poured himself a glass of water as it was the only refreshment that he trusted that would not carry potential poison.

"I thank you, Pastor Pearce, for this opportunity," began the Prime Minister.

"I think anyone who has lived in the Republic of Zimbabwe will be fully aware of the lengths that ZANU has gone to bring about peace for all in our wonderful nation."

Nkomo nearly choked on a mouthful of water and the ZAPU man on his right had to pat him on the back so as to clear his windpipe for the boss to breathe.

Did Mugabe just say that ZANU had done so much to bring about peace in Zimbabwe, thought Nkomo. What type of drugs was the President on or was he losing what was left of his mind?

Mugabe noticed the reaction of Nkomo and did not take such things lightly.

"It is this type of attitude among our own African brothers that makes the whites believe that we are a divided nation," remarked the Prime Minister.

"We need to find a common element of trust or else meetings such as this one is simply a waste of time."

Trust! Did Mugabe just say 'trust', thought Nkomo. Does Mugabe know how to spell 'trust'? Just like the previous white minority, the President's men had tried their best to take out Nkomo and his top brass on several occasions but had failed.

Now the Prime Minister wanted the Ndebeles to trust the Shona? To Nkomo this was like a lion asking a lamb to trust once in the lion's den.

"I can see that we are going to struggle to make headway here today so rather than to waste any time, I would like to call for a ten minute recess," said Mugabe.

"Bishop Reginald, may I please have a word with you."

Muttering broke out around the table but Mugabe's wish was granted. It was interesting that Mugabe wanted to speak to the Zambian Man of God and not the American clergyman who had been driving the meeting.

"Look, Bishop, Joshua Nkomo and his ZAPU colleagues don't know the first thing about running a country," said Mugabe.

"However, in the interest of peace, I am happy to sit down and work out a new constitution. I am quite prepared to offer Nkomo the President's chair and I will continue to operate as the Prime Minister."

The Bishop smiled thinking that Mugabe was making a great act of peace, but the Prime Minister knew all too well that his post held all the decision-making power while the duties of President were nothing more than ceremonial. He also knew that in most nations, the President usually controlled the Prime Minister, but that was definitely not going to happen here.

The question now was would Joshua Nkomo accept the role of President?

Meanwhile, Nkomo and his team stood at the opposite side of the room in deep conversation. They suspected that Mugabe would co-opt them into positions of little power.

With the ten minute recess completed, all members returned to their seats and Pastor Pearce gave Robert Mugabe the floor.

"Honourable gentlemen, in the interest of peace in our country, I propose that the ZAPU members here today are given parliamentary seats, with Honourable Joshua Nkomo installed in the position of the country's President while I will continue in the role of Prime Minister," said Mugabe.

Gasps went around the room. Mugabe was not a man who gave his opponent a helping hand. What was the catch? There had to be one. Of course there was.

"The above concession is based on ZAPU dissolving and coming aboard as a part of ZANU, with our new party to be called the ZANU - PF (People's Front)," went on Mugabe.

Bishop Reginald grinned. Mugabe was using the backdoor to get his wish in the form of a one party state. If this was approved, ZANU would never be voted out of power as the tiny parties had no chance and there was no official opposition party.

Confused looks and whispers were being exchanged among the ZAPU delegation.

"Prime Minster, your offer is a noble one and I am prepared to accept it on condition that I will not be installed as President, but as Minister of Home Affairs, with my colleagues here today, also placed in the Ministerial posts that I will provide to you in writing," replied Nkomo.

Mugabe cleared his throat.

"I understand, Comrade Nkomo, but please be aware that I cannot place any of your team in the posts of Intelligence, Defence or Police, which I believe you will understand?"

"Noted, Prime Minister," said Nkomo.

Why was Nkomo so keen to concede in negotiations? The answer was a simple one. By being a part of the new ZANU-PF, Nkomo hoped that this would stop the slaughtering of the Ndebele people by the state, which was after all Mugabe's party.

Many Ndebeles would later accuse Nkomo of selling them out, but the ZAPU boss was looking at the bigger picture.

With Nkomo having rejected the seat of President, it opened the door for Mugabe to play his next stroke of genius.

"Based on today's discussions, I hereby propose for the dissolving of the office of the Prime Minister and I will occupy the position of Executive President," said the No 1.

"Are there any objections to that?"

He paused.

"Fine, with no objections, let us please move on."

Nkomo had basically lost the plot and on 30 December 1987, Mugabe would become Executive President, in being a position that combined the roles of Prime Minister, President and commander of the armed forces.

Would Mugabe operate in a peaceful manner going forward? Time would tell but right now he was well position to tell to request the world to lift all sanctions against the country as he had found peace with his arch-rival, Nkomo.

"This is fantastic, gentlemen. May God bless Zimbabwe," said Pearce Ellison.

"Now we can move on to the element of whether any changes to the constitution need to be made so that they can be tabled in Parliament, for debate and voting."

Mugabe gritted his teeth. He still didn't trust the American. The country's No 1 had ZAPU playing his way, and he had no plans of making any changes to the constitution.

However, with an ounce of diplomacy, he could be the hero of the continent and not the soon-to-be-freed Nelson Mandela. Robert Gabriel Mugabe was all about his party and personal status while Nkomo cared more for his people.

Mugabe told the world what they wanted to hear. He didn't suffer fools easily, but that is what he thought of the opponents seated opposite him. ZAPU were a bunch of fools in the eyes of the Prime Minister, but he had every intention to use these fools to his advantage so that he would go down in history as the 'King of Africa'. Long live, Mugabe, he thought.

"Bullshit baffles brains," he muttered to himself.

Ironically, Mugabe never realised just how much he and Nkomo would end up having in common. Nkomo passed away after a battle against prostate cancer on 1 July 1999. Although Mugabe's reason for death on 6 September 2019 was never officially made public by the family, his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said that the former President died of cancer in a hospital in Singapore.

### Chapter 15 - A Visit to Gogo

Lindiwe Buthelezi ran her hands over her face as she sat upright in bed in her small bedroom in Mamelodi East.

Was she losing her mind? As pleasant as her dream was, it was also freaky. Was it a sign of her future? Was she going to get married to a white man and live in a plush suburb in Pretoria once equality had been reached for all and the New South Africa had come to pass?

She would have liked nothing more. Hang on a minute, how did Ma Albertina Buthelezi end up in her dream? She hadn't seen her mother for quite some time and out of the blue there she was, in the middle of Lindiwe's potential future!

Lindiwe had never drank alcohol in her life, but how she longed for a stiff whisky Maybe it would things fall into place. _No, Lindi, stay disciplined_ , she thought. She made her way to the kitchen and boiled the kettle to make herself a cup of coffee.

She knew what she had to do. Albertina surely knew much more about the ANC and Nelson Mandela. It was a long shot, but maybe Albertina had heard of persons who planned on eliminating Mandela. Lindiwe needed to know the identity of these individuals before things took a turn for the worse.

Everything in Lindiwe's dream had seemed so real but had yet provided more questions than answers. The white Lindiwe or Linda was married to a white man and living in upmarket Pretoria in the New South Africa?

How far off was this from reality? How soon would Nelson Mandela be released from prison to become South Africa's first democratically-elected President?

Next, why was Louise Burrell still in her dream? Surely the CNN political reporter would have been back in the US by this stage?

Thirdly, why was there no sign of Pieter Erasmus in her dream, unless... _No, Lindi, surely not, she thought. Unless Pieter was the man that she was to marry!_

Ouch! Lindiwe tried to pour some boiling water from the kettle into a coffee mug but her hands were shaking so much that some of the hot water landed on her wrist, leaving a burning sensation.

She glanced out the window and noticed that the rain clouds had been replaced by marvellous sunshine. Her next glance was at an old clock above the kitchen door. It was 10h00. Time was flashing by. Lindiwe needed to wash and hit the road as she had promised that she would meet Louise and Pieter at 11h00 at the Vosloo Grill.

Lindiwe abandoned her coffee idea and poured the water into a stainless steel basin. Houses in the townships were not like those in the suburbs. Very few had bathrooms and almost none had hot water cylinders. People washed by heating water in an urn or kettle and pouring it into a basin or plastic bath thereafter, some cold after was added and in you jump for the washing part to take place.

White people would surely see this as highly inconvenient but this is how it was in the townships. Few complained or new any better.

Once she was done washing, Lindiwe went through her daily routine of taking the basin the back door and out into the yard where she poured the used water down a drain.

Then it was time to slip into a pair of jeans and a pink blouse, before working some red lipstick over her lips. She tied her short hair extensions back into a ponytail and was good to go.

Lindiwe grabbed her small handbag and headed out the door, before locking it.

As much as she was looking forward to catching up with Louise again, the previous night's dream was still flashing through her mind.

God must have sent Louise and Pieter into my life for a reason, thought Lindiwe. Two white people (one Afrikaner male and a female from the US) sent to connect with a black teenager from Mamelodi. Why, Lord why?

Until she had that answer, she wasn't keen on meeting with Pieter alone. At least that is what her common sense told her. Her heart was telling her another story.

Lindiwe made her way down the damp street and to the taxi rank. Once inside a taxi, she was able to apply more thought about how to handle the meeting with Louise in Pretoria. She needed answers and was hell-bound to get them come hell or high water. The former might come first, she thought as the situation was becoming more complicated by the day. Who was the man who was on a mission to eliminate Mandela and push South Africa to the brink of civil war? It would be Black vs White but it didn't have to be this way!

Lindiwe stepped off the taxi and made her way towards the Vosloo Grill. By chance, she bumped into Louise Burrell at the entrance.

"Hello, Louise, let's go to the coffee shop next door, as I don't want my bosses here to know more about my life than they should," said Lindiwe with a smile.

Lindiwe checked her wristwatch. It was 11h02 as she walked behind Louise into _Rita's Koffeekroeg_ (coffee bar). Two ladies, both in the fifties, sat at a table near the counter and gave Louise some up-and-down looks.

" _Dink jy dis haar huisebediender saam met haar_ (do you think that is her maid with her)?" said the grey-haired woman with pink highlights in her hair, to the other with reference to Lindiwe.

Clearly, the woman thought that Louise was bringing her black maid for tea.

" _Ja nee, dinge verander hier in Suid_Afrika vir die slegte_ (yes, things are changing for the worse here in South Africa)," replied the other woman, who got caught out staring at Lindiwe, by Louise.

Lindiwe had not even noticed the two women looking at her.

"So, you are not going to believe this, but I had a dream last night and you were in it," began Lindiwe, as she leaned forward on the table opposite Louise.

Louise giggled.

"Oh really, please tell me that I was married to some rich gentleman and that I was not a lowly CNN political reporter," joked the American woman.

Lindiwe grinned.

"Actually, in the dream, I was the one who was about to get married to some rich white guy and wait for it, Louise, I was white in the dream," said Lindiwe.

Louise howled with laughter.

"I will tell the waiter to take it easy on whatever they are putting in your orange juice because it is making you go crazy," said Louise.

Wow! Lindiwe's eyes broadened as if she had just seen a ghost.

"What is wrong, Lindiwe?" asked Louise in a state of panic.

"You are not going to believe this, but what you said now about what the waiter and my orange juice is exactly what you said in the dream," remarked the law student.

"Come on now, surely not," said Louise, as she straightened the collar on her blue blouse.

"No, surely," replied Lindiwe.

"Well, did you at least get to work out who you were going to marry in the dream?" asked the CNN reporter.

"No, we were sitting in a restaurant in Pretoria and I was being served by an Afrikaner called Koos, who owned the place," quipped Lindiwe.

"It was freaky, Louise, you don't understand."

The waiter arrived and Louise ordered two cups of coffee and two slices of chocolate cake.

"It is on me," she said with a wink to Lindiwe.

"I think all this Mandela detective work is finally getting to you," commented the American.

Lindiwe puffed out her cheeks.

"Either something big is about to happen here or I am going mad," said Lindiwe.

"Do you want to hear the next bit of my dream?" asked the law student.

"Hit me," replied Louise.

"I haven't seen my grandmother in quite some time, but there she was in my dream, telling me to embrace my situation as it is what I always wanted in life," explained Lindiwe.

The waiter brought the coffees and cakes and Louise waited for the young woman to leave before continuing the conversation.

"While all of this was happening, you, Louise Burrell, told me that you got your exclusive interview with Nelson Mandela after he had been freed from prison, and had since become the President of South Africa," said Lindiwe.

"Don't you get it, Louise, what I saw was the New South Africa. It is not far off, I can feel it. I pray that is what is going to happen and that somebody doesn't..."

Louise put a piece of chocolate cake on to her teaspoon and paused before raising it to her mouth.

"That someone doesn't what...?" she asked.

Lindiwe sighed.

"That someone doesn't eliminate Mandela and ruin it all," answered Lindiwe.

"Oh, come on, Lindiwe, surely the wheel of life has turned too far to allow such a thing to happen?" asked Louise rhetorically.

Lindiwe shrugged her shoulders.

"Tell me more about your mother," requested the American woman.

Lindiwe smiled.

"Albertina Buthelezi did her best to raise me and ..." began Lindiwe.

"Hang, on, let's get this straight, so Albertina is your mother?" asked Louise.

"Well no, but yes, but no," replied Lindiwe, as the spirits of Lindiwe Senior and Lindiwe Junior seemed to be clashing in her body.

"Lindiwe, you are going crazy," giggled Louise.

"You don't understand, Louise, I need to get to Albertina," snapped Lindiwe.

"She is the one who can answer all our questions, Louise," said Lindiwe.

"She used to work..."

"Good morning, ladies," interrupted a familiar voice.

"Fancy, bumping into you here."

Lindiwe looked up into the eyes of a beaming Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus.

The cop, dressed in casual clothing, noticed the two middle-aged Afrikaner ladies at the table opposite, staring at him.

" _Nog een wat dink dat die swartes is mens_ (another one who thinks that the blacks are human)," whispered the one lady to the other.

Pieter heard the comment and couldn't argue with it. After all, he was the aggressive, ultra-racist Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus, who was trained to eliminate black uprisings for the good of his country!

Yet, something didn't feel right. What was happening here, thought Pieter.

He needed the black Lindiwe Buthelezi as much as she needed the white Pieter Erasmus. Louise was just the middle lady, making up the numbers.

"It is like deja vu, with you appearing unannounced each time," said Louise with a smile.

Pieter grinned.

"Be careful what you wish for," said Pieter with a wink to the American.

"Oh, I am not wishing, I am just surprised," said Louise.

" _Ja nee_ (yes), that is what all the woman say," replied Pieter, as he placed his grey jersey down on the table in front of Lindiwe.

Lindiwe was stunned. Was Pieter flirting with Louise or was it the other way round?

Of course, unbeknown to Lindiwe, Pieter was just sticking to his strategy. He needed to make Louise think that he was keen on her, but actually, he needed to stay as close as possible to the black girl.

" _En jy_ (and you)?" said the cop, looking at Lindiwe.

"When are you planning on telling me the true story of why you are so interested in getting to Mandela?" he asked.

Lindiwe shot a glance across at Louise and the American got the message. It was a psychic exchange of _Louise, whatever you do, don't tell Pieter about Albertina!_

Louise shot a psychic message back via body language. _I got it, Lindiwe._

"I am just a South African girl who is interested in the goings-on locally and abroad," replied Lindiwe.

Pieter's eyes started to rage.

_Yes, right. I was born at night, but not last night._ This girl was hiding something and he was going to find out what it is even if it is the last thing that he does.

He would need to watch her movements closer than ever before. Pieter was convinced that the apartheid regime was holding Mandela somewhere in Cape Town other than Robben Island.

So with Lindiwe being back in Pretoria, she couldn't possibly be looking to shoot the ANC man, he schemed. If she wasn't planning on killing Mandela, then why was she so interested in him?

"You seem so insistent on finding out what we know, why don't you tell us why it was so important for you to follow an American reporter and a black South African girl all the way from Cape Town to Pretoria," said Louise.

Pieter's eyes lit up and for a moment it seemed as if he was going to lose his temper.

What right did this foreigner have in asking him what he was doing on this case?

He had punched many a man's lights out for asking much less.

However, he needed to keep his cool and not cause a scene in front of Lindiwe. Pieter didn't want the black girl to think that all Afrikaner men were punch-hungry, dominant-minded individuals. _To hell with Louise, it is Lindiwe that I need!_

Lindiwe gobbled down what was left of her chocolate cake and swallowed the last few mouthfuls of her coffee, before pushing back on her chair.

"Guys, I really need to go, I have a load of things to do," said the law student.

I bet, thought Pieter.

Lindiwe thanked Louise for the refreshments and left at speed.

Pieter turned to leave as well.

"Where are you off too?" asked Louise.

Pieter shot a glance at her.

He hadn't liked Louise Burrell from the start and didn't like being questioned by her.

"Some of us have to work," he said, as he headed off.

Louise watched him walk away and noted that he headed off in the opposite direction to Lindiwe.

This was Pieter's plan to get around the corner and then do a u-turn to follow the black girl without Louise knowing.

....................

" _Dis Swartgevaar hier_ (it is Black Danger here)," said the intelligence unit man over a pay phone to his contact in Pretoria.

" _Erasmus was weer saam met daai Amerikaner en die swart meisie by n koffee plek in Pretoria. Ek volg hom heeltyd, moenie worry nie_. (Erasmus was again with that American and the black girl in a coffee shop in Pretoria. I am following him the whole time, don't worry)."

### Chapter 16 - Three is a Crowd

Lindiwe Buthelezi headed off towards the taxis and suddenly stopped in her tracks. She needed allies around her. The mission was too large and complicated to complete on her own.

A taxi driver hooted at her to get her attention to see if she was climbing aboard, but Lindiwe ignored him.

" _E ea liheleng_ (go to hell)," said the frustrated taxi driver through the window before driving off.

Pieter had just made it to his car and watched on in a state of confusion as Lindiwe turned around and headed back to the coffee shop at speed. _Had she forgotten something?_

He locked the driver's door of his vehicle which he had unlocked moments earlier, and followed Lindiwe back from a distance.

Two minutes passed by before an out-of-breath Lindiwe reached the table where Louise Burrell was still seated.

"Is something wrong, Lindiwe?" asked the American.

Lindiwe shook her head.

"Louise, I need to be honest with you, I need to tell you exactly why I am so keen to get to Mandela and how this situation could play out for good or for bad," said Lindiwe.

She sat down on a chair and was about to tell Louise all that she knew about the future and the present, when that same husky male voice from earlier, spoke behind her.

"Did you forget something?" asked Louise in a state of irritation.

She was keen to get rid of Pieter in order to hear what Louise had to say.

Pieter saw his grey jersey on the table and picked it up, throwing a scowling glare at Louise in the process.

"In fact I did, I forgot my trui (jersey)," said the cop.

"Well then, we will see you soon, I am sure," said Louise to Pieter.

The Lieutenant turned to head off but Lindiwe's next set of words left him cold in his tracks.

"Lieutenant, sit down."

"Lindi!" exclaimed Louise.

"Sorry, where are my manners," replied Lindiwe.

"Lieutenant Erasmus, please sit down."

The cop did not need a second invitation and sat down in a chair nearest to Lindiwe.

"Look, we all need each other here," said Lindiwe.

Pieter kept his eyes firmly focused on Lindiwe, while Louise was too angry to even look at her friend.

"I know I am a cop, but I want to help you in any way that I can," said Pieter to Lindiwe, who smiled.

Louise had to hide her laughter.

Lindiwe took in a deep breath.

"The New South Africa is set to happen sooner than you think," said Lindiwe.

"How do you know?" asked Pieter.

"I'm from there," replied Lindiwe.

"I know it sounds crazy but it is true."

Pieter kept his focus on the black girl's eyes. Being a cop, he could usually tell by a person's eyes as to whether they were lying, but this time he was sure that Lindiwe was being honest, even though her comments were somewhat out of this world.

"Lieutenant, somebody is going to try and execute Nelson Mandela and this could send South Africa into a state of civil war," said Lindiwe.

Pieter gulped. Had Lindiwe worked out that he was on a mission to execute Mandela?

"Do you know the identity of the would-be assassin?" asked Pieter.

Lindiwe shook her head.

"If only, but I don't know yet," replied the girl.

A sense of relief filtered through Pieter's body.

"So how do you propose finding out who the hit man or woman is?" asked the cop.

Lindiwe wiped her brow.

"We need to go visit my Gogo," she said.

"Gogo, what is a Gogo?" asked Pieter.

"It is a black word for grandmother," said Lindiwe.

"Gogo Albertina was a cleaner who worked on a project that she was sworn to secrecy about but she did mention that she saw stuff that she wasn't supposed to see."

"Like what?" asked Pieter.

"I don't know exactly, but I have a feeling that Albertina may know more about the Mandela matter," said Lindiwe.

"This could have a lot to do with how things will turn out for our country. If someone eliminates Mandela before the New South Africa arrives, then goodness knows what will happen to this country," said Lindiwe in a louder voice.

"Lindiwe, let's not waste time and play the guessing game here," said Louise.

"We need to get to your mother's house as soon as we can."

Lindiwe and Pieter nodded in agreement.

Pieter still didn't like Louise and she felt the same way about the cop. They both believed in the old cliché that two is company and three is a crowd.

"Louise, I..." began Lindiwe, but she was interrupted by two men in black suits.

"Sorry to interrupt but we are looking for a Ms Louise Burrell," the taller of the two men said, with a strong Afrikaans accent.

Louise glanced at Pieter and then Lindiwe before speaking.

"I am Louise Burrell, is there a problem?" she asked.

"Madam, you will have to come with us," said the shorter of the two men.

"What is wrong?" asked Louise.

"Madam, we are from the Department of Home Affairs and we have reason to believe that you may be in our country illegally," said the shorter man

Louise's face broke out into a sweat.

"No way, my papers are fine, I even had a letter from your government which allowed me to visit Robben Island and interview Nelson Mandela but..."

"Madam, if you believe that your papers are fine then you have nothing to hide, so please come with us and we can go back to the office and sort out what needs to happen from here," said the taller of the two officials.

From here...

The last two words stuck in Louise's mind.

What would happen from here? Would the South African government throw her out of the country and based on what reason, she wondered.

Pieter remained silent. It was clear the government officials did not recognise him as a policeman and just as well as he would have had a hard time explaining why he was in the company of a young, black South African girl.

He was quite pleased to see Louise being escorted out of the coffee shop.

" _Ja nee, hulle wil mos met die swartes uithang, kry vir julle_ (yes, they want to hang out with the blacks so they must get what comes their way)," said one of the two white middle aged ladies at the table near the action.

Other white customers in the coffee shop also began to gossip over the scene that had just played out and most kept staring at Lindiwe. _The black girl must be the problem. That is what blacks are... problems!_

Of course, the incident had nothing to do with the black Lindiwe Buthelezi, but the two older ladies were not to know that. They were just applying a racist, typically South African 1987 mindset to analyse the situation without having the facts. One couldn't blame them as their government did the same on a daily basis.

Lindiwe was still in shock _. How did this all happen and what were the government officials going to do with Louise?_

"They are not going to throw Louise out of the country, are they?" asked Lindiwe to Pieter, in a crying voice.

At least Lindiwe knew that she would see Louise again, if her dream was anything to go by.

Pieter had to hide a grin. He knew that Louise's potential deportation must have had something to do with her trip to Robben Island. He knew that the interview with Mandela was never going to happen even though Louise had a letter on a government granting her permission to the ANC man.

"Look, we can't just sit here, we need to do something," said Lindiwe.

"Let me go home and see if I can make a turn at my mother's house a bit later. I just hope that Louise will be alright."

"I am sure the officials will look after your friend," said Pieter, as Lindiwe sprung to her feet and headed off.

Pieter thought about the situation for a few moments and then also stood up and headed out the coffee shop. However, he wasn't alone as a waitress was hot on his heels.

"The bill for the cakes and coffees, sir," said the waitress.

Pieter turned around. There was no way that Louise could pay as she had been taken away and Lindiwe certainly didn't have that sort of cash on her.

As he reached into his pocket to take out a twenty Rand note to pay the bill, a liberal-minded white woman who had witnessed the scene, turned to her husband.

" _Jy sien, dit is nie net die swartes wat wil wegkom sonder om te betaal_ (you see, it is not just the blacks who want to get away without paying," she said.

This Black and White thing was oh, so real!

Outside the coffeeshop, a familiar face was watching the proceedings, well-hidden with a newspaper covering his face at the right moments, inside a telephone booth.

" _Swartgevaar hier, jou manne was perfek, ja nee, jull het die Amerikaner vrou weggevat_ (Black Danger here, your men were perfect, yes, they took the American woman away)," said the intelligence unit's on-the-ground man.

" _Die vrouens het Erasmus met die kos rekening gelos, en hy het amper gewaai sonder om to betaal. Ja, hy stap nou motor toe, ek sal hom volg, cheers._ (the women left him with the food bill and he nearly left without paying. Yes, he is on his way to his car. I will follow him, cheers)."

Pieter was a good two hundred metres away from the phone booth where Spy was, but it was as if he knew that he was being followed. While walking to his car at pace, he suddenly turned around and let his investigative eyes check out the surrounding for potential followers. He couldn't spot any, but the feeling of being watched just would not go away.

Once behind the wheel of an unmarked white police vehicle, he began to work on his next move. Was Lindiwe being open with him? What was her real objective? Was she playing him? Did she really know that he was the one who was on a mission to shoot Mandela and was just keeping it quiet? If the going got tough, would Lindiwe sell him out?

_Soveel vrae, Erasmus, maar so min antwoorde_ (so many questions, Erasmus, but so few answers).

Pieter Erasmus nearly caused an accident or two as he drove back to the office. His mind was just not focused on the road.

What was this story about Lindiwe's grandmother knowing something about how South Africa would eventually end up?

The answer was a simple one. There was no way that he could wait until 17h00 to meet with Lindiwe again. He needed to find Albertina Buthelezi. If Lindiwe got to her grandmother first, she might just tell her to keep hush on everything.

Just how far could Pieter trust Lindiwe? Was this really another case of Black is Black and White is White and never the two shall meet?

### Chapter 17 - Tell Me More

The corridors at the South African police headquarters in Pretoria, had quietened down with the sun having set a while back, but Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus had no plans of going home.

Pieter searched every archive file that he could lay his hands on with the aim of finding out more about the mysterious Lindiwe Buthelezi.

It would be another three hours before his eyes fell on to a name that awakened the rest of his body as if it was a new day. _Albertina Buthelezi!_

Wait a minute, what is this in the file...

An accident happened at Albertina Buthelezi's place of work and she went missing and was found a week later. Pieter turned the page in the file to read more but there was no further information on this particular incident.

The Lieutenant searched the page for information as to who Albertina Buthelezi's parents, husband or siblings were, but there was a shortage of detail on the woman.

He reread the earlier part on the page but was left with more questions than answers. He needed to get to Albertina and throw some questions in her direction but the trick was to get to her before Lindiwe did.

....................

Cunning! Conniving! Distrustful! Disloyal! Unreliable! Backstabber! Opportunist!

Lindiwe Buthelezi had the above words running through her mind as she boarded a taxi which would take her within four hundred metres of the house belonging to her mother, Albertina Buthelezi, in Mamelodi West.

Of course none of those nasty words had anything to do with Lindiwe's character, but by going to Albertina's house without Pieter Erasmus, some people could well question whether she was the honest, squeaky clean Lindiwe or was she living a double life?

What had happened to the sweet Lindiwe Buthelezi that everyone knew and what had forced her to abandon her so-called friends and go information searching on her own? Was it a case of that she didn't trust the white man, Pieter Erasmus? Well no, it had nothing to do with the colour of the Lieutenant's skin, but more to do with getting to Albertina first to try and save Nelson Mandela from being eliminated.

The rain had returned and the poorly-designed roads of Mamelodi forced the taxis to do their best to navigate around the puddles of water.

" _Hey, wena_ (hey, you)!" shouted an angry vendor selling fruit at the side of the road. The taxi carrying Lindiwe had gone through the puddle at speed, and the water in the road had soaked the entrepreneur at the fruit stand.

Lindiwe grinned. She had been in that position many times before. The taxi drivers had no plans of slowing down. To them, it was all about getting their passengers to their destination and loading up the next lot, or more to the point, taking their cash.

Lindiwe turned her mind away from the fruit vendor and began to work on a strategy. She hadn't visited Albertina in quite a while and she didn't want it to seem like she only goes there to benefit in one way or another.

Ma Albertina Nikiwe Buthelezi was a sweet old lady who had done so much for Lindiwe over the years. When Lindiwe needed money for new shoes, Albertina was there to foot the bill. Not that Albertina was loaded with the bucks. She was merely a cleaner who was now living out her life off a small state pension. However, the old lady had the heart of a lion. Nothing was too much for her. She was a devout Christian who knew that if she helped the poorest of the poor, she would be blessed abundantly by God. She didn't help others for the blessing though, she did it because she wanted too.

Lindiwe heard her stomach moaning. She suddenly realised that she hadn't eaten breakfast. That reminded her of another of her mother's strengths. Albertina was born to cook and bake and everyone in Mamelodi West knew that if they ever found themselves short of a bite to eat, then it was time to make a turn at the old lady's house.

Ma Albertina never rejected anyone. Even if someone who had done her wrong appeared at her front door in need of food, she would still provide to them.

The old lady was a real Mother Theresa, who helped the needy to her maximum.

There was always _pap_ (mealie meal) on the stove in Albertina's house.

I would never be able to live there on a regular basis, thought Lindiwe. The daily routine was like being force fed. Breakfast was always huge, and the food had hardly settled when it was time for mid-morning coffee and freshly-baked biscuits. Then two hours later it was lunchtime.

Another two hours would pass before Albertina's proud yell had people running to the lounge for afternoon coffee and scones.

Three hours later it would be suppertime which was usually the biggest meal of the day. Pap and meat would be in abundance. Sometimes it would be a good, old-fashioned stew.

Albertina took it personally when someone said that they were not hungry. Was there something wrong with the food, she would question in her mind.

Lindiwe had to live elsewhere. If she ate that amount of food on a daily basis, she would end up looking the same size as one of those huge Afrikaner Northern Transvaal rugby forwards. No man would ever glance in her direction as her legs would be like tree stumps.

The taxi went over a small bump on the road but it was enough to jolt Lindiwe back to reality. Why was she focusing on Albertina's cooking when she needed to think of a way of getting information out of the old lady without being seen as that opportunist who only goes there when something is needed?

She was not that type of person at all but time seemed to tick by so quickly. Lindiwe was battling to come to terms with the fact that it had been so long since she had been to visit the old woman. It was not that she didn't want to go. The clock and calendar just seemed to be in overdrive.

Albertina was always open to her and the conversations were always cheerful ones but how would the old lady react to Lindiwe's arrival out of the blue and suddenly being on the receiving end of highly sensitive questions about the identity of the man who had been stopped from murdering Nelson Mandela?

Well, there was only one way to find out!

"Passage," said Lindiwe loudly and the taxi driver pulled the vehicle over to the left hand side of the road to allow Lindiwe and two other passengers to disembark.

" _Ngiyabonga_ (thank you)," said Lindiwe, the last to climb out as she stepped from the taxi to the ground. The door shut behind her and the taxi was on its way.

The other two passengers headed off into the opposite direction to Lindiwe. The rain was not heavy, but enough to be an irritation and Lindiwe could feel the water landing on her eyes.

She ran her right hand over her face while clutching her handbag with her left. Lindiwe walked down the road towards the old lady's home.

Albertina Buthelezi was a lady of small build, but who looked much younger than her mid-seventies age.

With her weaved hair tied back in a ponytail style, Albertina was extremely agile for her age. The kitchen work obviously played a major part in keeping her mind and physical status in check.

"Nododakazi (daughter)," said the old lady upon seeing Lindiwe Buthelezi standing at her front door.

" _Ngena ngaphakathi_ (come inside)."

It didn't take long before Lindiwe was served with a cup of coffee and a plate with three huge scones on it. The black community were not big on serving scones with cream, jam and cheese as in the suburbs. Scones were scones and were there to be eaten just like that.

Lindiwe watched the women's face and it was clear that the older lady had no issues with the fact that it had been such a long time since Lindiwe last visited her.

Perhaps Albertina had come to terms with the fact that Lindiwe was no longer the little girl, but had grown up and needed to run her own life.

" _Ubukeka njengonyoko nsuku zonke_ (you look more like your mother everyday)," remarkedAlbertina, seated opposite Lindiwe in the small lounge. The room was typical of that of a middle-aged to older person. It was neatly maintained, clearly dusted on a daily basis.

Lindiwe noticed a photograph of her mother and her in a frame on the wall above where Albertina was seated.

Yes, there was no doubt that Lindiwe and her mother resembled each other.

Even at her young age, life had taught Lindiwe that she will not always get what she wanted. Expect the unexpected, was her motto.

Albertina reverted to English language, something she did often having worked for white bosses. She could speak and understand Afrikaans too but in her working days she did not want to give her conservative-minded bosses the pleasure of speaking to them in their mother tongue.

"So what brings you to Mamelodi West, my dear?" asked the older lady.

Lindiwe took in a sip of coffee.

"Oh, I just felt that it had been a while since I last saw you and wanted to make a turn," replied Lindiwe.

Liar! Lindiwe's conscience was playing with her emotions and common sense.

_Respect your elders_ , she heard in her mind.

What? Who said that? It was clear that it was a voice of a mature man. Lindiwe did not know the voice of Nelson Mandela since the apartheid government censored all forms of media related to the man. However, something told her that it was the Mandela voice that was advising her.

"Ma, from your days working in the laboratory, you must have seen much that you were not supposed too?" said Lindiwe, and with her words out, she could immediately see how her grandmother's face tensed up.

Albertina stared out of the small lounge window and shook her head. She had done her best to blot this part of her life out of her memory forever, and now here was her grandchild asking her to go down memory lane.

Albertina remained silent.

"Ma, please, it is important that I know," said Lindiwe in a more aggressive tone.

"My dear, some things are best left in the annuals of history," said Albertina, in the hope that Lindiwe would drop the subject.

"Why are you asking?" questioned the old lady, from which Lindiwe drew the conclusion that Albertina might know much but had quite possibly not been to the future.

Lindiwe's eyes were like daggers in the way that they focused on her grandmother. The youngster was a woman on a mission and nothing was going to stop her from getting the vital information.

Albertina sighed and put down her coffee mug.

"Alright, I worked as a cleaner at a laboratory near the Natal border," began Albertina.

"It was while I was working here that I fell pregnant with your mother, but that is a story for another day. The laboratory seemed like a good place to work for a young woman who needed the cash. I had my whole life ahead of me. I had great hope for the future."

Lindiwe sat forward and listened with great interest.

"The laboratory where I worked at as a cleaner was not your ordinary place," went on Albertina.

"My job was to clean the passages and the quarters where the scientists lived but now and then I was also asked to clean inside the laboratory, and it was here that I became suspicious of what was happening."

Lindiwe gulped. Albertina paused for a moment and her granddaughter's heart skipped a beat as she thought that the old lady was going to claim shut on the story.

"I noticed burning marks on the skin of the bodies of some of the scientists that worked in the laboratory," went on Albertina.

"I had to be careful who I spoke to about the goings-on there as I was a black cleaner working for white bosses in a top secret laboratory in apartheid South Africa."

Lindiwe's eyes were lighting up as Albertina continued with the story.

"I spoke to one of the older black scientists and he said that he could not divulge much as, all staff who worked there was signed to a code of confidentiality," added Albertina.

"He did whisper to me that whatever was happening inside the laboratory had caused a few deaths. Now, one day when I was cleaning near the laboratory, I heard a loud explosion which knocked me from my feet. I rushed to the door and was momentarily blinded by a bright light. That was all that I could remember."

"What then, Ma?" asked an excited Lindiwe.

"I must have blacked out and when I came too, I was in a bed with silk sheets in a 5-star hotel room. I saw a man standing next to the bed, as he got dressed. He was the father of my child, even though I never knew his name."

"Wow!" reacted Lindiwe.

"It was a long time ago when I was still young and free and we never had sex, my dear," replied Albertina.

"Anyway, on with the story. The man kissed me and left. I was naked and wrapped a silk sheet around myself as I tried to make sense of all that was going on. I noticed a huge glass window in the room, which was from the roof to the floor. I tried to open it, and when I did, it was like I was standing high up in the clouds. I was in heaven and the world was beneath me. Heaven is real, and I have been there."

"I will never forget the words that the man said to be before leaving," said Albertina.

Lindiwe sat forward in her chair.

"He said: 'I am going to save a man and change the world'. What it meant, I did not know."

Albertina picked up her coffee mug and drank deeply.

"Lindiwe, this is the first time that I have revealed this much information on the laboratory story to anyone," said the old lady.

Lindiwe shook her head.

"I won't tell, I promise," responded the youngster.

"Lindiwe, I was pregnant without a man in my life, you don't know how that feels and I pray that you never will find out," quipped Albertina.

"You must go out there and live the real life. You must become a top lawyer. I didn't give birth to you for no reason. You are a gift from God."

### Chapter 18 - The Race for the Truth

Albertina Buthelezi... Lindiwe Buthelezi ... Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus...

Three individuals who did not trust each other with information to the fullest but who needed each other the most!

"Gogo, let me make us some fresh coffee," said Lindiwe, in a bid to break the awkward silence that had descended on the lounge.

The old lady smiled. She had committed to go down memory lane and hoped that this would be the last time, certainly in her lifetime on earth.

"Miss Buthelezi, I did not mean to upset you, but this information is so crucial," said Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus.

Albertina nodded and both waited for a good five minutes before Lindiwe returned with three mugs filled with hot coffee.

"Two sugars for you, Ma?" asked Lindiwe, as she began to pack a teaspoon with sugar which was to be put in Albertina's mug.

"Make it three teaspoons full, my dear, as I think I am going to need it," replied the old lady.

Pieter grinned. He had been a bit harsh with his tone towards the older lady but it had met with the acquired result.

"Alright, sir," said Albertina.

"Let's get on with it."

Pieter opened his note book and listen with intent to the story, while scribbling down notes.

"A friend of mine worked as a cleaner at the laboratory on the Natal border and she said that the management there were looking to take on another cleaner on to the staff," said Albertina.

"Basically, I got the job with ease. I mean, in those days, any job was a good job as most forms of employment, even like today, is scarce and unstable."

"Things were fine for the first few months, and I didn't suspect much as I was put on duty to clean the scientist's accommodation area," went on Albertina.

"It was only when I pulled the odd cleaning shift at the laboratory that I worked out that this was no ordinary setup."

Pieter sat forward.

"What do you mean by 'ordinary'?" he asked.

Albertina sighed.

"Look, the staff of scientists was different to the South Africa that we know," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked the cop.

"Well, the majority of staff members were white but there were a good few black scientists working there too," explained the old lady.

"That, to me, was strange. Anyway, I didn't think too much more about it at the time until..."

"Until what?" asked Pieter.

"Until I spoke to one of the black scientists who couldn't say too much in fear of losing his job due to a confidentiality clause in his employment contract, but he told me enough for me to know that the project was a life-threatening one for those closely involved," said Albertina.

"Explain the life-threatening part," requested Pieter.

"Well, I noticed that some of the scientists who used to greet me in the corridors even at the accommodation, seemed to disappear from the project," explained Albertina.

"Keep explaining," quipped Pieter.

"I mean some of the people who worked there vanished," went on Albertina.

"At first I thought that they had left the area for the city, but the pieces were falling into place. Following my chat with the black scientist, it seemed that some of those people had possibly been killed in trying to reach whatever the objective was."

Pieter puffed out his cheeks and shot a glance at Lindiwe who was listening with as much interest as he was.

"Did the colleague that got you in on the job see any suspicious activity at the laboratory?" asked the Lieutenant.

Albertina shook her head.

"Everyone was just so tight-lipped about what they saw due to the consequences of losing one's job," replied Albertina.

"I know what I saw though."

"What?" said Pieter and Lindiwe almost in tandem, before casting a bashful look at each other.

"I saw people with burn marks on their bodies," revealed Albertina.

"Again, I couldn't ask too many questions, but this just confirmed my view that this was no ordinary science laboratory."

Pieter wet his lips with the top of his tongue.

"Now, let's get to the juicy part," he said with a smile.

"Tell me... I mean us, about the incident which made you disappear from the area for a week."

Again, Albertina sighed.

"Look, sir, one day I was carrying out my cleaning duties at the laboratory when I heard a loud explosion sound at the bottom of the corridor," began Albertina.

"I heard people screaming as if the world was ending. I thought that maybe the laboratory had been struck by some sort of government attack."

"I went closer to see if I could help anyone and when I reached the end of the passage and the door of the laboratory room where I thought the explosion happened, I was blinded by a powerful light. That is all I remember. I couldn't see what was inside that laboratory room; or if I did see anything, I certainly can't remember what I saw."

The older woman continued.

"I can't remember falling or even seeing people running past me to get away from the explosion. It all happened so quickly. The more I think about it, the more confused I am. I ran this story through my mind so many times over the years but I am left with more questions and then answers. In recent times, I have tried to erase the whole episode from my memory, but then Lindiwe came to see me and started asking all of these questions about the incident. I give you my word that until Lindiwe asked me about the incident, I have not discussed it with anyone. It is a secret that I have kept over all these years."

The older lady decided it was her turn to put a question to the cop.

"Sir, what do you think was the objective of the laboratory?"

Peter breathed in and out heavily.

"Miss Buthelezi, I work for a government that pulls surprises on everyone on a daily basis and I strongly suspect that they were cooking up something that would have a major impact on the future. However, your guess is as good as mine, as far as what exactly they were up too."

Albertina, a staunch ANC follower albeit in secret, bit her tongue before she said the wrong thing to an apartheid era cop.

Another reason why Albertina was so quite about her political views was because she was a Zulu, and most Zulus through their weight behind the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) which dominated political proceedings among the black community in Natal, in particular.

Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the IFP leader, held the power among many Zulu voters, and was seen as the official opposition to the banned ANC. Of course, the IFP ran the Bantu homeland in Natal and could control their homeland if they danced to the tune of the apartheid regime.

If the Lieutenant was right, then the laboratory was some sort of place where chemical or other weapons were being formulated to play down the black majority to ensure continuation of white minority rule in South Africa.

"Miss Buthelezi, I am finding it hard to believe that you never saw anything and just passed out due to the bright light," said Pieter sternly.

Albertina shrugged her shoulders.

"I am telling you what I know and what I remember, sir," she said.

Then Pieter went for the jugular.

"Then tell me what happened when you awoke from the bright light."

Lindiwe narrowed her eyes in squint fashion. She really did not want Albertina to tell Pieter all about the night of passion which left her pregnant without a man in her life.

"I really can't remember," said Albertina.

Pieter sniggered.

"You mean you can't remember awakening from the blast but yet here you are today?" he said sarcastically.

"Come on, Miss Buthelezi. I was born at night but not last night. You are going to have to do better than that. If you are withholding information on this issue, how do I know that you are not keeping back other information too?"

"Look, sir, what I can say is that when I returned to the laboratory after a week, a lot of people were missing, even some of my cleaning staff colleagues," offered Albertina.

"It was like the explosion had removed many people off of the face of the earth."

Albertina was not too keen to explain her out-of-wedlock pregnancy to the cop but had to refer to it.

"I was pregnant at that stage," she said.

Pieter looked at the older woman. Having children out of wedlock was a sin in the white community but he knew that the African traditions were different. _Erasmus, you know they breed like flies!_

Presuming that the father of Albertina's child had passed on in the explosion, Pieter expressed condolences.

Albertina did not initially respond as she had no intention of telling the cop of her experience in the world class hotel room with the man she had never met before. Nor was she planning on telling him about what she saw through the glass window.

Eventually, the old lady spoke.

"I have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the father of my child."

Pieter noted the answer with interest. Albertina never said that the father of the child was killed in the blast, In fact, she never confirmed that the man had worked at the laboratory. She just said 'I have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the father of my child'.

"I still think that you know more than you are telling me," quipped the cop.

Pieter's tone was becoming more condescending by the minute as his temper began to come to the fore and Albertina was seeing him more as a white cop who cared little about the blacks, but who just wanted information for his own benefit.

The Lieutenant was trying to keep his emotions in check but deep down inside, his anger was seething. After all this, he was still no closer to finding out the whereabouts of Nelson Mandela. Time was ticking and the ANC man needed to be eliminated!

Pieter turned his attention to Lindiwe who had said very little over the past hour and a half. He was adamant that Albertina must have revealed much more to her daughter prior to his arrival at the house. The Lieutenant needed to know what Lindiwe had found out. Lindiwe was a smooth, yet tricky customer to deal with, so he needed to be strategic in how he would get the information out of her.

Sensing that he was unlikely to gain any more information, Pieter gulped down the remainder of his coffee. He could not help but stare at Lindiwe. There was something about this girl, but what was it?

"Well, thank you for the coffee, I need to head back to Pretoria," said the cop to Albertina.

He turned to Lindiwe.

"I take it you are also going back?" asked the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe smiled and nodded.

"Would you like a lift back with me?" he offered.

This was totally against police protocol as having a civilian who was not under arrest, in the front of a police vehicle, was against the law.

Lindiwe was none the wiser about it and expected the offer. She was sure that it would be a much more comfortable ride than being in a potentially overloaded taxi.

When Pieter saw other black people, he hated them with a passion, but when he was with Lindiwe, things seem quite different.

Once they had bid farewell to Lindiwe, Pieter put the car into gear. However, his mind was in a different gear altogether. He planned on spending the night with Lindiwe, but that certainly could not happen in his flat, at her home in the township or in a hotel in South Africa. He needed a Plan B and it did not take him long to think of one.

Landlocked neighbouring country Swaziland did not abide by apartheid rule. Sure, it was a drive of 322 kilometres from Mamelodi to the Swazi capital, Mbabane, but this would give him extra time to pick Lindiwe's brains over what Albertina had told her about the explosion at the laboratory.

Pieter Erasmus was a sheep in wolves clothing. He would do anything to get the information on Mandela, but there was still that strange feeling in his stomach. There was something about this girl, Lindiwe Buthelezi!

### Chapter 19 - A Night in Mbabane

Was Ma Albertina, the community feeder, being arrested? That is what people in the street near the Albertina Buthelezi home were talking about as they saw the police vehicle parked in front of her property.

What had the woman done that had drawn the attention of the apartheid police? Had she stolen flour to bake the scones to feed those who knocked on her door? Or was her water and electricity supply at her home connected illegally? Why did the men in blue want to speak with Albertina Buthelezi?

Pieter stepped outside the house and immediately saw a group of youths standing on the opposite side of the street. He realised that they were casting looks in his direction from time to time.

" _Vir wat kyk julle_ (what are you looking at)?" he yelled and the youngsters scattered. This was Black and White at its best!

Lindiwe followed the cop out of the door, with Albertina Buthelezi right behind her.

Once at the police vehicle, Pieter realised his next challenge. He could really not drive around with a black person in the front seat of the vehicle. He went to the back of the police vehicle and unlocked the door of the cage compartment inside which the cops usually placed criminals.

"In you go," he said to Lindiwe.

"You are crazy, I am not a criminal," retorted the girl.

"It is just until we get out of Pretoria otherwise people, both black and white, will talk," explained the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe was very hesitant to go with the plan but seemingly had no choice.

Three of the youngsters who had been shouted at by Pieter, watched from a distance.

Oh, so it isn't Albertina Buthelezi who is in trouble but rather one of her family members!

Lindiwe, through the cage wire of the police vehicle, bid farewell to Albertina, as did Pieter, and the police vehicle began to make a way down the street and eventually out of Mamelodi.

It would be another hour before Pieter felt that he and Lindiwe were well away from being noticed, and he pulled the vehicle over on the R21 road to let the girl out of the back cage compartment.

"That was quite disrespectful," said Lindiwe, who was quite shaken up, as the vehicle's shock absorbers were close to non-existent.

"Sorry, but we can't take any chances," said Pieter.

Erasmus, did you just say 'sorry' to a black person? You must be getting soft!

Pieter's mind returned to reality as he opened the passenger door of the vehicle for Lindiwe to climb inside.

Pieter was grateful that the road was pretty quiet as this made his trip sitting next to a black woman that much easier and less suspicious.

It was a good few hours of chit-chat before the Lieutenant tried his luck for a breakthrough.

"Lindiwe, who do you think would want to kill Mandela?"

The girl thought long and hard over the question before answering.

"The attack could come from someone in the liberation movement who wants to get to the top of the ranks at the expense of Mandela, or for that matter it could come from the apartheid South Africa side to put a wedge in possible talks between the government and the ANC," she said.

Pieter was impressed with the maturity of the answers. He felt comfortable that Lindiwe had not yet worked out that it was he, Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus, who was on a mission to execute Mandela.

"How long do you think it will be before apartheid falls, if it ever does?" he questioned.

"The pressure from the world on the South African government to change their ways must be immense, so the sooner the better, but in reality, I would imagine it could be a good ten to twenty years before change happens," said Lindiwe.

"I am sure that change will happen. God hates oppression, just like he hated seeing the Israelites being oppressed by the Egyptians all those years ago."

Pieter nodded. He had never thought of the Israelites vs Egyptians scenario and again, he was impressed by the way that Lindiwe thought things through. Was he wrong to go with his parent's thinking of: _"Die volgende swart persoon met n idea, gaan die eerste swart persoon met n idea_ (the next black person with an idea will be the first black person with an idea)?"

Suddenly, Pieter hit the brakes of the vehicle.

"What is wrong?" asked Lindiwe.

"We are nearing the South African-Swaziland border post. You will need to jump into the back of the van again?" said the Lieutenant.

"I thought the Swazis don't believe in apartheid?" asked Lindiwe.

"Yes, but the Afrikaners this side of the border do," replied the cop.

"Once we are well over the border, I will let you back into the front of the van."

The swap took place and Lindiwe felt slightly embarrassed as the South African border control officials looked at her through the caged windows of the vehicle as if she was some sort of animal.

She refused to look back at the oppressor. In fact, now that she thought of it, Pieter was the only member of the oppressor that she looked at or spoke with. She had no white friends at the university. This was the power of the mindset of apartheid. It was Black and White or as the ANC and the Nationalist Party would call it - Black vs White!

On the other side of the border, a Swazi man who stamped Pieter's passport seemed more interested in what was on the television screen that why a white cop was bringing a black South African girl into Swaziland.

Soon the South African police vehicle was on its way in the Republic of Swaziland and Pieter drove for a good twenty kilometres before stopping to allow Lindiwe to move to the passenger seat in the front of the vehicle next to him again.

As the vehicle navigated the way over the mountain towards the Swaziland capital city of Mbabane, Pieter could only think about how things would go pearshaped if Mandela was killed.

"If only we knew the identity of the man or men who was so keen to kill Mandela," he muttered.

"Tell me about it," replied the girl.

1994 would be just a number without Mandela. A Mandela-less society could see apartheid going on for a good numbers of years more, before another leader of his stature came to the fore.

If Pieter was not one hundred percent sure before, he now believed wholeheartedly that Lindiwe did not know of his intentions to eliminate Mandela.

Lindiwe cleared her throat

"You never actually told me just why we are going to Swaziland?" she said.

Pieter smiled.

"Well you never told me that you have a boyfriend," he replied.

Lindiwe's black face turned red with embarrassment.

"I don't have a boyfriend," she said.

"Ja (yes), ja (yes), why don't I believe you?" teased the cop.

"It is true, I don't have a boyfriend," confirmed Lindiwe.

"I have no time for drama in my life. For me it is all about studying and taking the opportunities that have been given to me."

"Well," replied Pieter, as he chose his words carefully.

"Maybe you will have a boyfriend for tonight."

Lindiwe stared at him but Pieter's eyes were firmly focused on the road.

"Oh, so that is why you brought me to Mbabane when I thought that you were taking me to Pretoria?" she joked.

She kept her eyes on Pieter. He was not hard to look at and this time it was her turn to ask questions.

"What about you?" she asked.

"What about me?" he said.

"How many wives, girlfriends or children?" questioned Lindiwe.

"Zero on all fronts, I am just too busy trying to serve my country," remarked the Lieutenant.

"Oh, yes, I believe that," she teased and they both laughed.

"What do you believe?" asked Pieter.

"The part about me serving my country?"

"No, the part about you not having wives, girlfriends or children," replied Lindiwe.

"Well, it is true," said Pieter.

"There is just not enough time in a day for that but it will happen when the time is right."

"That is exactly how I feel too," said Lindiwe.

The sun had long since disappeared behind the mountain pass and Pieter could see the lights of the buildings in Mbabane in the distance.

Now it was time for the cop to play the balancing act. He wanted to take Lindiwe to some sort of decent place overnight, but he was on a lowly police salary.

Once parked outside the Royal Swazi Spa Hotel in one of the main streets in Mbabane, Pieter left Lindiwe in the vehicle and went to the reception desk inside the building.

He read off of a chalk blackboard near the doorway.

What! Special Rates R200 per room per night plus R20 per person for breakfast! Including free massage! Are these people crazy? For that price I better own the room and all that is in it! It wasn't holiday season. Why were the prices so damn expensive?

Calm down, Erasmus, he thought. Seize the moment!

Pieter returned to the police vehicle.

"So, did you book us two rooms?" asked Lindiwe with a twinkle in her eye.

Pieter gulped.

"This place is full up," he said.

"Are you sure?" asked Lindiwe and before Pieter could answer, the girl has swung the passenger door of the vehicle wide open and was heading inside the building.

Pieter gritted his teeth. _This girl!_

He followed her into the hotel building.

Lindiwe saw the black chalkboard that contained the special prices.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

"Only R200 for a room, but R20 for breakfast and a free massage too. What a cheap deal!"

Yes, if you are not paying for it, thought Pieter.

Before he could stop her, Lindiwe was at the reception desk.

"Two rooms on the special deal please," she said to the lady behind the counter.

Pieter's eyes were raging.

"Make that one room with two breakfasts and two massages," he said.

Lindiwe now had the full picture of why she had been brought to Mbabane. She had feelings for Pieter which she had tried her best to control, but maybe this was a sign from the heavens above that this night should really happen.

"Are you looking forward to the massage?" asked the receptionist to Lindiwe.

The girl grinned. She wasn't entirely sure what the massage entailed. It was not something that one found to often in the black community. Rather than looking foolish, she answered in a positive way.

"Definitely," said Lindiwe with a smile.

Something was telling her that this trip to Mbabane was a part of her destiny and would change her life forever. Just how, she was not quite sure.

Suddenly, Lindiwe remembered what her Gogo had always said to her. _'My dear, don't trust the white man. I have lived a life of hardship under white rule but I don't want you to suffer in the same way.'_

However, being with Pieter left Lindiwe with a fuzzy feeling deep down inside. He certainly did not come across as the aggressive, dominant white male that Albertina has warned her about.

There was something special about Pieter and Lindiwe was out to take her chance here in Mbabane - the chance that she was unlikely to get in South Africa.

An hour later, Pieter and Lindiwe found themselves in a hotel bedroom together. Black and White together with no boundaries!

The room had all the frills. The silk sheets reminded Lindiwe of the bedroom set up that Gogo Albertina had told her about when she awoke from the explosion at the laboratory.

On the sideboard there was a bowl containing apples, peaches and bananas. There was also a bottle of mineral water with a glass next to it on the pedestal on each side of the double bed. Her mind ticked over. _Lindiwe, this is what life should be like!_

Pieter began to remove his police uniform and before Lindiwe knew it, he was undressing her.

She didn't resist. She wanted this as much as he did.

Before long they were both naked between the sheets together. Lindiwe had never in her wildest dreams thought that she would be giving up her virginity to a white man. Here it was happening - Black and White!

As Pieter penetrated her, she yelled 'Ubaba' in excitement.

"What does _'Úbaba'_ mean?" asked the cop as he ran his hands over Lindiwe's firm breasts.

Lindiwe could not believe that she had used that word.

"It means 'father'," she explained in a shy voice.

Pieter was stunned but decided not to question her.

Lindiwe fell asleep in Pieter's arms and the cop began to question the future. Was this how the New South Africa would be? Did it really need to be stopped? Should he continue with the mission of eliminating Nelson Mandela?

Pieter held Lindiwe tight with his left arm around her back and ran his right hand over his forehead.

The word 'Ubaba' kept running through his mind. He now knew what the word meant but why did Lindiwe use that word? He wasn't old enough to be her father. _Erasmus, you need to work it out before it kills you. There is something special about this girl!_

### Chapter 20 - Lindiwe's Disclosure

Lindiwe Buthelezi woke up a few hours later. Unlike Gogo Albertina's story about awakening with a man getting dressed in the bedroom, Pieter was still fast asleep in the bed.

Last night had been the best of her life, thought Lindiwe. It was all and more that she had ever dreamed about. Who said black women and white men could not get along... especially in bed!

It was a good hour later that Pieter woke up and this time it was Lindiwe who was climbing out of the shower and ready to get dressed.

"I thought you were going to sleep all day?" she teased.

"Only if you are in bed with me," replied Pieter.

"Yes well, flattery will get you everywhere," quipped the girl.

"Are we going to try out that super breakfast special that is a part of our overnight stay deal?"

Pieter bit his bottom lip. The pain of paying the hotel bill was still coming his way but it had been worth every cent.

"Let's make it happen," said the cop as he jumped out of bed gave Lindiwe a hug and kiss and headed to the bathroom.

Pieter stepped into the shower and let the warm water run over his body. Something is going on here, Erasmus. Are you getting soft? Are you falling in love with this Buthelezi girl? Do you want to abort the Mandela assassination mission?

Once showered, he headed to the bedroom with a towel around his waist.

Lindiwe, already dressed, ran her hands over his wet upper body.

"Do you ever feel like you have been to the future, or at least seen the future?" asked Lindiwe.

"How do you mean?" questioned the cop.

Lindiwe sighed.

"Pieter, I have seen the future because... I have been to the future."

Pieter remained silent to allow her to continue.

"Mandela is the key to taking both sides of South Africa to a peaceful transition and he needs to be protected at all costs," went on Lindiwe.

A few days earlier, this statement would only have further encouraged Pieter to speed up his efforts to find and kill Mandela, but his interaction with Lindiwe had left him feeling different about life, and South Africa in general.

Pieter looked confused.

"Tell me again about just how you think that you saw the future?" he asked, almost in disbelief.

Lindiwe tossed her head from one side to the other.

"Look, I know this whole story will sound a bit crazy later on but..."

"It is already sounding crazy and you have hardly started," quipped Pieter.

"I tell you what, let's get some breakfast and maybe the fresh orange juice will help us both to think straight. Then we can discuss the whole matter in the vehicle on the way back to Pretoria. Does that sound like a plan?"

Lindiwe agreed. Sometimes one needed to keep quiet and just go with the flow.

Down in the breakfast room, Lindiwe could immediately notice the friendly vibe among the people. There were no danger stares of _hey, what are you doing with a white man?_

This was Swaziland, a perfect example of how life should be lived.

After a delicious meal of fresh fruit salad, followed by bacon, scrambled eggs and toast, washing down with filter coffee, Pieter headed to the reception desk to get the pain over and done with.

"That will be 240 South African Rand, sir," said the middle aged woman behind the reception desk.

Pieter felt like his eyes were about to pop out of the back of his head. Luckily his employers would cover the fuel used on the police vehicle to Mbabane and back to Pretoria.

He passed over the cash to the woman, and gave it a gentle wave goodbye.

Lindiwe made arrived at the reception desk with her bag.

"Let's hit the road," she said to Pieter and made her way to the back of the vehicle.

"Don't worry, you can sit in the front until we get close to the South African border," smiled the cop.

On the way back, Lindiwe went deep into thought. She started to put the pieces of the puzzle together. So, her mother had changed the mindset of a man who wanted to shoot Nelson Mandela, and this would-be assassin ended up playing a key role in allowing South Africa to become a Rainbow Nation democracy.

According to Lindiwe Buthelezi Snr's friends that Lindiwe Jnr had spoken to, the woman was a staunch opponent of the apartheid system. This would explain why she was so intent on ensuring that Mandela would not be assassinated.

"I am not sure if I ever mentioned to you that my mother passed away shortly after giving birth to me," said Lindiwe to Pieter, as they made their way out of Mbabane.

"She was an ANC supporter through and through even though the party was and is still banned."

Pieter's eyes flashed. Had he been the 'Old Pieter', he would have wanted to lock Lindiwe away just for mentioning the 'ANC', the terrorist opponents of the state.

However, something inside the cop had switched since he had been intimate with Lindiwe.

"What else do you know about your mother?" he asked curiously.

As Lindiwe spoke, she could feel something happening in her spirit. Many of her mother's friends said that she looked more like her mother every day but she Lindiwe Jnr viewed that as old lady teatime talk. Yet, the sense of maturity in her really put her on an equal plane to her mother.

"So what did you see in the future?" asked Pieter, as he yanked the steering wheel of the vehicle to the left to get the vehicle to avoid a pothole in the road.

Lindiwe smiled.

"I saw Nelson Mandela being freed from prison in 1990 and going on to become the first democratically-elected President of the Republic of South Africa four years later," said the girl with pride.

Pieter found this hard to believe as like the current President, PW Botha, he battled to see a black man as the leader of the country.

"What about the black homelands like Transkei, Ciskei and Zululand?" asked the cop. Until 1994, the homelands were run independently by black leaders who towed the line of the apartheid government.

"They will all be incorporated into the New South Africa," replied Lindiwe.

"The future looked so great, Pieter. Black and white people were mixing freely. The Group Areas Act and all other segregation acts had been dissolved and South Africa was a normal country just like Swaziland."

"I even saw Nelson Mandela hand over the Rugby World Cup to the Springbok team captain Francois Pienaar after South Africa beat New Zealand in the final match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in 1995," went on Lindiwe.

"Then South Africa played host to the FIFA World Cup for football in 2010, with this being a tournament that united the nation."

"What about the Afrikaners?" asked Pieter.

"How did they accept the transition to black control?"

Lindiwe sighed.

"Some fitted in nicely, but others retained a sense of bitterness that power had been taken away from them and they resisted many of Mandela's reforms, no matter how hard he tried to incorporate all races and cultures," she explained.

"I suppose it was inevitable. In the early 2000s, there was even a right wing plot by a group called the Boeremag, who did their best to assassinate Mandela, but the police foiled their attempts and the perpetrators were arrested and sentenced to jail terms."

"Did the transition to a democracy go off without bloodshed?" asked the cop.

A tear fell from the right eye of Lindiwe.

"After the liberation allies such as the ANC, South African Communist Party (SACP) and others were unbanned by President F.W. de Klerk at the release of Mandela, there were a few incidents," explained the girl.

"On 10 April 1993, SACP leader Chris Hani was gunned down in the driveway of his home in Boksburg, by a Polish immigrant Janusz Walus, who was jailed for the crime. He worked in tandem with Conservative Party member Clive Derby-Lewis. The plan was to assassinate Mandela, but this changed when they felt that Hani was too militant and too much of a threat to the whites in South Africa."

With Hani dead, the question now was would Mandela be next?

"However, even as far as 2019, there remained doubt as to whether other persons, including high ranking liberation people, had a hand in eliminating Hani, whom many felt had become too powerful and could not be controlled, even by Mandela," went on Lindiwe.

"Mandela had to go on to live television to calm down the nation as emotions threatened to implode the country into a state of civil war with a white man having shot Hani. Fortunately, sanity prevailed. However, the positives out weight the negatives; the fall of apartheid, opened doors for many wonderful relationships between people of all colours. I don't necessarily mean from a romantic perspective, but on all fronts be it business and other areas in society too."

"What about the South African Rand?" questioned Pieter.

Lindiwe sighed again.

"Unfortunately, many corruption scandals plagued the ANC's rule of South Africa in the first twenty five years following the inauguration of Mandela and this slapped the Rand to such a point that it became close to worthless on the international investment front," she said.

"However, just like South Africa turned the corner to a prosperous future, surely the Rand can also do a u-turn and become a powerful force again."

"Let's get back to the Group Areas Act," said Pieter.

"So people of different skin colours can live next door to each other in the suburbs or any areas in the country?"

Lindiwe nodded.

"Yes, the Group Areas Act which denied people of colour the chance of living in so-called white areas was the first and most important racial segregation law to be scrapped."

"The biggest problem, seems to be that while all South Africans now have a vote in elections, the vote means little if they do not have their own land which was taken away from their ancestors by the white settlers over centuries," remarked Lindiwe.

Pieter battled to understand this.

Surely the Afrikaners with the ox wagons in the 1800s, known as the Voortrekkers, were the rightful owners of the land. _I mean the blacks were just sitting around on the land and not developing it?_

Pieter drifted deep into thought.

He remembered his history teacher from standard four and the learnings of the Tugela-Umzimvubu deed of cession signed between Voortrekker leader Piet Retief and Zulu king Dingaan. By signing the document on 4 February 1838, the Zulu leader gave the Vootrekkers land in the Natal region with boundaries allocated.

The Vootrekkers and many of their servants were then invited to a celebration party in the Zulu place at which they were eventually slaughtered by their hosts. So horrific were the murders of the Vootrekkers at the so-called celebration function that Retief had to watch his colleagues perish and was the last to be killed, having his chest sawn open and his heart and liver removed and handed to Dingaan on a cloth.

This made Pieter's blood boil. _Erasmus, just how far can you trust the black man?_

The cop shook his head. As much as he wanted to be a part of this wonderful New South Africa picture that Lindiwe had painted in his mind, the thoughts of his murdered Voortrekker descendants in Natal, made him wonder if he should be following through with the elimination of Mandela.

"I never really asked you about your father or what you know about him," said Pieter.

"My father is a strong, handsome Afrikaner man who loved my mother so much," answered the girl such to Pieter's surprise that he nearly lost control of the vehicle.

"An Afrikaner guy?" questioned Pieter.

"Yes, an Afrikaner guy, who I believe worked closely with the government."

Pieter began to sweat, but Lindiwe was far from working out the truth.

"Pieter, for the sake of our country and our future children, we have to find the guy who is set to eliminate Mandela," said Lindiwe.

Pieter tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

"What if we don't get to the person before he shoots Mandela?" he asked.

Tears began to flow down Lindiwe's cheeks.

"We simply have too," remarked the girl.

"If we don't ... I don't even want to know how things will turn out for all. We can't allow the country to go the civil war way. You know, the way that many wanted it to go after Hani was killed."

Pieter tried to comfort the girl.

"Don't worry, Lindiwe, all will be well, I am sure of it," he quipped, as he was still trying to get the picture of his murdered Voortrekker ancestors out of his mind.

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus was at a crossroads in his life. Would he go with Lindiwe and the New South Africa or honour his parents and stay loyal to the conservative Afrikaner element that believed that all blacks were the same - criminals and street-trash?

### Chapter 21 - Hanging on to Love

Lindiwe Buthelezi tried to make sense of Pieter's body language and emotions now that she had explained what she knew about the New South Africa. After all, he was still an apartheid era cop. Would he report her thoughts to his superiors and the apartheid regime onslaught against the blacks would be taken to new levels? Surely not, God help us!

Lindiwe had such strong feelings for Pieter that she was now feeling more like his equal in terms of age and understanding. Lindiwe Snr was at work in full force, rather than Lindiwe Jnr.

Of course, their conversations in the vehicle on the way back from Mbabane had been quite sensitive and revealing. Lindiwe felt that after their night together, the time was right to trust Pieter to the fullest.

Alright, Lindiwe, let's define what 'fullest' means.

If 'fullest' was used in its true sense, does this mean that she (Lindiwe) can now trust Pieter in telling him how she really felt about him?

Lindiwe gulped. She could not get herself to do that or not yet anyway. What if Pieter rejected her? What if Pieter had only planned on using her as a one-night stand? Gogo Albertina's words were ringing in her ears _\- Don't trust the white man, my dear. They are not like black men at all._

Was her Gogo right? Was it right to stereotype all white people as being of the same mindset? For that matter, was it right for all whites to stereotype all black people as criminals? Lindiwe was quick to work out that it was the wicked apartheid system that was causing the hatred and distrust on both sides.

As long as apartheid was present in everyone's lives, unity seemed far away. At least having been to the future, she knew that there was light at the end of the political tunnel for South Africa.

Meanwhile, Pieter was still trying to digest all that Lindiwe had told him about the New South Africa that she had witnessed first-hand. It really seemed to be quite far-fetched. I mean a black President! Blacks living next door to whites in the plush suburbs!

No, man, Erasmus, this girl must be slipping some serious pills while you are not looking. She cannot be alright in the head. The future simply cannot be Black and White together on an equal footing!

It is best to stick to the plan and eliminate Mandela and then you can take it from there!

Pieter's mind was playing tricks on him. If what Lindiwe saw was all true, then what would happen to President PW Botha? Pieter was not to know that Botha would suffer a stroke in 1989 and his decision-making would become irrational causing him to lose the support of his Cabinet.

F.W. de Klerk would take over and would not waste much time to set up the closing of the book of apartheid to send South Africa on a new course in the eyes of those in the country and globally.

No, Eramus, it is not going to happen!

One can imagine how difficult it would have been for Pieter to comprehend. The far right wing, including the militant AWB, would hardly take too kindly to the Nationalist government unbanning the ANC and its affiliates, let along entering into power sharing talks to govern the country.

Then who was this Chris Hani fellow? Pieter had never heard the name before. Judging by Lindiwe's views, Hani would be eliminated by a white man, but there seemed to be some school of thought that his own brothers may have had a hand in allowing the hit to happen. How? Perhaps by knowing of the potential hit and turning a blind eye to allow the white man to take the heat?

How was Pieter to know that on 7 September 1992, Hani would play a major role in being one of the leaders of 80 000 protestors to the Victoria Stadium in Bisho to demand that the Ciskei homeland be incorporated into the New South Africa? The Ciskei government were having none of it, as they were living good lives, as puppets to the apartheid regime. The Ciskei Defence Force would eventually grow frustrated and open fire on the marchers, killing twenty eight people. Two hundred marchers were wounded. Besides Hani, others involved in the march were future New South Africa leaders in President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sport Minister Steve Tshwete, and Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils.

Lindiwe noticed the silence between the two persons in the police vehicle. Her worst fear was that the information that she divulged to Pieter, may have turned him away from her.

That is the last thing that she wanted to do. She needed the Lieutenant and he needed her. How she would have loved the bonding to go way beyond just needing each other for the sake of the New South Africa.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Pieter nodded.

"I am fine, it is just that I am finding it hard to believe that South Africa has the potential to change from a white country to a black one at the speed of light," he said.

"I suppose it will happen if it is the will of God."

Lindiwe remained silent. As much as she believed that the situation would change if it was a part of God's plan, she also knew that the apartheid regime would try each and every trick to avoid relinquishing power to the leaders of the black majority.

Releasing Mandela from prison would be a small price to pay as the white supremists would play for time. What benefit, thought, would playing for time have for the current government? Where would their saviour come from? Right now, Lindiwe could only see one saviour being in a position to bring about a peaceful future for South Africa and that was Mandela. If someone executed him, goodness knows what would happen next. How, though, would the idea of a South Africa for all, be planted in the minds of the whites so that they would give up power out of their own free will?

"Look, Pieter, I know it must be difficult for you to imagine a black government running South Africa but it seems that this could well be the way that things could work out," said Lindiwe.

Pieter smiled as he remembered a colleague remarking on that very subject.

" _The blacks can't organise a pissup in a brewery, never mind run a country."_

"I just can't see the Nationalist Party-led government giving in and releasing Mandela unless they have an underhanded way of retaining some sort of power through him," remarked Pieter.

Lindiwe hadn't thought of it that way before.

"You mean they might soften Mandela to get him to compromise on certain elements when putting together a new constitution for the country?" gasped Lindiwe.

Pieter shrugged his shoulders.

"I am just going on a hunch here but I know my bosses and there is nothing for nothing with them," he remarked.

"They will only release Mandela if they are getting something in return."

Not for a moment did Pieter believe that the blacks could slaughter all of the whites in a civil war situation. The cop had not been in combat outside the country against the ANC's armed wing and their affiliates, so he did not realise the battle power that the black movement held. He did not know that certain liberation men had been briefed to bring weapons over the border into South Africa and to plant bombs to cause havoc with the peaceful everyday life of white South Africans. Bars, sports events and other cultural places were to be targeted.

However, Pieter did not believe that the black movement could accomplish the above as they had no access to proper weapons like the South African army and police did.

It is also important to remember that Mandela was a man of peace and focused on dialogue. He did not want the ANC's armed men to kill white civilians, but violence seemed to be the only language that the apartheid regime understood. The ANC certainly were not going to take a step backwards. They would fight fire with fire!

"I just wish the end will come soon one way or another," piped up Pieter.

"I have lost colleagues through this stupid race war called apartheid and really, it is not worth putting more lives as risk. How many good men and women on both sides must perish before we learn a lesson as a country?"

Pieter knew that if his parents ever heard him say such things, he would be disinherited and thrown out into the street.

Transformation was not a part of the Erasmus family agenda. They hated the blacks with a passion so strong!

"Lindiwe, is Mandela safer behind bars than he is in freedom?" asked Pieter.

"Quite possibly," replied the girl, who was beginning to understand that the scales on Pieter's eyes had been removed and that he had walked a Damascus tube route and was transformed towards the New South Africa long before any of his white colleagues.

"Pieter, I just hope that..." began Lindiwe.

"You just hope what?" asked the Lieutenant.

"I just hope that if the country goes the civil war route, it won't change anything between us," said the girl.

Pieter made a clicking noise with his tongue on the inside of his mouth.

"I have a strong feeling based on what you claim to have seen and what I understand now, that South Africa will not go the civil war race route," he said.

"This beautiful country has suffered much and surely it cannot lose more lives."

"It is all about greed, isn't it?" remarked Lindiwe.

"I mean, the leaders, black or white, all want to control the country's gold, land and other resources."

"It is no different to anywhere else on Africa or in the world," confirmed Pieter.

Lindiwe looked at the driver of the vehicle.

"Love can change all of that," she said.

"You mean love between us?" asked the Lieutenant.

"Well, that too," remarked Pieter with a wry smile.

"I actually meant love between people, like getting men of all races to treat each other as brothers, and the same with the women as sisters."

"That is true," said Lindiwe.

"However, I am more interested in the love between us. Maybe we need to do another trip to Mbabane sometime?"

Pieter giggled.

"You enjoyed the breakfast there that much?" he teased.

Lindiwe laughed.

"Apart from the breakfast, I just pray that someday South Africa can resort to a peaceful country like Swaziland where people of all colours can get along without any form of oppression," said the girl.

Lindiwe stared at Pieter.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a very fatherly instinct about you?" she said.

"What do you mean?" asked the driver.

"I mean that something tells me that you will make a super father one day," said Lindiwe.

Pieter laughed.

"Do you think if the world was full of children from black and white relationships that none of this racial tension would exist?" he asked.

"Possibly, but people will always be people and one skin colour will always look to dominate over the others," said Lindiwe.

"Even if the blacks do come to power, it won't be long before tribal wars break out. The Xhosas will want the top jobs in Parliament, but the Zulus and Sothos will be against it."

"So much for love among brothers," joked Pieter, as he shook his head.

"However, I don't think it is a global thing. It is a worldwide phenomenon."

"So about that trip back to Mbabane?" teased Lindiwe.

"We can't let the love dwindle. We need to set the example."

Pieter smiled at her.

"Once we have saved Mandela and South Africa, we can look at spoiling ourselves... again."

Then put foot, sir, we need to save Mandela and South Africa at speed," said Lindiwe, with a wink towards her lover.

"I take it you would like to get married in a church one day?" asked the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe looked confused.

"A church?"

### Chapter 22 - Immaculate Conception

_Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus..._

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for our sinners, now and in the hour of our death. Amen.

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus was definitely not a Catholic and did not prescribe to the above prayer. He was a _Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk_ (Dutch Reformed Church) man through and through. His ancestors had arrived in South Africa from Holland over a century ago.

Immaculate conception in the way that Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ in a stable in Bethlehem... surely not, Erasmus.

Pieter was of the belief that Lindiwe's father had died in the explosion at the laboratory at the Natal border.

Then Lindiwe, now in the spirit of Lindiwe Snr, dropped the bombshell.

"Pieter, did you know that my mother was a virgin before she went to the future?"

The cop looked stunned. Went to the future? What is this now? Albertina Buthelezi said that she could not remember a thing after the explosion in the laboratory. So the old lady clearly did release more information to Lindiwe after all.

"I am getting confused, you will need to explain the story to me," said the cop.

Lindiwe smiled.

"Before you arrived in Mamelodi West, Albertina told me that she did remember what happened after the explosion," began Lindiwe.

"The bright light in the laboratory did force her into a state of unconsciousness, but when she woke up she was naked between the silk sheets in a world class hotel room with a man getting dressed next to the double bed."

Pieter gulped.

"Nothing wrong with that," teased Pieter.

Lindiwe grinned.

"Yes, but wait for the juicy parts," remarked Lindiwe.

"She said that when the man kissed her and left the hotel room, she made her way over to a huge glass window and when she finally managed to pull it open, it was like was in heaven. She was basically on top of the clouds looking down on the world."

Pieter gave Lindiwe a side-on look.

"Does Albertina Buthelezi consume a lot of alcohol?" he asked.

"Pieter, I am serious, this is the story she told me," went on Lindiwe.

Pieter giggled.

"Next you will want me to believe that Mickey Mouse is more than a man in a suit and American President Ronald Reagan is the first person from Mars to become the USA's No 1," said the cop.

Lindiwe laughed.

"I am just telling you what Albertina told me," she said.

"Does Albertina use any form of strong medication?" asked Pieter.

"Come on, Pieter, she still has a healthy mind," quipped Lindiwe.

Pieter shrugged his shoulders.

"I am not so sure about that anymore," he replied with a smile.

Lindiwe burst out into hysterical laughter.

"You must be wondering about the Buthelezi family?" she teased.

Pieter grinned.

"You said it, I thought it," he replied.

"Let me make your day," remarked Lindiwe.

The driver smiled.

"We don't have time to go back to Mbabane," he said.

Lindiwe could feel her black face turning red from embarrassment.

"No, I didn't mean that, silly, I meant I have some more information that will blow your mind," she said.

"Oh, this should be good, alright, out with it," commented the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe took in a deep breath.

"Now, remember that I am only telling you what Albertina told me," she said.

"And?" replied Pieter.

Lindiwe cleared her throat.

"Albertina said that she was a virgin when the explosion at the laboratory happened."

"So?" enquired Pieter.

"She also said that she did not have intercourse with the man in the world class hotel room, yet soon after she found out that she was pregnant," said Lindiwe.

Pieter giggled.

"Let me guess, she gave birth in a stable because there was no room in the inn, and the three wise men brought gifts to worship the newly born," he went on, with reference to the birth of Jesus Christ according to the Bible.

"So that would mean that Albertina gave birth through immaculate conception and that her name is really not Albertina at all, but Mary."

Lindiwe poked the driver in the left side of his ribs with her right hand.

"Pieter, I am serious," she said.

"Me too," replied the Lieutenant.

"I mean, come on Lindiwe, how can you give birth to a child without being pregnant, I mean really now?"

"Exactly, but let's think this through," analysed Lindiwe.

"If Albertina really went to the future and back, goodness knows, maybe your original theory is correct."

"Which one?" asked Pieter.

"The one that she may have been impregnated by Immaculate Conception, via time travel," said Lindiwe in an excited tone.

"I was only kidding about the immaculate conception bit," replied Pieter.

"I know you were, but let's not take things for granted as this is no ordinary situation," quipped Lindiwe.

Pieter gulped.

"Lindiwe, with regard to your father..."

Lindiwe sighed.

"You sound like a stuck record, as you have asked me that before."

"Are you one hundred percent sure that he survived the laboratory explosion?" asked Pieter.

"I am two hundred percent sure as I met him a few times," said Lindiwe, with the remark forcing Pieter's heart to skip a beat and he nearly lost control of the vehicle.

"You say that you met him?"

"Yes, why, do you want to go and offer lobola for me?" teased Lindiwe. Lobola is the groom offering money or assets to the bride's family ahead of a marriage.

"No, I am just curious," said Pieter in a serious tone.

"What did your father tell you about your mother?"

"He told me that my mother was a gentle, God-fearing woman who had a heart the size of the country," said Lindiwe.

Pieter smiled.

"It sounds like she is a chip off the old block, meaning a younger version of her mother, Albertina Buthelezi," he said.

"Please don't tell me that your mother also visited the future before her passing? Let me guess, she fell pregnant on Mars with Donald Duck's child? Is that what you are going to tell me?"

Lindiwe howled with laughter.

"That story about Albertina waking up in a world class hotel room with a glass window above the world really got to you, didn't it?" she teased.

Pieter grinned.

"Look, if I didn't know you or the situation better, I would have thought that you are smoking some very strong illegal stuff," he joked.

"You are not going to hit me with some more Immaculate Conception stories, are you?" he asked.kg

Lindiwe smiled.

"I just wish that I could have known my mother better."

Wow! What a powerful statement from Lindiwe considering that she was Lindiwe Senior, although to Pieter, she looked like Lindiwe Jnr.

"I just wish I could have spoken with my mother and learnt lots more about her as well as the identity of the man who wanted to kill Mandela," exclaimed Lindiwe.

Pieter broke out into a cold sweat.

Erasmus, you can thank your lucky stars that Lindiwe never got to know her mother better otherwise she would be fully aware that you are the one who plans on putting a bullet or more into Mandela!

Pieter needed to get his and her mind off of the matter.

"So, ur... Lindiwe, tell me what you know about the inauguration of the first democratically-elected President of South Africa," he asked.

Lindiwe smiled.

"What a day for South Africa!" she remarked.

"Through the spirit of travel to the future, I saw Mandela having his hand held up high by the outgoing President FW de Klerk on a stage outside of the Union Buildings in Pretoria."

"De Klerk?" said a stunned Pieter.

"What happened to PW Botha?"

"Botha resigned as President and then Nationalist Party leader in 1989, after he lost the support of his party, and de Klerk took over," explained Lindiwe.

"The Nationalists were fighting among themselves as some believed that meetings with the banned ANC in Lusaka, Zambia should not be allowed while others saw this as the only way forward for the country. Botha was against any form of talks with the ANC. During this time he also had a stroke and became an inconsistent decision-maker in the eyes of his colleagues."

"Of course the road to the first democratic elections and Mandela's eventual inauguration was not an easy one," she went on.

"The right wing AWB even drove an armoured vehicle through the glass doors of the centre where the Nationalists and the ANC were in talks over a new constitution. The AWB also tried to help Bophuthatswana President Lucas Mangope to hang on to power and not to be a part of the New South Africa by joining his military men to defend the homeland."

"What happened there?" asked Pieter.

"The black army of Mangope refused to give weapons to the white right wing AWB Afrikaners," explained Lindiwe.

"The AWB eventually left but one of their vehicles opened fire on civilians in the streets of Mafikeng. The local black security officials responded with gun fire on the AWB vehicle, and killed the driver. The vehicle stopped and two other AWB men inside the car were executed in front of the media. This was the first time that the world saw white South African men being executed by black men, and basically put an end to the theory that the white minority could win a civil war over the black majority."

"So The New South Africa came into being and Mandela became the first black President?" asked Pieter.

"Exactly, but many of his own people saw him as being too close to the Afrikaner and too lenient in terms of comprising too much with the white people," continued Lindiwe.

"What I saw was that there was still a great anger among blacks in that the white people dominate the economy and the land situation."

"The foreign countries would react very favourably to the New South Africa in terms of investment, with the ANC becoming a central peace making forum to end wars in other countries on the African continent," went on Lindiwe.

"Mandela's wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, would become a firebrand leader of the African National Congress Women's League, but unfortunately she would divorce from her husband in later years."

Pieter was amazed with the attention to detail that Lindiwe provided in terms of describing the future. There was no doubt in his mind that she had been there and that South Africa would turn out for the better with Mandela as the key figure.

Pieter suddenly put his foot on the brake pedal of the police vehicle to such an extent that Lindiwe had to use her hands to stop her from going hard against the dashboard.

"What now?" she asked.

"We are near the Swaziland-South Africa border, so it is time for you to get into the back of the vehicle," quipped Pieter.

Lindiwe sighed and climbed out of the vehicle.

"So where to from here?" she asked.

"To South Africa and Mamelodi," replied Pieter.

"No, silly, I meant what's the masterplan's next step?" said questioned Lindiwe.

Pieter licked his upper lip.

"It is time for another trip," he said.

"Back to Swaziland?" Lindiwe asked.

"No, Natal," answered Pieter.

The cop was now caught between two mind-sets. Did he continue with the plan to execute Mandela to cause chaos among the blacks and to keep white minority rule intact? Or did he step aside as potential assassin and help his country towards building the New South Africa that Lindiwe had described?

The problem was that if he did not kill Mandela, someone else could achieve the objective. His moment of glory would be gone. Little did Pieter understand that his moment of glory was still coming but in a different form.

### Chapter 23 - Pieter Keeps his Secret

The problem was that if he did not kill Mandela, someone else could do the evil task and steal the show one way or another. How could he look his police comrades in the eyes again if he sold them out and joined the New South Africa regime?

Pieter was no closer to finding out the whereabouts of Nelson Mandela. He was sure that the ANC man was not on Robben Island, and all of his attempts to find out information from his police colleagues had brought no results.

Before he had left for the meeting with Albertina Buthelezi in Mamelodi West, he had tried to contact his mentor, Colonel Jaap Cornelius, but he too, seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth, or was simply keeping his distance from Pieter until the assassination of Mandela was completed.

Erasmus, what would a real assassin do in this situation?

When he failed to come up with answers to the question, he moved on to the next part but this time it was a solution rather than a question.

He had thought about the new trip a while back but it was now making more and more sense to him. He needed to visit the site near the Natal border where the laboratory had been where Albertina Buthelezi had worked. He had no plans of taking the old lady with, but Lindiwe would be a part of the trip for both professional and love reasons.

As the police vehicle neared Pretoria, Pieter noticed a roadblock up ahead. He eased the car towards the beacons that marked the area and stopped, before winding down the driver's window.

" _Luitenant_ (lieutenant)," said a young police officer who was on duty at the stop point.

He looked at the passenger in the back.

" _Nog n mooilikheidmaaker_ (another troublemaker)?" said the youngster to Pieter.

The Lieutenant nodded.

" _Ek vat haar hoofkantoor toe maar my brandstof in hierdie wa is lag, mag ek een van julle voortuie asseblief vat_ (I am taking her to headquarters but the fuel in this vehicle is low, may I please take one of your vehicles)?"

" _Sekelik, vat daardie wit polisiewa_ (sure, take that white police vehicle)," said the policeman just behind the younger one.

Pieter transferred his 'prisoner' into the back of the white van, as well as their belongings before thanking his colleagues and heading off.

However, the Lieutenant had no plans of going to the police headquarters. He drove until he was well out of sight of the cops at the roadblock and then changed the direction of the vehicle.

Pieter prepared his mind for a 618 kilometre drive to Durban, before a good hour and a half of further travel to where the laboratory was thought to have been.

The Lieutenant always believed that he was one of the more committed and cleverer cops around. Nobody would have noticed his plan.

" _Ja, dis Spioen hier, ja hulle is terug van Swaziland_ (yes it is Spy here, yes, they are back from Swaziland)," said the watcher of the pair.

" _Hulle het motor verander by the padblokkade maar dit lyk my hulle is nie oppad hoofkantoor toe nie. Ek weet nie waar hulle nou gaan nie maar ek sal hull agtervolg, praat later_ (They changed vehicles at the roadblock but it looks like they are not on their way to the headquarters. I don't know where they are headed but I will follow, chat later)."

Being back in the heart of the land of apartheid, Pieter could not take the chance of bringing Lindiwe out of the back of the police vehicle and to the passenger seat in the front next to him.

"Pieter, don't leave me in the back here!" screamed Lindiwe, as she bashed her fists against the caged window between the driver's cab and the prisoner section of the vehicle.

"I can't let you out now, Lindiwe; it is just too risky, try and catch some sleep until we get to the border."

Border, what border, thought Lindiwe. Of course, Pieter was referring to the Natal border where the laboratory used to be but Lindiwe was not to know that.

In the driver's seat, Pieter's mind cast back to Jaap Cornelius. Why couldn't he get hold of the Colonel? Surely his mentor who had supplied him with the pistol to assassinate Mandela, would not sell him out? Then again one never knows. Was the trap set and Pieter would be the fall guy?

Suddenly, the Lieutenant felt vulnerable. For the first time on the past two trips he began to check his rear view mirror to see if his vehicle was being followed.

Luckily, _Die Swartgevaar_ was on top of his game and with the sun having dipped, Pieter could not see any sign of followers.

Pieter felt that his secret was eating the inner lining of his stomach.

As the police vehicle approached the Natal provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg (named after the Afrikaner Voortrekker leaders Piet Retief and Gert Maritz), the Lieutenant pulled the steering wheel to the left. There was simply no time for a few hours of sleep which he so desperately needed. The stakes were too high. What if someone else worked out the game plan or got to Mandela before he did?

"Where are we going?" said a frustrated Lindiwe, who had been awakened by the way that Pieter turned the steering wheel.

"Lindiwe, we have to get to the Natal border to check out the spot where the laboratory used to be," said the cop.

"I just hope that we get there before the wrong people do."

Erasmus, are you listening to yourself. You are the 'wrong person'.

"Let me out of here, I feel like an animal in a cage!" shouted Lindiwe from the back of the vehicle.

That is exactly why the cage was put on to the police vehicles in South Africa. The aim was to make blacks who didn't toe the line according to apartheid rule, to feel like animals when captured.

"Let's get to the laboratory site first," replied Pieter, who was also getting hungrier by the kilometre that he drove.

"What are we going to do when we get to the site?" asked Lindiwe through the cage window.

Pieter thought about the question for a moment as he didn't actually know what to expect when they reached the place.

The laboratory was no longer functioning but he was sure that the building would still be standing. What would be inside the building was anyone's guess.

"Let's just get there, Lindiwe, and take it from there," said Pieter, who was hoping that the site would give him a clue in one of two ways.

Either he would find something that would allow him to know the whereabouts of Mandela and give him more reason to execute the ANC man. Or he would be finally convinced to throw his weight behind the New South Africa and turn his back on his family beliefs and the apartheid regime.

Lindiwe lay on her back in the cage area of the police vehicle.

She too was tired and hungry. Different thoughts flowed through her mind. What was she expecting to find at the laboratory site where Albertina Buthelezi had once worked? Was the site safe to visit or were other supporters of the future or retainers or the present also on a mission to find the site?

Something made Lindiwe look out of the back caged window of the vehicle. The road was very quiet with only two of three cars behind the cop vehicle. Lindiwe did not suspect anything suspicious. She saw a white Toyota Corolla trailing their vehicle by six hundred or so metres. By now, all the cars on the road had their head lights on which pierced through the darkness outside.

How many people had been inside the laboratory since it closed down, wondered Lindiwe. Had any clues been removed? Were there any security officials on site which would stop Pieter and her from entering the area? What was the government hiding other than what she knew?

In the front of the vehicle, Pieter's feet were numb. The cars in front of his were driving slowly which meant that his left foot spent much time alternating between the clutch and brake pedals. His right foot was hardly touching the accelerator pedal or at least that is how it felt to him.

Pieter knew that the laboratory had been closed down many years now so the area should be free of any radiation activity. He wondered if there was a graveyard nearby where many of those killing during the experiment were buried.

Again, he glanced at the rear view mirror of the car. He saw the white Toyota Corolla vehicle in the difference but like Lindiwe, did not suspect that they were being followed.

"Lindiwe!" shouted Pieter.

There was no response. The Mamelodi resident had drifted back to sleep. It was probably for the best, thought Pieter. Firstly, she needed to conserve energy, and secondly the less questions that she asked him the better.

A few rain drops began to fall on the windscreen of the police vehicle and eventually Pieter was forced to turn on the windscreen wipers so that he could have a clear vision of the road in front of him.

He worked out that they were now about ten kilometres from the laboratory site. There were no streetlights next to the road. It appeared that they were really out in the bush. The only sign of normality was the tar road that they were travelling on.

Suddenly a huge thought went through his mind. What if the laboratory was a security centre where Nelson Mandela was being held captive? Not many people knew about the laboratory and few would think of looking out here for Mandela?

Pieter slid his right hand to his right hip where his 9mm service pistol was sitting safely in its holster. He realised that he would need to be ready for anything when he and Lindiwe climbed out of the vehicle at the site.

The police vehicle went over a pothole and seemed to jump more than half a metre in the air. As it landed, the force awoke Lindiwe.

"Are we there yet?" she asked.

"Almost," replied Pieter.

Again, he checked the rear view mirror. There were still three cars behind them, including that white Toyota Corolla. So what, he thought. Other people had as much a right to use the public roads as he did. He patted the pistol on his right hip. Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus was reading for anything.

He was a top pistol shooter in the police force and was the owner of a pretty solid right-hook if it came to a fight. His pain thresh-hold was always quite high. He had been in a few bar fights in his life and was still alive to tell the story. Sure, he had suffered a few broken ribs over the years, but he saw that as being a part of manhood and character building.

Suddenly, he noticed a light on a pole in the distance. It seemed to shine over an area where a security guard hut stood. The guard post was unmanned and the gate was no longer on its hinges but stood next to the gate house.

Pieter slowed the vehicle down and drove through the gateway. The vehicle travelled for a further three kilometres before the road reached an end. The policeman's eye's checked out the area. Everything seemed normal albeit in the dark.

He looked into the rear view mirror. There were no cars behind him anymore. All was good for now, but something told him that both he and Lindiwe were in for a long night or few days ahead.

They had arrived. Pieter's secret was still eating away in his stomach. He hoped that whatever was going to happen would be carried out at great speed. He needed a solution to his life. Was he going to live out his days as a part of the Old South Africa or the New South Africa?

One last question remained. Where was Mandela?

### Chapter 24 - The Capture on the Border

Pieter Erasmus sat in the driver's seat of the car. What he was expecting outside, he did not know. Now was the time to put a puzzle together in his mind.

Had Albertina Buthelezi had really seen a window in the hotel room high up above the world?

If so, what was a window made of? That was an easy one to answer. All windows are made of glass. Alright, but why was a window there in the hotel room? Again, the answer seemed simple... to look through!

Look... glass...

That is it! The apartheid government had developed some form of eye glass that would allow them to see the future. Perhaps Albertina Buthelezi wasn't as crazy as he thought. Perhaps he was the crazy one.

"Can I please climb out of this cage?" yelled Lindiwe from the back of the vehicle.

"In a moment," replied Pieter.

He looked around but could not see any form of a building, yet he was convinced that he was at the right place. His eyes caught sight of a tree to his right and next to it was a small stream.

Pieter climbed from the vehicle and put his hand on one of the fruits on the tree. He plucked it brought it over to the headlights of the vehicle. It was a yellow peach.

He smelt the fruit. All seemed good. Taking his chances, he took a small bite. The fruit was juicy and tasted delicious. The Lieutenant smiled. At least both he and Lindiwe would not die of hunger. Next, he made his way to the stream and dipped his hand into the water. It was too dark to see if there were any fish in the stream but that would be checked when the sun was up. He put down the peach and used his hands as a funnel to drink some of the water from. Yes, it was clean and pure. Great, there would be no dying of thirst either.

Pieter returned to the vehicle and let Lindiwe out of the back cage compartment.

"Finally," she remarked.

The Lieutenant went to the front of the vehicle and something on the ground caught his eye. The vehicle's headlights were shining on a patch of ground.

Footprints and fresh ones too, Erasmus!

Someone had been here recently and the footprints were heading down a pathway towards a mountainous area.

Pieter's suspicions from the start were being vindicated. More people were interested in the laboratory than just Lindiwe and himself. This could mean that more people were interested in Mandela than Lindiwe and himself too!

The cop turned off the headlights and locked the vehicle doors. The rest of the mission would need to be done on foot.

As he headed towards the ascent with Lindiwe, he knew that he was about to experience a life changing chapter in his life. Would he make it back? That was another story. Judging by what he knew, people were playing for keeps. He thought of the South African national anthem - _ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe ons vir jou Suid-Afrika (we will live, we will die, us for you South Africa)._

Pieter's mind returned to his 'glass and looking' theory. _Maybe, you have got things back to front, Erasmus. What? Back to front?_

He began to think things through deeper. _Back to front? Glass and Looking?_ What about Looking and Glass?

Pieter's eyes lit up. That is it!

He remembered hearing Jaap Cornelius once mentioning the term 'Looking Glass' in the office, but he did not think twice about it as it had nothing to do with his daily job.

"Lindiwe, we need to be on the lookout for the 'Looking Glass', you know, the big window that Albertina Buthelezi spoke about?" said the cop.

Lindiwe grinned.

"I thought that you believed that Albertina was crazy?" she said.

"Right now, the old lady is probably more level-headed than you and me put together," he remarked.

"Come on, let's go," he said as he surged towards the uphill with a new spring in his step.

"What if we can't find the Looking Glass?" asked Lindiwe.

"Then we settle for next best and find a place called 'the Looking Glass', replied the Lieutenant.

Pieter was a non-smoker but he remembered that he had a box of matches in the pocket of his police combat jacket.

This came in handy as he lit up a match every five hundred metres or so to make sure that they were still on the trail of the fresh footprints before them.

The task was not going to be an easy one, as they were about to find out. Three days passed by and the search was still on-going although confidence levels had dropped dramatically.

Ever since they had reached the top of the mountain three days back they had seen miles and miles of absolutely nothing and no sign of a human being. What gave Pieter hope was that the footprints of a person were still leading ahead of them.

"If we walk any further we need our passports to get into Mozambique," joked Lindiwe.

"There is someone ahead of us, that I am sure of, and he would not have walked all this way for no reason," replied the cop.

"Whoever he is must be as keen to find the laboratory site as we are."

Fortunately, the stream that Pieter had spotted on the first night had wound its way around the mountain and was still next to them so they had a continuous supply of fresh water.

Fish was their staple diet after Pieter, a keen fisherman back home, had managed to catch a few, which he cooked on a fire, lit from the matches in his pocket.

Lindiwe sat down on a rock and wiped her brow with her right hand.

"I never thought that the journey would be this tough," she said, as she stared out to the east. It was nearly midday and they were no closer to finding the mysterious 'Looking Glass' than when they first arrived.

Her eyes caught on to a bright light in the eastern direction and she drew Pieter's attention to it.

"It looks like the sun is shining on a piece of glass over there," she remarked.

"Do you think the 'Looking Glass' is over there?"

Pieter took one look at the bright light and knew exactly what it was. It had nothing to do with the sun and glass. Somebody was sending a Morse code to draw the attention of another party.

The cop had studied this at Police College and did his best to work out the dots from the dashes in the signal. As he worked out the signal, he wrote the notes down in a small notebook that he kept in his police jacket.

P...E...L...B...L...G.10...K...M...W

Lindiwe looked over his shoulder.

"Any ideas?" she asked.

Pieter nodded.

"P is for Pieter, E is for Erasmus, L is for Lindiwe, B is for Buthelezi, L is for Looking, G is for Glass," he explained.

"Someone out there knows we are here and after the 'Looking Glass'."

"What about the rest of the signal?" asked Lindiwe.

"The 'KM after the number '10' means the sender of the signal is 10 kilometres away from us and I am guessing the 'W' means the direction west," he said.

Lindiwe gasped.

"That means we are being watched," she said.

Pieter nodded.

"The 'Looking Glass' must be pretty important if someone or some people don't want us to get to close to it," he said.

"What now?" asked Lindiwe.

Pieter wiped his brow.

"I say we walk in the direction of where we saw the bright light," commented the cop.

"What if it is a trap?" questioned Lindiwe.

"What have we got to lose?" asked Pieter in return.

By 4pm, the sun was beginning to lower itself and Pieter could see that his fitness was taking a bash. He had been quite surprised as to how fit Lindiwe really was as she showed no signs of tiring.

They set up camp for the night and Pieter cooked up his usual dish of fried fish on a fire. He could see Lindiwe's eyes starting to close even as she was finishing her meal.

"Get some sleep," said the Lieutenant.

"I suspect tomorrow is going to be a longer day than we both think."

Pieter did his best to keep his eyes open for as long as possible, but eventually his body gave in and he drifted off to dreamland.

It seemed like he had just about closed his eyes when he was awakened by a loud noise.

The air was filled with a bright light from a helicopter which was trying to land near their camp site.

Pieter woke Lindiwe and they both did their best to escape from the area.

"Who are they?" asked Lindiwe, as she gasped for breath as the pair ran into the bushes.

"I don't know, but let's keep moving," replied the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe, who was running just behind Pieter, could hear voices behind her. She battled to work out if the sound was getting closer or not.

"This way," said Pieter, as he manoeuvred his body to the left. However, there was no response from Lindiwe. The cop turned around and saw the Lindiwe lying on the ground. She had tripped over a large rock and was battling to get back to her feet.

Pieter turned around and did his best to help the girl to a standing position, but before he could start running, he felt a powerful thud on the back of his skull. The Lieutenant collapsed to the ground and soon both Lindiwe and the unconscious Pieter were surrounded by armed men in military uniform.

Pieter's lifeless body was slung over the shoulders of a large-frame rifleman, while Lindiwe walked with guards on each side of her. What was going on, thought Lindiwe. We are prisoners-of-war, but why?

The walk was not a long one. Soon Lindiwe could see a light ahead and she was ushered towards a large helicopter. Once aboard and seated, Pieter's body was loaded next to her. Accompanied by five riflemen, the chopper was ready for take-off.

The helicopter was not alone. Two other choppers, although smaller in size, accompanied the 'big bird' as it took off.

Lindiwe did not dare ask any questions. She was the only black among a load of white presumably Afrikaner military men.

She had heard stories of such situations where the black person was never seen again. The apartheid regime would not worry too much if one black vanished off the face of the earth. There were another forty eight or million blacks in the country so one going missing would not be a train smash.

Lindiwe looked at Pieter who was mumbling from the pain. It seemed like he was coming to a state of consciousness.

"Pieter," said Lindiwe, but the look from her captors let her know that she was not to speak any further.

It was close on thirty minutes before the helicopters landed. Lindiwe had no clue where she was, nor did she know why she was being held against her will and by whom.

She tried to get Pieter into an upright position on the seat but he kept collapsing from the hit on the back of his head.

Two of the armed military men helped Pieter from the helicopter and he was placed in a car. Lindiwe thought she was going into the same vehicle, but was led to another waiting car.

"Pieter!" she yelled in despair.

It would be another hour before Pieter regained his vision and thought pattern.

"Where am I?" he asked, as he found himself bound to a chair in an interrogation room.

"Don't worry about that," replied a uniformed man in a strong Afrikaans accent.

"Where is Lindiwe?" questioned the Lieutenant.

"Don't worry about that either," snapped the man in the room with him.

"I am a Lieutenant in the South African Police Force and I need answers!" yelled Pieter.

"Listen here, I am the one answering the questions and I would seriously consider complying if you want to see daylight again!" said the man in the room.

Pieter tried to pull himself free from the ropes that bound his arms to the chair but whoever had tied the knots had done a brilliant job.

"Lindiwe!" yelled the Lieutenant.

"She can't hear you, but she is fine and will be fine as long as you toe the line," said the man.

### Chapter 25 - The Grilling of a Lieutenant

Drip... Drip... Drip...

The sound was annoying. Perhaps if Pieter Erasmus could have seen the dripping water, then it would have been a bit easier to handle emotionally.

Pieter worked out that he was being held captive in a dungeon-like room. There was only enough light in the room for him to make out the body sizes of the person there. He could hardly see the face of the man opposite him.

"You better start talking, if you know what is good for you," said the man, with a strong Afrikaans accent.

" _Ek weet nie wat julle van my af soek nie_ (I don't know what you want from me," responded Pieter."

The man kicked back on his chair and jumped to his feet.

" _Moenie met daai stront begin nie, jy weet goed wat jy nie moes weet nie_ (don't come with that nonsense, you know things that you shouldn't know)," said the oppressor sternly.

Pieter ran his hands over his face. So this is what it is all about, Erasmus. This is some sort of underground government movement that has much to hide.

Having interrogated many criminals over the years, Pieter knew what to say and when to keep quiet, although it did feel a bit strange now, in being seated on the wrong side of the table.

His attention was drawn by footsteps heading in the direction of the room where he was being held. It sounded like at least two or three people were about to join his little party.

Suddenly the door of the room flung open and a uniformed man with medals on his jacket, marched over to him.

" _Het jy enige vordering gemaak_ (did you make any progress)?"said the General to the man opposite Pieter.

The Lieutenant, who had been trying to work information out of Pieter, shook his head.

General Jan du Toit leaned on his hands which were pressed on the table in front of Pieter, whose own hands were handcuffed.

" _So, jy hou daarvan om rondteloop met iemand se straatmate_ (so you like walking around with someone's streetgirl)?" said Jan in rhetorical fasion, with reference to Lindiwe.

Pieter wanted to lean forward and spin his handcuffed wrists towards the chin of the General, but found that he could not move from the chair as his ankles were also tied to the legs of the furniture.

Who was this General to call Lindiwe a 'straatmate'?

The General kept his eyes focused on Pieter but spoke to the Lieutenant, who was standing to his left.

" _Luitenant, jy is van die projek af, pak jou goed en vat die vervoer Pretoria toe_ (Lieutenant, you are off the project, pack your stuff and take the transport to Pretoria),"quipped the General.

The young Lieutenant looked taken aback.

" _Maar, Generaal, ek_... (but General, I...)."

" _Jy het my gehoor_ (you heard me)," said the General.

" _Jy is nie meer op_ _'Looking Glass' nodig nie_ (you are no longer needed on 'Looking Glass')."

Pieter pretended that he did not know what 'Looking Glass' meant, and began to stare at the cement ground below.

He was putting the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind at great speed. So, this dodgy government movement had to do with the 'Looking Glass'. It was clear to Pieter that both he and Lindiwe had got to close to discovering that they should not have found at the site of the old laboratory, hence they were captured.

" _Moet ek hier sit met my hande vasgemaak as of ek n dief is_ (do I have to sit here with my hands handcuffed as if I am a thief)?" asked Pieter.

The General giggled sarcastically.

" _Maar jy hang rond met misdadigers so dit maak vir jou een van hulle_ (well you hang around with criminals so that makes you one of them)," remarked the General.

Clearly the General was not an open-minded person who would realise that the minority rule government would not last forever in South Africa.

The middle-aged man was one of those who had followed his leader's orders to the maximum, thus creating the belief that the National Party would rule South Africa until Kingdom Come.

" _So, Erasmus, vertel vir ons wat weet jy van Buthelezi_ (so, Erasmus, tell us what you know about Buthelezi),"ordered the General.

Pieter stared at the General.

" _Buthelezi, ja, hy is die leier van die Inkatha Vryheidsparty daar in Natal_ (Buthelezi, yes, he is the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party in Natal)," replied Pieter.

The General slammed his right fist on the table.

" _Moenie probeer slim wees met my nie, jou verraier_ (don't try and be clever with me, you traitor)!" shouted the General.

" _Jy weet net so wel so ek dat ek praat van Albertina Buthelezi_ (you know as well as I do that I am talking about Albertina Buthelezi)!" went on the General.

"Albertina?" asked Pieter, as he pleaded ignorance.

" _Erasmus, ons het vir jou gevolg heelpad Kaap toe end dan weer Natal toe en na jou klein wittebrood in Lesotho, so moenie vir my vertel dat jy weet nie wie Albertina Buthelezi is nie_ (Erasmus, we followed you all the way to the Cape and then to Natal, before your little honeymoon in Lesotho, so don't tell me you don't know who Albertina Buthelezi is)," said the General, who was sweating on his brow.

Pieter had to do some quick thinking.

" _Oh, Albertina is familie van Lindiwe_ (oh, Albertina, is family of Lindiwe)," he said.

The General slammed both his fists on the table but Pieter still did no flinch in his seated position.

" _Erasmus, jy het een minuut om my die waarheid to vertel of anders met ek n plan maak met jou straatmate_ (Erasmus, you have one minute to tell me the truth or else I have to make a plan with your streetgirl)," threatened the General.

Pieter tried to use all his strength to stand up from his chair to confront the General, but his ankles were well and truely tied.

" _Generaal, as jy n vinger op haar sit (_ General, if you lay a finger on her)..."

"Wat gaan jy dan maak, Erasmus, miskien moet ons die storie verander. Wat as ek nou n hele hand op jou sit in pleks van haar (what will you do, Erasmus, maybe we must change the story. What if I put a whole hand on you instead of her)?"

Pieter tried to wiggle his hands to freedom in the handcuffs but he had no chance.

" _Generaal, ek weet niks van Albertina Buthelezi af nie_ (General, I don't know anything about Albertina Buthelezi)," remarked Pieter.

The General caught the eye of one of his two henchmen and nodded. The powerfully-built Afrikaner stepped forward and kicked at one of the back legs of the chair that Pieter was seated on so that it fell over.

Pieter lay on the floor gazing up at the General and his two sidekicks who seemed to get a great sense of enjoyment of carrying out the orders on behalf of their leader.

" _Dertig sekondes, Erasmus_ (thirty seconds, Erasmus)," said the General, as he stared at his wristwatch.

Pieter realised that he was about to be pounded by the General's men.

" _Albertina is Lindiwe se ouma en_ (Albertina is Lindiwe's grandmother and) ..."

The General interrupted.

" _Jy mors my tyd, Erasmus_ (you are wasting my time, Erasmus)," said the General.

He turned to one of his men.

" _Vat die straatmate na die tuiniere toe en hulle kan ver haar vir n paar ure verkrag_ (take the streetgirl to the gardeners and they can rape her for a few hours)," ordered the leader.

" _Nee, wag_ (no, wait)!" shouted Pieter.

" _Los vir die meisie. Albertina het by n lab gewerk naby waar jy ons gevang het_ (Leave the girl. Albertina worked at a laboratory near where you captured us)."

" _En (and)?"_ asked the General as he glared down at Pieter, who lay motionless on the floor.

" _Eendag was daar blykbaar n groot ontploffing by die lab en Albertina het bewisteloos geraak_ (one day apparently there was a big explosion at the laboratory and this left Albertina unconcious," said Pieter.

" _Dit is al wat ek weet_ (that is all that I know)."

" _Erasmus, jy is een taai donner_ (Erasmus, you are one tough bastard)," remarked the General, with a wink to his henchmen, who lifted Pieter up in his chair before throwing him facefirst on the table.

" _Na die ontploffing, het Albertina het vir n heel paar dae verdwyn en jy gaan vir ons vertel waarheen sy was end wat sy gesien het_ (after the explosion, Albertina disappeared for quite a few days, and you are going to tell us where she went and what she saw)," ordered the General.

Pieter remained silent so the General whispered some orders to one of the henchmen who left the room. He returned five minute later with three other military men, who carried in a large plastic bath filled with water.

" _Is jy dors_ (are you thirsty)?" asked the General, and in a flash two of the sidekicks grabbed Pieter and dunked his head into the water, holding his face under for a good thirty seconds.

Pieter was hauled to the surface and began to cough the water out of his lungs.

"Ons kan dit die hele dag doen as jy wil (we can do this the whole day if you like)," grinned the General.

The treatment handed out to Pieter was mild compared to the way traitors are tortured in Zimbabwe. It is noted that at the Chikurubi prison outside of Harare, those who opposed the now late President Robert Mugabe, went through much pain.

A doctor was always on standby with some dirty rags. The so-called traitor's pants and underwear would be removed and a security official would hammer a rusty nail into the foreskin of the man's private parts. Needless to say, this brought with it excruciating pain for the prisoner.

Pieter shook his head and the water dropped from his hair on to the cement floor.

" _Manne, kom ons gaan weer_ (men, let's go again)," said the General to the sidekicks.

Pieter put up as much of a fight as he could, but the two Afrikaners that were holding his head in the water were simply too powerful.

This time, the men held Pieter's head underwater for forty five seconds.

Pieter was eventually brought to the surface. He face seemed blue through the shortage of oxygen to his body. What Pieter did not know, was that the General was under orders from the government to get as much information out of the Lieutenant without killing him.

There was no way that the oppressor could get information out of a dead man.

" _Kry die straatmate, kom ons sien of sy kan swem_ (fetch the streetgirl, let's see if she can swim)," said the General to one of his henchmen.

" _Wat wil julle weet_ (what do you want to know)?" asked Pieter, in between coughing water out of his lungs.

" _Wat het Albertina Buthelezi gesien wat vir haar n pae dag laat wegbly het_ (what did Albertina Buthlezi see that kept her away for a few days)?" barked the General.

" _Ek het vir jou vertel dat sy bewusteloos na die ontploffing was_ (I told you that she was unconscious after the explosion),"answered Pieter.

" _Ja, maar seker nie vir sewe dae nie_ (yes, but probably not for seven days)?" snapped back the General.

" _Sy het vir jou iets vertel dat jy besluit het om Natal toe te ry om verder uitvind. What het sy vir jou vertel?_ (She told you something that made you drive to Natal. What did she tell you)?"

Pieter shook his head with water still falling from his hair.

" _Ons het nie geweet waarvoor ons soek nie, ons wou net die plek sien waar Albertina gewerk het_ (we didn't know what we were looking for, we just wanted to see the place where Albertina used to work)," said the Lieutenant.

" _Nie goed genoeg nie, Erasmus_ (not good enough, Erasmus)," said the General, before nodding to one of his colleagues.

" _Bring die meisie_ (bring the girl)."

Of course, the General had no real plan to dunk Lindiwe headfirst into the water in the plastic bath. He just wanted to scare her enough that she would speak out to save the neck of her boyfriend.

" _Generaal, een van die dae gaan die wit man terugstaan en Nelson Mandela gaan die eerste swart President van Suid-Afrika wees_ (General, one of these days the white man will stand back and Nelson Mandela will be the first black President of South Africa)," said Pieter.

The General laughed sarcastically.

"Oor my dooie liggaam (over my dead body)," he said.

Pieter shrugged his shoulders.

" _As jy dit so wil he_ (if that is the way that you want it)," he quipped.

" _Die swartes sal nie en kan nie ooit beheer oor Suid-Afrika oorneem nie_ (the blacks can't and won't ever rule in South Africa)," said the General with confidence.

Pieter could hardly blame the General for thinking that way as most white South Africans felt that if the blacks were to take over South Africa, they could well have tried to do so some time ago.

The Lieutenant only had one thing on his mind. He needed to protect Lindiwe Buthelezi at all cost. It was something that the old South Africa mindset would never understand, but then again, they didn't need too.

Pieter kept listening for more footsteps coming down the passage. How he hoped that he would not hear the henchmen marching Lindiwe to the room where he was!

### Chapter 26 - Lockdown

A huge Afrikaner hand pushed Pieter back to a seated position on his chair. The Lieutenant tried to shake water from his eyes but still the darkness of the room made everything around him hazy.

One of the henchmen untied Pieter's legs from their chair.

" _Staan op_ (stand up)!" ordered the other sidekick.

" _Waar vat julle vir my_ (where are you taking me)?" asked Pieter.

Neither of the uniformed men in the room answered him.

He was pushed forward and match out into the corridor.

Erasmus, is this how it is going to end?

His police colleagues had told him of stories of how opponents to the government had disappeared off the face of the earth or had been killed, but with cover-ups ensuring that nobody knew who the murderer in the name of apartheid was.

Pieter knew that very few white people were killed by the apartheid forces.

In fact Doctor Neil Aggett, who worked in black hospitals in Umtata, Tembisa and Durban, and who was detained by the police along with his partner, Doctor Elizabeth Floyd, became the 51st person to die in police detention, in 1982. The 28-year-old doctor was the first white person to die in detention in South Africa since 1963.

The apartheid Police testified that Aggett had committed suicide in his prison cell at John Vorster Square in Pretoria. However, future Presidential Director-General, Reverend Frank Chikane, later revealed how he had seen Aggett been dragged to his cell after several beatings by the cops.

Aggett was a common enemy of the police in the 1970s and early 1980s, having been involved in the Transvaal Food and Canning Workers' Union, and the black rights-focused Transvaal Solidarity Committee.

Fourteen hours before his death, Aggett wrote an affadivit that he was blindfolded and subjected to assault and electric shocks.

In 1997, the New South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Committee found nobody in the police guilty of the death of Aggett. However, further court proceedings would see the case reopened in 2020.

Was Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus about to become the next Doctor Neil Aggett?

The continent marched a good one hundred metres and then turned left down a corridor. Eventually, he was ushered into another interrogation room. His eyes immediately caught sight of a hammer on a table in the corner of the room. Surely he was not going to go through the Zimbabwe style of torture of having a nail hammered through his penis?

It was as if General Jan du Toit was able to read Pieter's mind.

" _Moenie worry nie_ , sit (don't worry, sit)," said the General, who seemed to be in a much calmer mood than he was when he had instructed his hoods to dunk Pieter's head into the water. Perhaps it was because some of the General's superiors were in the room.

Pieter sat down on a chair at a long table.

Another man in a security uniform began to speak.

"Erasmus, all we want to know is what where Albertina Buthelezi went too and what she saw while she was away from the laboratory after the explosion," said the security man, with the name 'de Villiers' on his shirt.

"Tell what Albertina Buthelezi told you and then you and the girl can walk away free."

Yeah right, Erasmus. If you believe that you then you will believe anything. Nobody, but nobody, irrespective of race or creed, would walk away from this situation alive.

"So what is your plan here, do you want to turn me into the next Neil Aggett or Steve Biko?" said Pieter.

The point did not seem to go down that well with his 'oppressors'.

From that moment onwards, de Villiers spoke in a much more aggressive tone and refused to look the Lieutenant in the eye.

"Erasmus, you know as well as we do, that Aggett and Biko committed suicide," said de Villiers.

"They just could not live with the comic sketch that they preached that all South Africans are born equal and should be treated as such."

De Villiers shot a glance to General du Toit and then continued.

"Now I hear that you are in on the act too," he said.

Pieter shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I heard that you told General du Toit that Nelson Mandela will one day become the first black President of South Africa," explained de Villiers.

Pieter nodded.

"That ' one day' is a day that will happen sooner than you think," replied the Lieutenant.

The security men in the back of the room laughed and de Villiers shot a side glance at them as if to tell them to quieten down.

"Yes, Erasmus, I can see that you are a man who believes in fairy tales," uttered de Villiers.

The room in which Erasmus was now being held, was a bit brighter than the first room. He could see the greying hair of de Villiers. He noted the difference in attitude between General du Toit and de Villiers. The General was a coward-like bully. He played a good game when his sidekicks with guns were present.

De Villiers was more the psychologist type. He looked harmless. He even sounded harmless when he raised his voice. His job was simply to play a game of Chess with the 'çaptive' and get as much information out of the person as possible.

"So, Erasmus, Albertina Buthelezi worked as a cleaner at the laboratory on the Natal border," said de Villiers.

"She spent most of her shifts cleaning in the accommodation section of the building, but now and then she cleaned at the laboratory area as well. One day while cleaning at the laboratory area, she heard a loud explosion and was blinded by a bright light. The explosion forced her from her feet and she fell to the ground in an unconscious state."

Pieter gulped. It was almost as if the security detectives had spoken to Albertina Buthelezi just like Lindiwe and he did.

"Then, according to your version, Albertina Buthelezi cannot remember anything further," went on de Villiers.

Pieter nodded.

"Now, Erasmus, you and I have a lot in common," said de Villiers.

"We both work for the government, we both know how to interrogate captives, and we both know that you are not telling the truth."

Pieter stared at de Villiers. He knew better than to look away or stare at the ground as that would confirm to de Villiers that the previous statement was correct.

"I am not sure why you are withholding information from us," remarked de Villiers.

Pieter returned his glance to the security man in front of him.

"I have told you all that I know," he replied.

"Erasmus, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It is up to you. Oh, I get it, you are worried that we will hurt your black girlfriend. I give you my word that she will be untouched. Just tell me where Albertina Buthelezi went after the explosion, and what she saw."

Pieter wanted to giggle.

Erasmus, did you hear write? Did de Villiers say 'I give you my word'?

Had de Villiers forgotten the golden rule? Never bullshit a bullshitter!

Both South African cops and security force men were trained to get as much information out of the captive before sending the person off to their final resting place.

"What is wrong, are you feeling uncomfortable about doing to a white Lieutenant what you would do to a black protestor?" asked Pieter.

That remark seemed to hit the bullseye as far as de Villiers was concerned.

"Erasmus, I have tried to be diplomatic, in fact much more than I am supposed to be, but now you are getting personal," said the security man.

"You can walk out of here a free man in the next thirty minutes if you will just tell me what I want to know."

"I don't know any more than I have told you," said the Lieutenant.

De Villiers signalled to two of his henchmen to take Pieter from the room.

" _Vat hom sel toe_ (take him to the cell)," ordered the security man.

Once out of the room, de Villiers turned to General du Toit.

" _Jy is reg, hy is a taai donner_ (you are right, he is a tough bastard)," said de Villiers.

" _Janee, op n manier is hy nogsteeds een van ons_ (yes, in a way, he is still one of us)," replied the General.

Pieter was marched to a cell and shoved inside it. He could hear the familiar sound of the doorlock clicking behind him. He had turned the key many times when locking blacks inside cell, but this was all new to him.

It would be another five hours before any sign or sound of life would be seen or heard. The old Pieter began to come back to the fore. He had reached a crossroads in life and the question was should he live his life according to the way his parents wnated him too, or should he go the New South Africa route?

The answer was a simple one but after the morning's interrogation, he began to wonder if he had made the right call.

His mind was playing games with him. He was locked away by his own people. The people that paid his salary were now basically accusing him of treason. Trust was out the window.

The Lieutenant began to slam his fists against the cell wall and yelled out in frustration. If this was the way forward to a new life in a New South Africa then why was everything being so difficult?

Soon, footsteps were heard. _"Wat is die probleem, Erasmus_ (what is the problem, Erasmus)?" said an on-duty security guard, armed with a rifle.

" _Jy gaan die dag spyt wees dat jy by hulle aangesluit het_ (you will be sorry that you joined them)."

The 'them' that the guard referred to was of course the blacks, or more specifically, the liberation struggle.

" _Waar is jou Mandela wat vir jou sal kom red_ (where is your Mandela who is to come and save you)?" teased the guard.

If Pieter had been able to exit his cell, he would have torn the guard's head from his shoulders. The Lieutenant did not enjoy being teased or being belittled by anyone.

" _Jou dag sal nog kom_ (your day will still come)?" replied Pieter in a frustrated tone.

The guard snapped back.

" _So jy will seker maak dat jour suster en dogters verkrag gaan wees as die swartes ooit in beheer van die land is want dit is wat gaan gebeur_ (so you want your sisters and daughters to be raped because that is what will happen if the blacks ever govern this country)?" said the guard.

Pieter punched the cell door.

" _Dit sal nie so gebeur nie_ (it won't happen like that)!" yelled the Lieutenant.

" _Nee, wel ek is seker een van die swartes het klaar n betaalmiddel on die kruise te maak sodat hulle elke witte kan vaspen en vermoer_ (No, I am sure one of the blacks already has a tender to make the crosses so that every white can be pinned and murdered)," remarked the guard.

" _Dis hoekom dit belangrik is om mense soos hulle en jy agter trallies to hou_ (that is why it is important to keep people like them and you behind bars)."

" _Jou gat, man, kan jy nie sien dat die wereld dink dat Apartheid verkeerd is nie_ (your arse, man, can't you see that the world thinks that apartheid is wrong)?" fumed Pieter.

" _Ja, maar die wereld hoef nie hier saam met hulle te woon nie_ (yes, but the world doesn't have to live here with them)," retorted the conservative-minded guard.

" _As hulle vir jou vertel dat hulle skiet jou vir eete, hulle bedoel letterlik dat hulle skiet jou vir eete_ (if they say that they having you for supper, they literally mean that they having you for supper)."

" _Waar is jy vyf jaar van nou af_ (where are you five years from now)?" asked Pieter.

" _Hooplik, staan ek by jou graf_ (hopefully I am standing by your grave)," snapped the guard.

Pieter screamed.

" _Dit is nie die swartes wat die probleem is nie, dis ons mense wat nie verby hulle neuse kan sien nie_ (it is not the blacks who are the problem, is is our own people who can't see beyond their own noses)," said the Lieutenant.

Pieter bashed both of his hands against the cell door until his knuckles turned white from the aggressive onslaught.

" _Min dae_ (few days)!"screamed Pieter.

' _Min dae'_ was a popular Afrikaans expression used by military men doing conscription national service, forced on all white South African males. Following the completion of schooling or unversity studies, all white males in the country received a letter assigning them for national service in either the army, navy, airforce or medics. _'Min dae'_ was expressed when their one or two years of national service was almost complete.

" _Wat bedoel jy_ (what do you mean)?" asked the guard.

" _Die wit man se tyd in beheer van Suid-Afrika is amper verby_ (the white man's time in charge of South Africa is nearly over)," explained an exhausted Pieter.

" _Jy is seker op drugs_ (you are on drugs)," teased the guard.

" _Shame, ek voel jammer vir jou, Erasmus. Roep as jy van werlikheid wil gesels._ (shame, I feel sorry for you, Erasmus. Call me if you want to talk about reality)."

The guard headed off and Pieter was left to ponder over his next move.

In an office down the passage from the prison cells, General du Toit and de Villiers were both beaming as the former held the telephone receiver and updated his principals in Pretoria.

" _Ons het ons man, alles is onder beheer_ (we have got our man, all is under control)," smiled de Villiers.

If only they knew what was to come!

### Chapter 27 - Dead or Alive

On Robben Island, panic was setting in. Island prison head Vorster sat in his office, deep in thought about what his superiors had ordered him to do the night before.

A man whose looks reassembled Nelson Mandela, and who was of similar height and build, had been placed in Mandela's old prison cell.

The apartheid leaders thought that they were cleverer than anyone else on the planet. Soon they would learn, who would be fooled and who would be the fools.

Vorster was still none the wiser as to where the real Nelson Mandela was. Some believed that the ANC icon had died from injuries sustained on the island, but nobody in Vorster's circle had seen the body. Mandela was in his cell when Vorster went off duty one night, and gone the next morning. If anyone on Vorster's team knew the truth, they were too scared to speak about it as they could quite possibly also disappear off the face of the earth just like Mandela did.

Vorster knew the drill. He was paid to do his job and not to ask questions.

One of the Correctional Services uniformed men by the name of Gert van Schalkwyk entered Vorster's office.

" _Nog tien oorsee media mense wat vir Mandela wil sien_ (another ten overseas media people who want to see Mandela)," said van Schalkwyk, tall and in his late twenties.

" _Hulle glo dat Mandela miskien dood is en will hom self sien_ (they believe that Mandela may be dead and want to see him for themselves)."

That was bad news for Vorster. How on earth did the foreign media get to think that Mandela was possibly dead? The ANC man was never allowed to see or speak to the press yet somehow word must have got out that he could well have left this earth.

Of course, if the media were allowed to speak to the so-called Mandela who was in the cell, they would possibly not know the difference as they had never seen the real Mandela. However, Vorster could well be without a job if he let the media speak to the man in the cell. He dared not to phone Pretoria and ask for authorisation on the matter.

Vorster need to stall the media. He needed some time to think of a plan.

He looked at the calendar on his desk with today being Monday.

" _Vertel vir die media dat hulle kan Woensdag n foto van Mandela neem maar niemand kan met hom gesels nie_ (tell the media that they can take a photo of Mandela on Wednesday but nobody can talk to him)," said Vorster, as he lit up a cigarette.

Vorster watched as van Schalkwyk left his office and then he picked up a set of keys and headed for the prison cells.

He knew all too well that Mandela was prisoner number 466/64, meaning the 466th prisoner in the year 1964.

Vorster arrived at the prison cell which had been the island home to the ANC man. He stared at the man in the cell.

No, man, Vorster, this was not the Mandela that you had seen a few weeks back, that is for sure or had too many glasses of brandy and Coke now impacted on my judgement?

Then Vorster had another thought. What if this was a mirror image of reality? What if the previous person that had been in the cell had not been the real Mandela, and this individual in front of him was the ANC leader?

Confusion reigned in the mind of the prison official.

Vorster squinted his eyes, with the wrinkles making his weathered face look a good ten or more years older than what he actually was.

Vorster, if this was the real Mandela, then why did the government bring him to Robben Island at such a crucial stage of South African history, and who was the guy who had been in the prison cell before him?

Clearly, there were now more questions than answers in the mind of the island's prison boss.

" _Jy daar_ (you there)!" shouted Vorster at the prisoner, but the man in the cell kept staring at the floor, as he refused to give the oppressor the satisfaction of being acknowledged.

"Mandela!" screamed the prison chief at the man in the cell.

Still there was no movement from the prisoner.

" _Kyk vir my, jou dom donner_ (look at me, you dumb arsehole)!" yelled the prison boss. One of the prison guards standing close by could not help but to giggle.

Still the man in the cell kept staring at the floor.

" _Kan jy nie Afrikaans verstaan nie_ (can't you understand Afrikaans)?" asked Vorster in rhetorical fashion.

The man in the cell remained motionless.

" _Jy is nie Mandela nie_ , is jy (you are not Mandela, are you)?" questioned Vorster.

The amount of media interest in Mandela did not even allow Vorster to work out that a changing of the political guard was imminent. Like most government officials, the belief was that apartheid was here to stay for atleast another ten to twenty years. By that time, many like Vorster, would be retired and sitting at home looking after their grandchildren. Quite simply, they didn't care much about Mandela or the ANC. Life was fine without them.

Vorster looked at the guard standing behind him and shook his head.

" _Robbeneilaand doen dit aan n man_ (Robben Island does this to a man)," said the guard.

" _Hierdie plek is woes_ (this place is rough)."

Vorster turned his attention back to the man in the cell.

" _So, jy is bereid om jou hele lewe hier uitteleef terwyl die ander swartes daar buite vryheid het_ (so you are prepared to live your whole life here while the other black out there have freedom)?" asked Vorster.

The man in the cell did not entertain the question. What did the white South African man, a government worker, know about blacks and freedom? Many white South Africans considered blacks to be one step lower than a human being.

Very few whites understood what the real liberation struggle was about.

In 1994, when Mandela did eventually become President of South Africa, the armed struggle was a thing of the past, but the new government found itself facing a whole host of new challenges from crime, to corruption, land issues and many more.

How was Vorster to know that he was speaking to and belittling the real Nelson Mandela? Mandela was not responding simply because he would only speak to a person when mutual respect was in place. He had the answers to all of Vorster's questions, but it was difficult to change the mindset of someone who didn't want to hear the truth.

What Mandela did know was that his future Parliamentary Cabinet and respective government departments would be representative of all the demographics that make up South Africa. He had no intention of side-lining the whites or other minority groups once he was in a position of power. He wanted to take South Africa forward, not sideways.

His colleagues knew of his plans, but this was one of the reasons why many in the ANC and it's facilitates saw Mandela as too compromising with the whites.

Why can't we just go with the _'kill the boer, kill the farmer'_ approach, asked many. It would be inevitable that someone, like Pieter Erasmus, would eventually try and eliminate Mandela on Robben Island or elsewhere.

As history shows, this nearly happened, with only a last minute change, seeing the militant Chris Hani becoming the target instead of Mandela in April 1993. Members of the right wing Conservative Party felt that Hani was too much of a threat to the whites and took care of him, while Mandela lived to tell the story.

Vorster looked at the guard.

" _Eendag wanneer ek afgtree is, gaan jy hier staan en probeer gesels met die spul_ (one day after I have retired, you will be standing here trying to talk to this lot)," said a frustrated Vorster.

The guard grinned.

" _Ek het nie die geduld wat jy het nie_ (I don't have the patience that you have)," said the guard to his superior.

" _Ek sal vir hulle kalksteengroef toe vat en n les leer_ (I would take them to the lime quarry to be taught a lesson)."

The lime quarry was where Mandela and his fellow prisoners worked daily hammering away on the rocks. The lime dust played a major role in getting into the eyes of the prisoners causing ANC prisoner stalwarts like Steve Tshwete, Water Sisulu and Mandela himself to wear thick glasses in the latter stages of their lives.

As Vorster began to walk away from the cell area, the prisoner spoke.

"Mr Vorster, do you believe in human rights?"

Vorster turned around and looked stunned.

"I believe in human whites not human rights, because your people don't act in a civilised money, hence it will not be possible for them to run a country," replied Vorster.

The prisoner did not look taken aback by the response. It was the sort of reply that Afrikaner government officials lived by from generation to generation.

"I thank you, Mr Vorster, there is no reason for us to discuss any further," said the prisoner.

Vorster tried to continue the chat.

"Are you really Mandela?" asked the island prison boss.

There was no response forthcoming as the prisoner had gone back into silent mode.

" _Mandela, is dit jou werklike naam_ (Mandela, is that your real name)?" demanded Vorster.

Again the question was met with silence from the man in the cell.

The prisoner was fully away that one can only transform the mind of someone who wanted to have their mind transformed. The old philosophy applied - you can take the donkey to the water, but you can't make the donkey drink.

" _Mandela, wanneer gaan jou ANC besef dat hull kan nie vir die Suid-Afrikaanse weermag uitwis nie_ (Mandela, when will your ANC realise that they can't wipe out the South African army)?" asked Vorster.

The prisoner remained silent, as he stared at the floor.

" _Ek voel eintlik jammer vir julle, dat julle nie kan sien dat die wittes vir ewig hierdie land sal beheer_ (I actually feel sorry for you that you can't see that the whites will rule this country forever)," remarked Vorster.

The prisoner mumbled something, but Vorster could not make out what he said.

" _Praat harder_ (talk louder)," said the island prison boss, as he held his right hand to his right ear.

Vorster was about to turn away and then he had another idea.

" _Mandela, weet jy hoeveel mense vir jou will doodmaak_ (Mandela, do you know how many people want to kill you)?" he asked.

" _En moenie n fout maak en dink dat al die mense wit is._ Baie van jou uie velkleur will ook vir jou uit die pad he)."

The prisoner listened but did not respond.

" _Jy is n held met die media, maar dit is nie die media wat vir jou vryheid gaan gee nie_ (you are a hero with the media, but it is not the media that will give you freedom)," said Vorster.

" _Jy het die wit man nodig. Maak nie saak wat die swart man doen, nie, hierdie land gaan nerens sonder die wit man wat alles gebou het_ (You need the white man. It doesn't matter what the black man does, this country is going nowhere without the white man who built it)."

Despite Vorster's arrogance, the prisoner actually felt that there was some merit in his views. When the ANC got to power, the plan was not to wipe out all white South Africans. All citizens of the country were needed and would have to play key roles in taking South Africa forward.

While Vorster certainly did not believe that both black and white could live peacefully next door to each other in a New South Africa, he had the intellect to realise that the new dawn would force the country to have an 'all hands on deck' approach.

" _Gaan jy nie vir jou mense verdeedig nie_ (are you not going to defend your people)?" asked Vorster to the prisoner.

" _Gaan jy net daar sit en stil bly_ (are you just going to sit there quitely)?"

The prisoner cleared his throat.

"Mr Vorster," he began, in his deep, husky voice.

"My dream is to make South Africa into a peaceful land for all to live in, regardless of race or creed. One life lost is one too many."

" _Dan vertel jou manne om optehou met die oorlog teen die regering_ (then tell your men to stop with the war against the government)!" demanded Vorster.

"I can only do that if the government promise to abandon all racial policies and to treat all people equally," remarked the prisoner.

Vorster stared at the prisoner. He knew his bosses too well. They were not the sort to compromise too easily.

" _Ek dink dat jou droom is net dit, n droom_ (I think that your dream is just that, a dream)," said Vorster.

"Mr Vorster, things will change in this country at a quicker rate than you think they will," said the man in the cell.

Vorster shook his head and walked away.

The prison chief looked back.

" _Mandela, hel sal ys word voordat n swart regering in plek is in Suid-Afrika_ (Mandela, hell will turn to ice before a black government is in place in South Africa)," said Vorster.

"Droom verder (carry on dreaming)."

The prisoner shook his head. He was not a prophet but he knew what the future held.

### Chapter 28 - Learning New Things

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus was battling to breathe while being held captive in his cell. It was as if there was a shortage of oxygen. Either that or he was close to a nervous breakdown. His biggest concern was not about securing his freedom, but that he had not seen Lindiwe Buthelezi for quite some time.

He knew that black lives did not mean too much to the apartheid government. However, in this instance, there seemed to be an underlying objective as to why the security service men wanted information on Albertina Buthelezi's whereabouts during her disappearance in Natal all those years ago. If the security men wanted him dead, they could have drowned him early in the plastic bath tub earlier in the day, or for that matter, shot both Lindiwe and him when they were captured near the 'Looking Glass' area.

General Jan du Toit made his way to the prison cell door, which had Pieter held captive on the other side of it.

" _Erasmus, jou tyd is min, ons geduld raak op_ (Erasmus, your time is short, our patience is running thing)!" yelled du Toit, in his usual bully-like voice.

" _As jy nie vir ons gaan vertel wat jy weet van Albertina Buthelezi af nie, dan sit daar vir ewigheid, maar ons het nog n vraag vir jou_ (if you don't want to tell us what you know about Albertina Buthelezi, then sit there for eternity, but we have another question for you," went on the General.

Pieter listened carefully. From his earlier interactions with the General, he had learnt much. Du Toit had a habit of presuming what Pieter knew. So when speaking, the General gave away many new pieces of information to Pieter, in expecting the Lieutenant's reply.

" _Waar is Lindiwe_ (where is Lindiwe)?" asked Pieter.

The General laughed sarcastically.

" _Moenie worry nie, sy is ok_ (don't worry, she is ok)," replied du Toit.

" _So, is jy reg vir ons volgended vraag_ (So, are you ready for our next question)?"

Pieter remained silent. What could the security service men possibly want to know from him, besides the Albertina Buthelezi saga?

" _Jy stel baie belang in hierdie Mandela ou, hoekom_ (you have shown a lot of interest in this Mandela guy, why?" asked the General.

Pieter counted the question with ease.

" _Ek het vir jou vertel dat Mandela die volgende President van Suid-Afrika gaan wees, wanneer die regering en die ANC saam sit om n oplossing vir ons land te vind_ (I told you that Mandela will be the next President of South Africa, after the government and the ANC have sat to find a solution for our country)."

Du Toit scratched his head.

" _Erasmus, ek weet nie of jy van jou kop af is of is jy net plein stupid_ (Erasmus, I don't know if you are mad or just plain stupid)," replied the General.

" _Waar kry jy hierdie gedagtes dat die swartes eendag ons land gaan regeer_ (where do you get the idea from that one day the blacks will govern this country)?"

From the inside of the cell, Pieter replied: "Dink wat jy wil, Generaal, maar daai tyd kom gouer as wat jy dink (think what you want, General, but that time is coming quicker than what you think)."

" _Kom ons stel die vraag so, hoekom was jy heelpad Kaap toe en dan Robbeneiland toe_ (let's put the question like this, why did you go all the way to the Cape and then to Robben Island)?"

Pieter remained silent.

" _Het jy gedink jy gaan toegelaat word om vir Mandela te ontmoet_ (did you think that you would be allowed to meet Mandela)?"

" _Of, Erasmus, was jy vanplan om almal n guns te doen en vir Mandela to vermoor, maar die vraag is dan wie het vir jou gestuur en hoekom_ (or, Erasmus, was your plan to do us all a favour and to murder Mandela, but then who sent you and why)?" questioned the General.

Pieter kept his lips tightly shut to make sure that he did not say the wrong thing. Of course, when he was just a normal conservative-minded cop, he thought much the way du Toit did. The Lieutenant had only been converted after all the interacting with Lindiwe.

He could hardly tell the General that his prime objective in visiting Robben Island was to execute Mandela in the hope that the evil act would allow the blacks to realise that taking on the whites was a bad move.

" _Jy is skielik stil, Erasmus, het ek miskien te veel van die waarheid gepraat_ (you are suddenly very quiet, Erasmus, did I perhaps speak too much of the truth)?" asked the General.

Pieter was deep in thought. He was running his mind along the road that he had travelled. He had memory flashbacks to his boss and mentor, Jaap Cornelius, who had given him the gun and cleared his way to Robben Island, in order to eliminate Mandela.

Then he began to think about his trips into the townships and of course, his meetings with Lindwe Buthelezi and Albertina Buthelezi. Unlike his parents, he had come to realise that blacks were civilised human beings. They were not the monsters that many white South Africans made them out to be.

Few white South Africans would understand this as they never interacted with blacks for two reasons. Firstly, the government said that they shouldn't, and secondly because they did not want too. Thirty years later there would still be white people who did not understand that there were houses in the townships. To many whites, the word 'township' meant 'shack'.

" _So, jy wil die res van jou lewe in die sel bly_ (so, you want to live the rest of your life in this cell)?" asked du Toit rhetorically.

" _Ek het nie n probleem daarmee nie. Hierdie plek is so weggesteek, niemand sal jou vind vir jarre nie_ (I don't have a problem with that. This place is so well hidden, nobody will find you for years to come)."

Pieter gripped the bars on the small window of the cell door. The iron bars were solid and almost impossible to break without a grinding tool. He watched as his knuckles turned white from the tight grip that he had on the bars.

"Besef jy nie dat Suid-Afrika kan nie vir ewig so voortgaan nie, die wereld is teen ons (don't you realise that South Africa cannot go on like this forever, the world is against us)," explained Pieter.

" _Fok die wereld_ (fuck the world)," responded du Toit.

" _Al wat hulle doen is inmeng en mooilikheid maak. So lank P.W. Botha in beheer is, sal alles ok wees_ (all they do is get involved and cause trouble. As long as P.W. Botha is in charge, everything will be ok)."

The tragedy was that this was exactly what PW Botha probably also thought. Insiders in Parliament said that President just could not visualise a black man being the No 1 in South Africa.

" _Ons sal sien hoe dinge uitwerk, maar vier miljoen wittes kan nie vir ewig vir viertig miljoen swartes regeer nie_ (we will see what happens, but four million whites cannot rule over forty million blacks forever)," responded Pieter.

Du Toit snapped back agressively.

" _Dit is ons land, nie hulle land nie. Hulle is besoekers hier_ (this is our land not their land, they are visitors here)."

This white mindset would return many years later when the political parties in Parliament would be involved in a hot debate over land distribution without compensation. It basically came down to the view of the firebrand left wing parties, that while blacks had now had the right to vote, political freedom meant nothing without land and a slice of the white-run economy. The blacks believed that they were the first to be on the land, long before the whites, so had a right to it at no cost.

Minority groups like the coloured community, would see things differently as they believed that they were on the land even before the blacks and whites arrived. This shout-out was always muffled by the political parties who represented the big-time role players (the blacks and whites).

Du Toit sniggered.

" _Elke van die swartes op Robbeneiland wil net briewe stuur sodat hulle by familie begrafnisse of troue kan kuier_ (all the blacks on Robben Island do is send letters asking for permission to attend family funerals or weddings)," said the General.

" _Las week, een het toestemming gevra om by sy seun se begrafnis to wees_. _Kan jy dit glo_ (last week one of them asked permission to be at his son's funeral. Can you believe it)?"

Pieter stared at the General through the small iron-barred window.

" _Het jy kinders, Generaal_ (have you got children, General)?" asked the Lieutenant.

Du Toit did not acknowledge his lack of emotion but instead further entrenched his bad decision.

" _Hierdie is misdaadigers, hulle kan nie in die oopenbaar vrygelaat word nie_ (these are criminals, they can't be let loose in the open)," snapped the General.

Pieter shook his head. Clearly many of the security service people were so brainwashed that they could, like their boss P.W. Botha, not envisage the inevitable.

" _So, jy wil nie gesels oor Albertina Buthelezi of Mandela nie_ (so you don't want to speak about Albertina Buthelezi or Mandela)?" asked the General.

Pieter shook his head.

" _Ek het vir jou alles vertel_ (I have told you everything)," he answered.

The general tapped on the prison cell door with the butt of his pistol.

" _Ek dink nie so nie. Smaak my jy will nie vertel vir wie jy werk nie. Hoe het jy op Robbeneilaand in die eerste plek beland. Wie het jou toetstemming gegee_ (I dont think so. It seems that you don't want to say who you are working for. How did you end up on Robben Island in the first place. Who gave you permission to access the island)?

Pieter had no intention of selling out his mentor, Colonel Jaap Cornelius. Jaap had been so good to him over the years and had supported his decision to go to the island to eliminate Mandela.

" _Miskien moet ek vir jou vertel die inlugting wat Lindiwe Buthelezi vir ons vertel het_ (maybe I should share with you the information that Lindiwe Buthelezi told us)?" said the General in a stern voice.

Pieter was convinced that the General was bluffing and trying to put him in a corner to speak out.

" _Los vir haar uit_ (leave her alone)," said the Lieutenant.

" _Relax, sy is fine, vir nou, maar sy was opgewonde oor julle toer na Swaziland toe_ (relax, she is fine for now, but she was quite excited about what happened during your trip to Swaziland though)."

Pieter threw his body against the prison door. If he could have broken down the door, then he would have, but the solid iron piece refused to budge.

General du Toit laughed on the other side.

" _Ja nee, Erasmus, lyk my jy is verlief op die straatmate_ (yes, Erasmus, it looks like you are in love with the streetgirl)," taunted the General.

" _Jy het nog n uur, en dan is dit weer swem tyd_ (you have another hour and then it is swim time again)."

The General was referring to the dunking of Pieter's head into a plastic tub filled with water, as what happened earlier. Usually this made a prisoner give in and reveal information. However, Pieter Erasmus was not your average prisoner. He was as tough as one could get and his bosses - the apartheid system - were battling to break him down.

The General headed off down the passage in deep conversation with one of the prison guards. Pieter heard the guard remark on how tough it was to force the Lieutenant to give in. He also heard du Toit remark that it would only be a matter of time before Pieter's resistance crumbled.

He also made out General du Toit's comment that Mandela would never be released and the only way that the ANC man would make it out of Robben Island was by escaping.

This brought about a grin to Pieter's face. He seemed to learn something new everytime the General opened his mouth. He was convinced that du Toit was having him on about Lindiwe revealing any details on the trip to Swaziland.

If du Toit had known of any intimate details, he would have teased Pieter about the matter. Du Toit was fishing and Pieter was refusing to take the bait. Many others would have given in by now, but Pieter was not like all the others. It was like the Lieutenant's eyes had been opened before the rest and he could see things about the future of South Africa that the others could not.

Pieter began to think about du Toit's comment that Mandela's only way of getting off Robben Island was by escaping.

If so, how would this happen. Swimming from the island to the mainland was out of the question. He wasn't sure if Mandela could swim, but even if he could, the water was simply too cold and of course he would need to dodge snipers' bullets too.

The only way that Pieter could see the escape plan working was for a helicopter to land on the island and to airlift Mandela to the mainland and then into exile with the ANC headquarters in Zambia being the likely final destination. Of course, this was all pie in the sky thinking, as getting Mandela out of the clutches of the apartheid government without any resistance from the Nationalists, was easier said than done.

What Pieter now needed to do was to play General du Toit and his sidekicks at their own game. He needed to throw the hook and get the General to bite and tell him more about the 'Looking Glass' project.

### Chapter 29 - Apartheid Through a Looking Glass

To Pieter Erasmus, the time in the prison cell felt like days, months and years, more than second, minutes and hours.

He had no idea what was going on in the outside world. Mandela could be dead by now for all that he knew. What about Lindiwe? General du Toit had given Pieter his word that she was unscathed, but then again how much was the General's word worth?

It would be another half an hour before Pieter heard footsteps heading in his direction. He assumed that the General was on his way back to see if Pieter had a change of mind in terms of sharing information.

"Hello there, you don't look like a traitor?" said a man of medium height, in his forties, positioned near the barred window of the door.

Pieter's first reaction was that General du Toit was trying a different person in a bid to extract information from him.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Professor J.G. Strijdom," said the man.

Pieter grinned.

"Your English is very good for a man by the name of J.G. Strijdom," quipped the Lieutenant.

The man nodded.

"Well, my Afrikaans is not as good," he replied.

"My father was a hardline Nationalist and my mother was a big fan of the former South African Prime Minister by the same name," said the Professor.

Pieter knew all about Prime Minister Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom from his history classes in his school days. Affectionately known as 'the Lion of the North', Strijdom was Prime Minister of the country from 30 November 1954 to 24 August 1958. His failing health saw him pass away while still in office.

Like most Nationalist leaders, Strijdom believed in white minority rule and was reluctant to change from this route of life.

"I think we need to have a chat," said the Professor.

"I can get you brought to one of the meeting rooms, if you like?"

Pieter didn't fancy any sabotage or being dunked head-first in the plastic bathtub again, so he declined the offer. Professor Strijdom looked like an honest type of man, but the Lieutenant knew better than that. His apartheid bosses did not employ honest men or women.

"Alright then, let's chat right here," said the Professor, who wore a grey suit with matching tie.

"My colleagues told me that you believe that Nelson Mandela will one day be the President of South Africa."

Pieter nodded.

"Did you see that by visiting the future or is it something that Albertina Buthelezi told you?" asked the Professor.

Pieter gulped. There was no doubt that Professor Strijdom was a man of great intelligence, who was light years ahead of General du Toit in terms of brain capacity.

"Look, Lieutenant Erasmus, I know that you have information on the 'Looking Glass' and we need to be open and honest with each other if we are to solve this in-depth dilemma that is facing our country," explained the Professor.

Pieter breathed in deeply.

"How about you telling me more about the 'Looking Glass' and we can go from there?" offered the Lieutenant.

This was not going quite the way that the Professor had expected it too, but he was more open-minded than most of his colleagues, so he agreed to Pieter's proposal.

"Despite what they may have said publicly, the South African government has been concerned about the future of this country," revealed the Professor.

"The onslaught from the liberation movement is a serious one, particularly with the Russians backing them. So, a peaceful solution needs to be found in order to avoid a certain black vs white civil war in our country."

The Professor puffed out his cheeks and then continued.

"The 'Looking Glass' was designed as a last resort to divide people according to body and spirit," went on the Professor.

"The 'Looking Glass', as you know was based at the laboratory on the Natal border. It got pointed at the Union buildings in Pretoria. You know as a cop, that our own bosses cannot always be trusted, never mind the enemy."

Pieter listened with intent.

"During the building of the 'Looking Glass', we learnt that while the glass could be used to keep an eye on opponents, it could also allow people to see the future," explained J.G. Strijdom.

"I need to be upfront and say that very few people in our government knew about the 'Looking Glass' project, and even if they did, they did not know that people could see the future. The problem was that if people viewed the future for too long, their physical bodies would suffer burns."

Pieter began to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in his head.

"So, the explosion in the laboratory was because some people spent too much time looking into the future?" asked Pieter.

The Professor nodded.

"When the spirit returned to the body, things went and people got burnt," said J.G. Strijdom.

"That 'Looking Glass' is not a toy, it is a serious piece of pear-shaped equipment that can play a key role in saving this country or sending it to ultimate destruction. Lieutenant, this is serious, as despite the risks, the longer a person could stay in the future, the more we would know about where this country will be in a few years from now."

On the inside of the prison cell, Pieter ran his hands over his face.

"So the more information that was brought back from the future, the higher the fatality rate," he said.

"Yes, that does sound like our government."

The Professor ignored Pieter's sarcastic remark in case some of the prison guards were listening in.

"So, let me guess, the South African government believe that the laboratory's former maid, Albertina Buthelezi, must have seen much as she only returned to her job seven days after the explosion," presumed Pieter.

"Now the government wants to know what she saw and more importantly, who she saw."

The Professor grinned.

"Now I can see why they say that you are a top cop," said J.G. Strijdom.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Professor, but I do understand why the government are so keen to find out what Albertina Buthelezi knows," said Pieter.

"If President Botha is serious about safeguarding the lives of the white people in the country that he governs, he will understand that white minority rule cannot go on forever, and a peaceful solution with black political parties needs to be found."

Pieter continued.

"My concern is that if the government found out what Albertina Buthelezi saw, would they use the information to work towards finding a peaceful solution between black and white people, or would they up their 'Total Onslaught' efforts against the black liberation movement?"

"Think about it, Professor, forty million black people against four million white people... the odds are not too good and all that the world will do is watch on and seek business deals with the winner."

The Professor scratched his head.

"I agree with you, Lieutenant, but when a political part has been in power for so long and survived so many onslaughts, they kind of think that they are immortal."

Pieter rubbed his hands together out of habit.

"Where is Mandela being held captive?" he asked.

The Professor looked around to make sure that nobody was listening in.

"He is back on Robben Island," said the intellectual.

"He was initially sentenced to death for treason, but the death penalty was converted to life in imprisonment. Many liberal movement people were concerned that prison life would make Mandela soft and he would possibly sell out to the apartheid regime. On the other side, the far right wing saw Mandela as the No 1 target for elimination. Silencing Mandela could well send a message to the liberal movement that taking up arms against the apartheid government was not a good move."

Pieter could understand the second option as killing Mandela had been his exact plan. However, now he knew better and understood that the murder of Mandela could spark an immediate civil war in the country. This is something that the Nationalists thought they could triumph over, but in reality, the numbers showed that it would be a mismatch. If the government thought that they could win because the left wing had a shortage of ammunition and weapons, they had better think again!

"When I visited Robben Island, I heard that Mandela was not being held there anymore?" queried Pieter.

The Professor sighed.

"With threats on Mandela's life from both the left and the right wing movements, the government found it necessary to move the prisoner to a place of safety," said J.G. Strijdom.

"Another reason that they did this was to separate him from his colleagues on the island."

Pieter's eyes flickered with excitement.

"Oh yes, let me guess, this was the government final throw of the dice in a bid to get Mandela to cave in and call off the struggle?"

The Professor grinned.

"You know your bosses to well," he said.

"Lieutenant, as you can imagine, Mandela did not sell out to the government, and so with a political change set to happen rather sooner than later, it was decided to move him back to the island, as things gain momentum. Naturally, the security there is now tighter than ever before. You need to fire a cannon from the mainland to get anywhere near to his prison cell. I am being sarcastic when I say that, but getting to Mandela is close to impossible now."

Now was the time for Pieter to play the interrogator.

"How long do you think it will be before the ANC is sitting at the negotiating table with the Nationalists?" he asked.

The Professor shrugged his shoulders.

"Your guess is as good as mine as our superiors are only quick movers when they want to be, but I would bet on it being another ten years before apartheid falls," said the Professor.

"Professor, we don't have ten years to play with," snapped Pieter.

"The government must either negotiate right now or face the risk of being removed from power by the black masses."

J.G. Strijdom nodded.

"Fair comment, but you know what they say, 'there is none so deaf as those who don't want to hear'," said Pieter.

"Just how many people perished through burns suffered at the laboratory in Natal?" asked Pieter.

"I never saw the figures, but I would guess that at least one hundred or more people would quite simply have disappeared off the face of the earth," answered the Professor.

"I say that since our government would have done a cover-up in order to protect the 'Looking Glass' project. They would hardly tell the families of the deceased that their loved ones burnt to death during a secret experiment, would they?"

Pieter nodded in agreement.

"What has the security service team done with Lindiwe Buthelezi?" asked Pieter.

"Lindiwe is just fine, but she is as stubborn as you are and is also refusing to release any information to the interrogating team here."

Pieter grinned. He had taught Lindiwe well.

"So where to from here?" asked the Lieutenant.

"You need to tell us exactly what Albertina Buthelezi told you that she saw while she was in the future, and please don't beat around the bush, as time is against us all," said the Professor in a stern voice.

"What if I refuse to cooperate?" asked Pieter.

"Then you stay locked up in this prison cell while more people perish."

Pieter looked confused.

"What do you mean 'perish'?" he asked.

"Without concrete information from Lindiwe and you, the 'Looking Glass' project will have to continue, with the high prospect of more lives being lost in the process," commented J.G. Strijdom.

### Chapter 30 - Chaos Reigns

Of course, the apartheid government leaders had more information at their disposal than what they shared with their foot soldiers.

Although they would never admit it, President PW Botha's think-tank were fully aware that a black government would replace the white minority leadership in due course, and this caused much panic to set in. How did they know this? The 'Looking Glass' confirmed it. This was the exact reason why Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus and Lindiwe Buthelezi had to be captured on the Natal border. The government knew that it was only a matter of time before the duo found the 'Looking Glass' there. While the apartheid regime swore blind in top level meetings that the 'Looking Glass' project had been canned years back, the truth was that it still was in working condition playing a major role for them.

Another element which Botha's brigade were covering up, was the death toll courtesy of the 'Looking Glass'. The President's greed for information got the better of him. He simply could not get enough of what the 'Looking Glass' was informing him about the future.

The longer the 'Looking Glass' was in use, the more of the future the apartheid regime could see, and the more people suffered burns and ultimately loss of life.

A government minister was led into the President's office by security personnel.

" _Goeie dag, Meneer President, ons het uitgevind dat Mandela die oorlog gaan tot stilstaan bring op 7 Augustus 1990_ (good day, Mr President, we found out that Mandela will end the armed struggle on 7 August 1990," said the tall minister.

" _Ons het ook uitgevind dat wanneer Mandela President word in 1994, hy gaan vir Thabo Mbeki en FW de Klerk aanstel as sy twee onderpresidente_ (we also found out that when Mandela becomes President in 1994, he will appoint Thabo Mbeki and F.W. de Klerk as his two Vice Presidents)."

Botha's brow tensed and he began pointing his right index finger at the minister as he always did when he was in aggressive mode. The President had never had a close relationship with de Klerk, the Minister of Education. De Klerk had never been a part of the President's inner circle, yet here was his naming popping up as a Vice President in South Africa's first democratically elected government.

" _Waar is ek in 1994_ (where am I in 1994)?" asked Botha to the Minister.

The Minister cleared his throat.

"Ek weet nie, Meneer President, jou naam of gesig was nerens nie (I don't know, Mr President, your name and face was nowhere)," said the Minister cautiously.

Botha licked the right side of his lips as he often did.

Would things have worked out differently for him personally if he had delivered the Rubicon speech in Durban in 1985 which would have allowed the unbanning of the ANC and its affiliates? Probably, not, as that could have put him out of a job much earlier, but he was determined not to let de Klerk be the man to bask in the glory of taking South Africa to a new future. While Mandela would later give Botha the credit for his early talks with the ANC, the President of the apartheid regime could just not see a black man in the No 1 seat in the Union Buildings. Following colonialism, in Botha's mind black rule had led many other African countries to poverty and civil war, and Botha was determined, in the interest of the minority white, that South Africa would not go down the same road.

Botha was a firm believer in _vir volk en vaderland_ (for the people and the land of their ancestors).

" _Daar is slegte nuus_ (ther is some bad bad news)," updated the Minister.

" _Nog drie manne is oorlede. Ons het hulle na die toekoms toe gestuur en hulle het te lank daar gebly. Hulle is veraas._ (Another three men are dead. We sent them to the future but they stayed there too long. They were cremated).

Botha sighed. The military were taking a bit of a battering on the borders against the ANC's onslaught, and now more lives (white lives at that), were being lost in the laboratory.

The President's job was a tough one. Fortunately, some foreign leaders were in his corner. While the Russians supported the ANC's onslaught and even trained their fighters, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher saw the ANC as nothing more than a communist, terrorist operation that was out to reak havoc at any cost. To her, the loss of civilian life was what got up her spine.

Of course, the ANC could not discount the loss of civilian lives in their onslaught against the South African government 'Total Onslaught' campaign. Carrying out violence against white civilian targets, seemed to be the only time the apartheid government took them seriously.

Would this endanger the lives of Mandela and his colleagues serving life sentences on Robben Island? Hardly likely, the apartheid regime leaders may have been racists, but they were not fools. Mandela and company needed to be kept alive at all costs. If they died in prison of natural causes or sickness, then so be it, but they would not be executed, despite having received the death penalty for treason against the state many years earlier.

What Botha could not understand was that a deal-breaker needed to be found. Someone who was humble enough to bring about peace for all South Africans instead of a state of civil war. Someone who would not seek revenge for the way that black people had been treated under apartheid but would rather look forward to building a prosperous, peaceful New South Africa.

If his mind was clear, Botha should have worked out that one of the deal-breakers would be Nelson Mandela. However, he would have battled to get it over his heart that the other kingpin would be his successor, FW de Klerk.

Botha did not trust de Klerk and the Education Minister did not trust Botha. Atleast they had something in common.

Many in the public domain viewed de Klerk as being much more conservative-minded than Botha. Yes, Botha was seen as a big-time democrat compared to some of the leaders who were still making their way down the National Party's corridor.

Botha's biggest concern at the moment was not his country. He was baffled by the fact that his Minister could not tell him where he would fit into the political landscape in 1994. Surely the President would fit in somewhere. How was he to know that 1989 would be the year that he would lose the support of his cabinet and also suffer be slightly handicapped health-wise after suffering a stroke?

" _Niemand weet dat die 'Soek Glas' nog bestaan nie behalwe vir jou top manne, is dit waar_ (nobody knows that the 'Looking Glass' still exists besides your top men, is that true?)" fumed Botha.

" _Ja, Meneer President_ (yes, Mr President)," replied the Minister.

Botha nodded.

" _As hierdie geheim ooit uitkom gaan dit die einde van ons wees_ (if this secret ever comes out it will be the end of us)," snapped the President.

" _How erg gaan dit wees onder n Mandela regering_ (how bad will it be under a Mandela government)?" asked the Minister.

" _Nie in my leeftyd nie_ (not in my lifetime)," replied Botha in a cocky fashion.

" _Maar my grootste probleem is nie Mandela nie. Hy is gemaaklik op Robbeneiland. De Klerk is my probleem soos n slang in die gras_. (My biggest problem isn't Mandela. He is comfortable on Robben Island. De Klerk is my problem, like a snake in the grass)."

" _Jy dink de Klerk sal vir jou uitverkoop en wil die nuwe leier wees_ (you think de Klerk will sell you out and wants to be the new leader)?" asked the Minister.

" _Ek dink nie so nie, ek weet so_ (I don't think so, I know so)," replied Botha.

" _Dink jy dat die tyd reg is om Mandela sy vryheid te gee_ (do you think the time is right to give Mandela his freedom)?" asked the Minister.

Botha stared at the man opposite his desk. His line of questions was sounding too liberal for the liking of the President.

" _Ek het vit Mandela sy vryheid aangebied, as hy bereid is om die oorlog to beeindig en in the Transkei gebied to gaan aftree, maar hy weier_ (I offered Mandela freedom on the basis that he is willing to call off the armed struggle and then he can go and retire peacefully in the Transkei area, but he refused)."

" _So wat nou_ (so what now)?" asked the Minister.

Botha stared at the picture of himself as President, mounted on the wall in the office.

" _Ek sal jou weer vertel, de Klerk is die vyand op die oomblik, nie Mandela nie_ (I will tell you again, de Klerk is the enemy at the moment, not Mandela)," said the President in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

He turned his attention to a thick bunch of printed papers that lay on his desk and read for a good three minutes, before responding to the Minister.

" _Hoeveel mense werk nog by the 'Soek Glas' daar in Natal_ (how many people work at the 'Looking Glass' in Natal)?" asked Botha.

" _So vyftig, maar ons het n paar verloor gisteraand, die wat veras is_ (about fifty, but we lost some last night, those who got cremated)," replied the Minister.

" _En die 'Soek Glas'projek is nie meer op die ou plek nie_ (and the 'Looking Glass' project is not at the old place)?" questioned the President.

The Minister shook his head.

" _Die 'Soek Glas' projek is so vytig kilometer weg van die ou plek, dis hoekom Leitenant Pieter Erasmus dit nie kon vind nie_ (the 'Looking Glass' project is about fifty kilometres south of the old place. That is why Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus could not find it)."

" _Minister, ek het meer inligting nodig_ (Minister, I need more information)," said Botha.

" _Ek wil weet hoe de Klerk in Mandela se regering beland het en wat gebeur met my_ (I need to know how de Klerk ends up in Mandela's government and what happens to me)."

" _Meneer, President, ons kan meer mense na die toekoms toe stuur maar die kanse dat nog dood gaan wees is baie goed_ (Mr President, we can send more people to the future but the chances that they could die are great)," said the Minister.

" _Doen wat jy moet doen maar ek soek inligting spoedig op my lessenaar_ (do what you must do, but I need information on my desk at speed)," ordered the President.

" _Tussentyd, ek gaan weer met Mandela probeer praat_ (in the meantime I will try to speak with Mandela again)."

The Minister left the President's office and Botha went into thought mode.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Mandela and Mandela needed him. However, over his dead body was he going to have de Klerk meddling in on the country's affairs.

Botha pushed a button on his desk telephone.

" _Kry vir Mandela na Victor Verster tronk in the Paarl net vir n dag, ek will daar met hom vergader_ (get Mandela to Victor Verster Prison in Paarl for a day, I want to meet with him)," ordered the country's No 1.

Botha was a shrewd politician second to none. He was a born schemer. He had been Prime Minister of the country from 9 October 1978 until 14 September 1984, until he abolished the post and entrenched himself as State President.

He prided himself as a progressive thinker. It was his Tricameral System that gave the vote to the coloureds and Indians, however the blacks were still out in the cold.

It was during Botha's time that the Ciskei, Bophutatswana and Venda all became homelands with borders between themselves and South Africa, although all depended on Botha's country for economic survival.

To many right wingers, Botha's 'liberal' mindset was just too much. They did not take lightly to his comprises to the blacks and in 1982, Andrie Treunicht led a breakaway movement that resulted in the formation of the Conservative Party.

Botha saw himself as the cleverest of the clever, but de Klerk, the new kid on the block, was busy pushing buttons and pulling levers that Botha did not even know existed.

The President faced political battles every day of his time as Prime Minister and President and was open to confrontation. He had never lost a battle yet and his cabinet were petrified at the thought of what would happen to them if they dared question the No 1.

Botha was ready to take on Mandela, de Klerk and the world. However, he thrived on an information supply which would keep him one step ahead of his opponents. This is why the government needed to know what Albertina Buthelezi saw in the future. Perhaps her version of her trip to the 1990s, would help answer some questions for the President.

For the moment, Pieter Erasmus, Lindiwe Buthelezi and Albertina Buthelezi were not being too cooperative in terms of assisting Botha's government with information.

If they did, they could well lose their worth in terms of life, and there could be no tomorrow for them. They could not be sure that Botha's regime would stick to their plan to keep Mandela alive.

Gone were the days when a man's bond was his word. Right now, if it was not written on paper, then it did not happen. P.W. Botha and Pieter Erasmus has something in common. They trusted nobody, and nobody trusted them.

Botha sat in his office and nodded. His masterstroke had been to hide the 'Looking Glass'. Almost all who had worked on the project had thought that it had been shelved after the explosion in the laboratory all those years ago.

_Ja nee, Botha, n boer maak n plan_ (Yes, Botha, an Afrikaner makes a plan).

### Chapter 31 - Pieter on the Trail

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus needed a way out! He did not have a clue where he was being held captive, but he needed to see with his own eyes, that Lindiwe Buthelezi was safe and sound.

He had much more confidence from his chat with Professor J.G. Strijdom that he did with General du Toit. Regarding the Professor, Pieter would agree with the phrase that Nelson Mandela would one day make famous; "this is a man that you can do business with".

While standing at his cell door with his right fist clamped the small barred window, Pieter began to hear footsteps coming his way.

Was the Professor back to try and have another go at getting information out of him, or was the General and his men going to have another crack at the physical route by dunking his head under water?

Pieter realised that for him to emerge victorious out of this psychological contest, he would need to make the first move. He would need to convince those holding him captive of the important role that Lindiwe played, and how key it was for him to get to Mandela before the wrong people did. The Professor would understand this, but not so much the General, thought Pieter.

Soon a familiar voice was heard at Pieter's prison cell door.

"Lieutenant, look we have to bring this little competition to an end," remarked Professor J.G. Strijdom.

"I am prepared to do this the peaceful way, although, as you probably know, General du Toit might try a different approach."

The mere fact that the Professor referred to the Lieutenant by his rank, created some sort of respect in Pieter's mind. To the General, Pieter was just a traitor and nothing more than a man locked up in a prison cell. To the Professor, Pieter was a person with whom dialogue needed to be entered into.

"Professor, if you decide not to free me, then I understand and I can live with that, but you need to set Lindiwe Buthelezi free, as she is the one who can see the future more clearly," explained Pieter.

Professor J.G. Strijdom thought for a moment.

"You know full well that the security service guys will trail her wherever she goes, if indeed our principals do decide to release her?" said the Professor.

"I am fully aware of that," replied the Lieutenant.

"Professor, if the wrong one gets to Mandela before Lindiwe does, this, this country could plummet into a state of civil war. It could be the end of the road for us all."

The Professor cleared his throat.

"You know as well as I do how stubborn our bosses are and that they are unlikely to understand what you are telling me," said Strijdom.

"No, Professor, it is not a case of that they are unlikely to understand, but rather more a situation of stubbornness," snapped back Pieter.

"Do you remember the Rubicon statement that President Botha was supposed to have read in 1985, which would have unbanned the ANC and their affiliates? Well, if he did that then instead of opting out on the announcement, then things would be far different now. Time waits for no man. Our clock is ticking and every moment wasted is more blood being spilt between black and white."

"I understand, but General du Toit, for one, won't so, this is what is going to happen," explained the Professor.

"I happened to notice on the work roster in the office that the General is off duty tomorrow. So, tomorrow is the day, that Lindiwe Buthelezi will be released. Of course, there will be questions asked, but I will take the fall for that. I agree with you that this has to happen."

Pieter's mind was racing. He did not want the Professor to lose his job for doing something good, but he also knew that J.G. Strijdom could turn out to be the saviour in the bigger picture, rather than the villain.

Next, if the Professor was going to take the heat, he may as well let Pieter go at the same time. Pieter put this thought to the Professor.

"You are starting to think like me, as that was my plan," smiled the Professor.

"Lieutenant, just promise me that Lindiwe Buthelezi and yourself will get to Mandela before things go pear-shaped. Just watch your backs out there. Sometimes your colleagues can be more dangerous than the enemy."

The Professor went on.

"I will try and keep the hounds away from you for as long as I can, but I am only a Professor, I am not a part of the security services branch," he said.

"I appreciate what you are doing, and believe me, in years to come, your fellow countrymen and women will also appreciate your acts which will effectively change the course of history," said Pieter in a stern voice.

"Do you now have enough belief in me to share what Albertina Buthelezi told you that she saw when she entered the future all those years ago?" asked the Professor with a smile.

Pieter was cautious. Was this whole team-building stuff from the Professor, nothing more than a Public Relations stunt?

The Lieutenant decided to play things safe.

"The Springbok rugby team will win the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 1995, Bafana Bafana will win the African Nations Cup in 1996, and the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place in South Africa," said Pieter.

"Lieutenant, stop speaking in riddles," said the Professor.

"What is a 'Bafana Bafana'?"

Pieter smiled.

"You will find out in time, it is a bunch of guys who were able to reach their goals," grinned the Lieutenant.

"I really don't know what you are on about, but I will wait in anticipation," said the Professor with a smile.

"So, from here, I will brief the security to let Lindiwe Buthelezi and yourself free at 08h00 tomorrow morning, and that they should not resist your attempts to get away from this area. They will follow you, but think of it as a safety precaution for yourselves rather than a spy campaign against you."

Pieter tossed his head from side to side.

"That is easier said than done, Professor, but I understand what you are saying," he commented.

"Let me go and wait for the General to head off and then I will brief the security service men," quipped the Professor, as he turned away.

The sun seemed to rise a bit earlier the next morning, not that Pieter, who was locked up in a dark, damp prison cell, would have know any different.

At the time that he normally received his breakfast from the prison guards, a pleasing sound was heard at his prison cell door. It was the sound of a key turning the lock.

Moments later, the door opened and the Professor, flanked by two prison guards, stood in the opening beaming at him.

"Where is Lindiwe?" asked Pieter.

"A 'good morning, Professor', would have been more welcoming," said J.G Strijdom.

"Good morning, Professor, now where is Lindiwe?" asked Pieter in a huff.

"Pieter, I have to be honest with you, I wasn't trying to mislead you in any way, but when I got back to the main office after chatting to you yesterday, I found out that Lindiwe had already been released," explained the Professor.

"It certainly was not part of the plan that I was made aware of, but clearly things have been happening at a higher level."

Pieter's eyes turned red with anger.

"You mean the General released Lindiwe?" he fumed.

"When and why?"

"Look, nothing was recorded in the prison logbook, but from what I can tell, Lindiwe was released two to three days ago," said the Professor.

"As for the 'why' part of your question, I am not sure, but I would have heard a few cheers among the security service guys here if something bad had happened to her. You know how our brothers operate."

"I have to get to Lindiwe, Professor," said a determined Pieter.

"Where are we at the moment?"

"We are about fifty kilometres south of the laboratory on the Natal border where you were captured," confirmed J.G. Strijdom.

A security guard tossed on to a chair a bag containing Pieter personal items that had been with him when he had been captured.

"What about Mandela?" asked Pieter.

"I take it he is still in good hands?"

The Professor nodded.

"Like you said, he is the key between South Africa going towards a peaceful outcome or not, so the government are looking after him," explained J.G. Strijdom.

Pieter stared at the Professor.

"Professor Strijdom, I have trusted you this far and until now, I have believed you to be a man of honesty and integrity," said the Lieutenant.

"I just hope that my trust is not being taken advantage of and you are sending me into the proverbial lion's den?"

The Professor nodded.

"I can totally understand why you would think that way," he quipped, as he shot a side glance at the prison guards standing on either side of him.

"I want the best outcome out of this, as I said before, what our colleagues feel or do, I can't be held accountable for."

Pieter nodded. He knew how two-faced some of his colleagues could be. They were born workers, not thinkers. They carried out orders without giving the slightest thought to what the consequences would be. The whole country was a testimony to this.

Pieter was led from his prison cell to a flight of stairs which he navigated. Finally, as he reached ground level, he was reintroduced to sunlight. His eyes battled to adjust at first.

He was marched out of a building towards an unmarked police vehicle.

"May God be with you, Lieutenant," said the Professor.

"Good luck, I fancy you may need it."

Pieter looked at the dashboard of the Toyota Carolla. He had been given a full tank of petrol to set him on his way. He was pretty confident that Lindiwe would not have wasted any time in going back to Pretoria. She was a clever girl and would have plotted her way first to Mamelodi to check on Albertina Buthelezi, and then to Cape Town, be it by bus or whatever transport possible.

The game of life was no longer a competition. It was a race. Only a handful of people knew how the end result would pan out. There were many Afrikaners out there who believed like Pieter initially did, that the elimination of Mandela would send shivers down the spines of the blacks, who would then surrender to white authority for eternity.

The Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus behind the steering wheel in the white Toyota Carolla was now much wiser than the Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus who had embarked on a trip to Cape Town a few weeks earlier on a police bus. Back then, his only ambition was to murder Mandela. Now his only goal was to ensure that Mandela remained unharmed.

If he was left with a choice of saving Lindiwe Buthelezi and saving Nelson Mandela, which would Pieter choose?

It was one of those difficult choices in life. It was like falling out of an airborne plane with a parachute and having to grab your son and daughter, who were falling into the open air without any parachute.

Whichever option he chose, he knew he would live to regret not saving the other one. It was something that wound hound him for the rest of his days. How Pieter hoped that God would not put him in the position of having to make that choice.

As he steered the Toyota Carolla, Pieter's mind was filled with emotions. Why were so many white people brain-washed into believing that white minority rule would last forever? He couldn't doubt the apartheid machine. Whether one liked it or hated it, it deserved credit for reaching its objectives to entrench the Nationalists.

His mind shifted to the 'Looking Glass'. All this time most government officials had thought that the project had perished with many during the explosion at the Natal border. Yet, the sneaky South African government had a top secret team working the 'Looking Glass' to the maximum at a different spot, irrespective of the loss of life.

Pieter tried to imagine P.W. Botha and Nelson Mandela standing on the famous political steps of Tuynhuis in Cape Town, shaking hands.

He could not get the picture into his mind. Wait a minute, his brain flashed a picture of peace from Tuynhuys. He could not make out the faces of the two people on the steps of the building. One was a white man and the other was black. The white man certainly did not appear to be built like President Botha. It was difficult to know who the black man was as well, as the publishing of news or photographs of Mandela and the ANC, was banned by the South African government.

Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, thought Pieter. History would later tell the story that it was indeed Mandela standing on the steps of Tuynhuis, but the white man shaking hands with the ANC stalwart would not be President Botha.

### Chapter 32 - For Love of Thy Country

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus pulled into a fuel station just outside of Pretoria. He felt that his mind was boiling over. He needs a Coca Cola to quench his thirst. As he walked into the small cafe at the petrol station, he began to wonder how things would be in a New South Africa.

How he wished he could phone Lindiwe Buthelezi right now. _Hey, Erasmus, maybe in the New South Africa, they will even have cordless phones that one can carry in a shirt pocket? Who knows?_

All he wanted right now was to hear Lindiwe's voice and to know that she was safe. He consumed the Coca Cola, which did the trick in making him feel human again on a typically hot day in the Transvaal.

Pieter's mind was starting to get the better of him, as he returned to the vehicle. He couldn't help but to look in the rear view mirror every few seconds to see if he was being followed. Just how far could he trust Professor J.G Strijdom and the security service men? On the other hand, what choice did he really have?

The Lieutenant steered the vehicle into Mamelodi township. When black people saw him, they turned and ran away. Afterall, whether he liked it or not, he was seen by the masses as an ambassador for white minority dominance.

Pieter's mind was racing in a different direction. Could the ones running away from him be spies who are reporting back to their principals. Surely not! Black people reporting into the white powerholders!

He had heard that many black people were on the white payroll. There were even some black men who served in security firms, and were promised greater things in time to come. The promises were received but never delivered on. It made Pieter think of PW's Cabinet Minister, Piet Koornhof, who earned the nickname of 'Piet Promises'. Houses were promised to the people. Today still, the people are still waiting.

Pieter was having a Demascus moment just like Paul did in the Biblical days. Paul was a staunch caller for the ending of Christianity and the stoning to death of Stephen, who promoted the Bible.

Yet, after receiving a revelation from above on the road to Damascus, Paul went on to become one of the most famous Apostles of all time.

Pieter felt like he was Apostle Paul. His eyes had been opened, not in Damascus but in Pretoria, Mamelodi, Mbabane and other places too. It was like God was showing him something which were not been shown to everyone. That 'something' was called 'the future'.

He brought the vehicle to a halt outside the home of Albertina Buthelezi and made his way to the front door.

The old woman greeted the Lieutenant with a smile.

"I had to come see you," said Pieter.

"You and the rest of the South African security services," grinned Albertina.

Pieter sighed.

"So they were here?" he asked in rhetorical fashion.

The old woman nodded.

"About six of them arrived, but it was so obvious to me that they has tried to get information out of Lindiwe and you without any luck," said Albertina.

"All they seemed to know was that the Springboks will win the 1995 Rugby World Cup in Johannesburg."

Pieter smiled.

"Well, I had to tell them something," he said.

Both the policeman and the elderly black woman laughed. This was another watershed moment in South African history, with black and white laughing together in apartheid South Africa.

"Where is Lindiwe?" asked Pieter, as he got his thoughts back to reality.

"You missed her by about an hour," replied Albertina, as she tucked a tissue under the cuff of the right sleeve of her grey blouse.

"She has gone back to Pretoria and then will be off to Cape Town, and is fully aware that you will follow."

Pieter puffed out his cheeks.

"Did you know that the 'Looking Glass' is still in existence, and is being used by PW Botha's team?" he asked.

"Nothing surprises me when it comes to your people," said Albertina.

"They will sell out their own mothers if it means they will make an extra Rand on to their salaries. They don't care about black lives, and if one or two whites have to perish to meet their agenda, then so be it too."

Pieter stood firm.

Would the South African security men take him out if he got to close to Robben Island? Was this the last stand of white power? Was Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus going to be the sacrificial lamb?

It was as if a spirit inside of Pieter was at work. He felt an urge to head towards Rita's Koffeekroeg in Pretoria Central Business District, where he had found Lindiwe Buthelezi and Louise Burrell once before.

As he parked a few hundred metres away from the coffee shop, Pieter looked at the passers-by who all seemed in a hurry to make their way down the pavement to wherever they needed to go. He hoped that he would spot Lindiwe, but then again, he also knew that every day wasn't Christmas.

As he wiped the sweat from his brow, the Lieutenant stepped from his vehicle and locked it, before heading to the coffee bar. As per usual, the place was frequented by older white women who, it seemed, quite simply had nothing better to do than sit and gossip over a cup of coffee, while knitting clothes for their grandchildren.

Pieter's eyes ran riot over the coffee bar. He was using a touch of faith combined with an even bigger dosage of luck.

"Pieter!" screamed a woman to his left.

Tears began to flow down the face of Lindiwe Buthelezi, as she saw that the love of her life was alive and well. She ran over and embraced the Lieutenant.

Two women seated at a table near the window, gasped.

" _Sien jy dit nou, Magdalena, die maid het vir daai wit man omhels. Die land het geen toekoms nie_ (See now, Magdalena, the maid hugged that white man. This country does not have a future)."

Neither Pieter nor Lindiwe cared much about how people were looking at them. Not even, when another grey-haired Afrikaner woman shouted at Pieter: _"Is dit hoe jou ma vir jou grootgemaak het? Jy kan nie met die maid se dogter slaap nie_ (Is that how your mother raised you? You can't sleep with the maid's daughter)!"

Some of the customers in the coffee bar giggled at the remark. Others just looked away to avoid witnessing this scene of black and white embarrassment. A black girl hugging a white man... no man, this was simply not right!

Eventually, Pieter and Louise sat down at a table near the kitchen area of the restaurant. There were few people seated there, which gave the pair a sense of relief.

"I thought that I would never see you again," sobbed Lindiwe.

"I thought that the security services men may have killed you."

Pieter grinned.

"They tried their best to drown the information out of me," he said.

"What I did find out is that the 'Looking Glass' is still working somewhere south of the original destination. The government is using it to try and find out more about the future. As much as the government's hates to admit it, they are aware that Nelson Mandela will be released from prison sometime in the future, and that he will go on to become the President of South Africa, but they want to know more. This is why they have been so keen to find out what Albertina Buthelezi saw when she was in the future."

Lindiwe smiled.

"You know what the government's biggest fear is?" she questioned rhetorically.

"They do not want white and black to mix and produce mixed raced children. You know how former President Hendrik Verwoerd fought that races should be kept apart, with the touching of black and white not even allowed?"

"Most white people will not understand that black people are also humans just like them, unless they are prepared to interact with them, but of course, governmental laws do not allow for that," explained Pieter.

Lindiwe adjusted the rubber band that kept her hair pinned in a ponytail behind her head.

"That will all change soon, Pieter," she remarked.

"The New South Africa is imminent. It is just around the corner and it will happen whether the National Party likes it or not. I have this feeling that P.W. Botha will not be a part of the leadership by then. I could be wrong, but my gut feel tells me that."

Pieter thought for a moment before responding.

"Do you think that Botha will perish in the process?" he asked.

Lindiwe shook her head.

"I don't think so, I just have a feeling that the more open-minded members of cabinet may unseat him from power in some way or another," she said.

It would turn out to be the latter, as Botha suffered a stroke in 1989, which saw him become an irrational, inconsistent leader and lose the support of his cabinet. This allowed F.W. de Klerk to firstly take poll position in the National Party from Botha, before becoming the country's No 1.

"What about Mandela?" asked Pieter.

Lindiwe smiled.

"I believe that Mandela is on Robben Island, I really do," she said.

"We need to get to him before the wrong people do. I think we have enough time on the road from Pretoria to Cape Town to work out our plan of how to get access to Mandela."

Pieter grinned and pushed back on his chair.

It was time to hit the road again. He felt tired after the long drive from Natal to Pretoria, but this was no time for the weak.

If something evil happened to Mandela before he got there with Lindiwe, it was all over bar the shouting for South Africa. There would not be a New South Africa, goodness knows if there would be a South Africa at all.

As he headed out of the door of the coffee shop, he saw the shadow of a man move. Was he being spied on by the security services or was his mind playing games with him yet again?

He moved out into the open at speed, but there was no sign of any individual keeping an eye on him.

Erasmus, you can't lose your mind... not now!

Once in the vehicle, Pieter drove to a nearby fuel station to fill the tank of the car. The Lieutenant's eyes were fixed on the fuel price per litre. 37 cents!

Phew, Erasmus, soon fuel will be worth as much as gold!

It would be another fifteen hours before Pieter and Lindiwe would arrive in Cape Town. They chatted freely along the way, although Lindiwe had a good nap in between. Pieter, of course, couldn't nap as he was behind the steering wheel of the car. He did his best to travel at a maximum but safe speed of one hundred kilometres per hour down the highway.

From time to time he did two things. One was to keep an eye in the rear view mirror to make sure that they were not being followed. The second habit that he got into, was to glance at Lindiwe, who was sleeping in the passenger seat next to him.

Her face seemed so at peace with the world. If she wasn't a symbol of how blacks would contribute towards a peaceful, democratic South Africa, then Pieter didn't know what would be.

The sun had long since set. How Pieter wished that Lindiwe could also drive a vehicle. He had spent too many hours behind the steering wheel for his liking and his eyes were beginning to look across each other due to tiredness.

He needed to take an hour nap but then again that would be one hour lost in the race to get to Cape Town. Eventually, he had no choice and pulled into a fuel station on the northern side of Beaufort West in the Karoo, which is 462 kilometres away from Cape Town.

He tried to keep his eyes open for as long as he could, but eventually, sleep overwhelmed his body.

It felt like he had just shut his eyes, when a burning sensation hit his right forearm. The sun was up and piercing heat on to his body. Pieter checked the time. It was 9am. He had been asleep for a good nine hours. This was not a part of the plan. The last thing that he wanted was for the New South Africa to be ruined because he had fallen asleep at his post!

Pieter turned the ignition key to start the engine of the Toyota Carolla, and the jolt of life to the vehicle, caused Lindiwe to wake up.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Beaufort West, about five hours away from Cape Town," replied Pieter.

Lindiwe yawned and wanted to go back to sleep, but then remembered that they needed to formulate a plan to get on to Robben Island and to access Mandela.

Both agreed that they needed a third point to this triangle. They needed to find a good samaritan who would see the full picture and take them to the promised land.

### Chapter 33 - Pearce Hits the big time

_We're leaving together, but still it's farewell_... Pearce Ellison had the 1987 smash hit 'The Final Countdown' by the band, Europe, stuck in his head.

And still we stand tall. Cause maybe they seen us, and welcome us all...

To Pearce, the time was ticking by at a slow rate yet his wristwatch seemed to be in overdrive as the hours passed by at great speed. It was like he was caught up in a time warp.

He climbed out of a taxi at the gates of Pollsmoor Prison, in Steenberg Road, Tokai. He was set for the meeting of all meetings. His gut feel told him that he was on the brink of a major breakthrough in his quest to access Nelson Mandela.

Pearce needed to find an open-minded Correctional Services official, but that was as rare as finding a needle in a haystack.

As soon as he twanged his American accent, the Correctional Services official at the main gate knew exactly who he was.

"Ah, you must be Mr Ellison, here to see Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen?" said the guard, with his nametag on his left breast shining in the sunlight.

"Yeah, thank you," replied Pearce.

The guard got on to his portable radio to inform his colleagues in the adminstration centre that the Acting -Commissioner's guest had arrived.

" _Kantoor kom in, daai swart Amerikaner man is hier om die Waarnemende Kommasaris te sien_ (Officer come in, that black American man is here to see the Acting Commissioner)," said the guard.

Another guard pulled up at the gate in a whit car and Pierce was advise to climb into the back seat.

"Today is the Acting Commissioner's day off but he made a special effort to come in to meet with you," said the guard, in mis late twenties, with a strong Afrikaans accent.

Pearce smiled. He excepted this as a compliment. Not many apartheid service employees would make a special effort to meet with a foreigner, let alone an African-American one.

The Human Rights lawyer was ushered from the car down a typically government style corridor. The walls were white and gave off a feeling of boredom. The kind of place where one works for their salary. You know, the 9am to 5pm shift day in and day out without any sense of creativity. One does this for thirty years and then retires on a nice fat government pension.

Pearce could never run his life that way. He was a man who was up for an adventure as regularly as the sun rose each day. He was not the type of person who would be a number on a monthly paysheet. That is why he would never have made it in working at a bank. He needed to be his own man with his own mind.

At the end of the corridor on the right-hand side, was an office door with the name, Acting Commissioner' on a plague.

The office was pretty well furnished and Pearce could sense that while the foot soldiers were probably paid close to peanuts to keep the blacks locked up in their cells, the boss was a man of a different lifestyle, courtesy of a different monthly salary.

Mark van Pletzen, in his late forties, and with hair that was showing signs of greying, shook hands with the lawyer, before pointing at a chair in front of the Action Commissioner's desk.

"So, let me guess, you are another of those optimists who thinks that buy releasing Nelson Mandela, all of our country's problems will simply disappear?" asked the prisons boss.

Pearce shook his head.

"No, not at all, but I do believe that releasing Mandela and his colleagues is a step in the right direction," replied Pearce.

"The bigger picture that needs to be thought through by your government is that of where will this country be ten years from now. Already the economy is close to rock bottom as all trade between overseas countries and South Africa is no longer allowed. Then there is the matter of the continued onslaught between the South African military and police and the ANC and it's affiliates."

Mark stared at the lawyer. He could sense that the man was no fool and was worthy of his law degree.

"What would you do if you were in P.W. Botha's shoes?" asked the prisons chief.

Pierce had hoped that Mark would ask that question.

"Firstly, release Mandela, secondly, unban the ANC and its alliance parties, thirdly, get a new multi-racial, multiparty constitution in place as soon as possible, and fourthly, get elections done sooner rather than later," tabled Pearce.

"My last point is probably the most important as opposing forces will try and delay South Africa's first one-man, one vote elections."

Up until now, only the whites and the coloured and Indian people had a vote at election time. Pearce knew that giving all black people a vote would not go down well with many in the minority groups whose vote had up until now, set SA on a course, one way or another.

Pearce's fears of anxiety among the right wing would later be proved correct, when the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) crashed a 'Viper' armoured vehicle through the glass doors at the Kempton Park Trade Centre on 25 June 1993, where the ANC and the ruling National Party were involved in talks to find common ground to end the apartheid system through multi-racial elections.

"Look, it sounds good in principle, but it is highly unlikely to happen without bloodshed, one way or another," said Mark, as he leaned back in his leather chair.

Pearce tossed his head one way and then to the other.

"Well, if it doesn't happen soon, there could be more bloodshed that what one could ever imagine. Commissioner, the people, and I mean the masses, are fed up. Either a peaceful solution for all involved is found, or a group could remove the government by force."

"You mean the ANC could unseat the Nationalist Party by force?" asked Mark.

"Either that," replied Pearce.

"Or the Afrikaner right wing will remove the Nationalists, then it will be full on warfare between the right and left wings. I have no doubt that the right wing could take over power, but what then? The country is cut off from the world? What would they do then? There is only one decent solution and that is to find a way for black and white to live peacefully together through a multi-party solution."

The Acting Commissioner listened carefully to Pearce's thoughts. Mark was a man who was going up the ladder and was one of the more liberal-minded Correctional Services members. With his bosses being staunch Nationalists, he had to hide his views well.

"When do you believe would be the best time to release Mr Mandela?" asked Mark.

"I am asking this question for his own personal safety."

"There will never be as a good a time as now," quipped Pearce, with his hands folded and placed on the edge of the desk in front of him.

"Tomorrow could be too late. One never knows what the future holds, but I can almost guarantee that from what I have heard and researched about Mandela, a person like this only comes around once every two hundred years or so."

Mark thought for a moment and then puffed out his cheeks.

"You know how volatile the current political landscape is?" asked the prisons official.

"If we released him today, he might not make it to supper time," added Mark.

Pearce nodded.

"I am aware that an attack on the life of Mr Mandela could come from the right wing or for that matter, the left wing, who think that he is far too close to the Afrikaners, but it is a chance that government will have to take," commented the human rights lawyer.

Mark van Pletzen stood up from his desk and stared out of a window over a courtyard where some of the prisoners were exercising.

"Mandela used to be a boxer, they say?" he mentioned rhetorically.

"Well, he is going to have to box clever if he is to become champion in this political fight."

Mark turned to the human rights lawyer.

"So how can I help you in this?" asked the prisons official.

"What is it that you need from me?"

Pearce wasted no time in placing his need on the table.

"I need to get close to Mandela," said Pearce, with his eyes as wide as he could stretch them.

"I need to prepare him for what is to come. His allies may have got word to him, but I need to tell it to him like it is from all sides, just like we have been discussing."

This time it was the turn for Mark van Pletzen's eyes to flash with hope. If the Acting Commissioner pulled this off with the help of Pearce Ellison, and Mandela went on to be a free man and to possibly lead the New South Africa, Mark's career could rise too.

Mark needed a black Godfather!

"Alright, I am going to help you get to Mandela," agreed the Acting Commissioner.

"However, if things go pearshaped, remember that you don't know me and I don't know you."

Pearce agreed.

"So where is Nelson Mandela?" asked the lawyer.

"He is on the island," answered Mark.

"He has been shuffled a bit to and fro in recent months but that is, as you rightfully know, for his own safety. I must warn you though, that he hasn't been in the best of moods after his last meeting with government officials."

Pearce grinned.

"The Nationalists offered him a retirement package to the Transkei if he promises to stop the military onslaught against the South African National Defence Force," said Pearce.

Mark nodded.

"You know too much," replied the Acting Commissioner.

The prisons boss felt a sense of trust between himself and the lawyer and opened up a bit more.

"Between us, I would never have taken the offer either, as only a turncoat coward would have accepted it, and clearly that is not what Mr Mandela is," said Mark.

Pearce nodded with confidence.

"Acting Commissioner, we are dealing here with a man of integrity and supreme confidence," said Pearce.

"This man is a lawyer in his own right. He can read situations. He is a believer that knowledge is power, and successful leaders and indeed countries, are built off the platform of knowledge. He is not the fool that government make him out to be. He is also not the blood thirsty freedom fighter than government make him out to be either."

"What about his colleagues on the island with him?" asked Mark.

"Do you believe that they are of the same mindset as Mr Mandela?" asked Pearce, as he tested the Acting Commissioner's thinking.

"I believe that Mr Mandela's inner ring of thinkers are on the same page as he is," answered the Acting Commissioner.

"I also believe that if Mr Mandela and the South African government were able to reach a peaceful agreement with regard to a future new constitution including a one-man-one-vote principle for all people, then this would secure new elections. Mr Mandela would get the word through to Mr Tambo at the ANC's offices in Lusaka, Zambia, and the wheels would be put in motion with regard to changing the political landscape of South Africa forever."

Mark van Pletzen never had any form of relationship with Mandela. In fact he had never spoken to the man. However, he was close enough to the apartheid decision-makers to know just how revered the man was in ANC and indeed black African circles.

In Mark's eyes, Pearce Ellison could well be the key to the Godfather!

"Alright, be here at 7am sharp tomorrow," said Mark.

"We are going to Cape Town for a boat trip to Robben Island."

Pearce grinned. He had been to the island before and had been unable to access Nelson Mandela. In fact, on his last trip there, the prison officials would not even tell him if Mandela was on the island. Who knows, as Mark van Pletzen confirmed, Mandela was scurried to and for safety reasons, so the prison officials on the island may well have been truthful last time.

Pearce thanked the Acting Commissioner for the meeting and agreed to meet again at 7am the following day.

Pearce was ushered down the same corridor that he had come in on. That sombre feeling of boredom and negativity went through his body again. However, he did feel different about Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen.

The truth would be known soon. Was Mark a man of his word, or was he like many of his colleagues, and about to pick up the phone and have Pearce's visa confiscated, in order for the lawyer to be thrown out of the country?

Time would tell. Pearce made it out of the main building and out of the main gate without being confronted or arrested. Would Mark van Pletzen meet him the next morning or would a trap be set at the prison or on the island?

Either way, Pearce knew the risk of the job when he studied to be a human rights lawyer. If he was to go to prison, there could be no greater cause than for trying to arrange for the freedom, of ANC icon, Nelson Mandela!

That night, Pearce lay in bed at the lodge where he had previously stayed in Rosebank. Would this be his last night of freedom or his last night in South Africa? Was Mark van Pletzen a good man caught up in a bad system, or was he just an actor of Hollywood status?

Pearce glanced at his wristwatch on the small table next to his bed. It was 11am. Again, he felt that while the hours were ticking by, his life was going slowly.

It's the Final Countdown!

### Chapter 34 - The Race to Robben Island

An exhausted Pieter Erasmus and an excited Lindiwe Buthelezi made their way to the jetty area at the Cape Town harbour. A large crowd seemed to be present at the waters edge pillars. What was going on? Were they all keen to go to Robben Island and to meet Nelson Mandela? Hang on a minute. There were all white people and most of them did not even know who the ANC man was due to the way that the press was controlled by the South African government. The ones who did know the ANC icon's name, thought he was just a guy who had thrown some stones at the cops and got arrested for his sins. Keep him behind bars on the island, most white people thought. If he can't respect law and order then keep him there!

Of course the white people at the jetty were not going to Robben Island. Firstly, they weren't allowed there and secondly, they just wanted a nice boat ride around the harbour.

It took quite a bit of pushing and shoving before Pieter got to the front of the queue where he flashed his police accreditation that was in his wallet.

"You don't look like a cop," muttered an elderly man, who was in control of the ferries at the jetty.

At first, Pieter did not understand what the man meant, then he caught on. The Lieutenant was dressed in civilian clothing and had not had a shave in at least four days. He hardly looked like the Afrikaner cop that one expected to see.

It was a good thirty minutes before the ferry arrived and another five minutes before Pieter and Lindiwe were able to hop onboard. They knew the drill well having been to the island before, although last time, they had not met yet.

An African-American man with sunglasses on sat opposite them on the ferry. Pearce Ellison had made it. Correctional Services Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen had kept his word and had brought Pearce to the harbour in order to get him across to the island for a possible chit-chat with Nelson Mandela.

Mark sat to the human rights lawyer's right. Pieter eyed the Acting Commissioner's uniform carefully. The last thing that the Lieutenant wanted was on-duty men to get in the way of his mission to get to Mandela.

Pieter remained silent. He did not want to get into conversation with anyone on the boat for fear of being asked why he is on his way to the island.

It seemed to take an eternity for the ferry to leave the Cape Town harbour. When the boat did eventually leave, the sea was rough, and the ferry seemed to almost go one metre forwards and two metres back. It seemed like the boat was going nowhere fast!

Lindiwe tried to settle her mind. So who was the white assassin who was on a mission to eliminate Mandela? The girl's gut feel left her to believe that she would have the answer to this sooner rather than later.

She looked at Pieter, who sat with his head in his hands. It seemed that he was sleeping, but as tired as the Lieutenant was, sleep was well beyond him.

Please, God, please don't let me find out that the assassin is Pieter Erasmus, thought Lindiwe, as a tear fell from her left eye. She wasn't sure if she could continue living if she had to carry the burden of Pieter being the assassin of the ANC icon, for the rest of her days on earth.

No, thought Lindiwe, it simply can't be.

As if reading her mind, Pieter says: "Who do you think the potential killer is, Lindiwe?"

She looked at him.

"Pieter, I hope and pray that it is not you and you are not just using me to get to Mandela?" said Lindiwe, in a tearful tone.

This was Pieter's last chance. He must either defend the old South Africa or go with the New South Africa. However, his decision made a while back. He is a transformed man and is committed to the second option.

It felt like the boat was taking twice as long to get to Robben Island, than it did on her previous trip there. The sun was high up in the skies over Cape Town by now and Lindiwe placed her right hand below her eyebrows to shield her eyes from the brightness.

Once at the jetty at the island, Pieter signalled to Lindiwe to wait until last to climb from the boat. The Lieutenant was checking out the visitors carefully.

Who would the hitman be, thought Pieter.

Surely not the smooth-looking African American. He looked too slick to be a hitman, but then again crooks came in all sorts of images.

He watched Pearce Ellison climb ashored and was pretty convinced that the foreigner wasn't their man.

Next to step foot on mother earth was Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen. Pieter did not know him at all, but again, his gut feel told him that the prison boss was not the assassin.

Four other Afrikaner women, two with kids, also made it on to dry land. Pieter was sure that they were wives and kids of prison wardens on the island. There seemed to be no threat there.

"We need to move," said Lindiwe to Pieter, and the pair made their way from the boat to the upper area above the jetty.

They watched on as the African-American man and the Acting Commissioner engaged in conversation with the local prison chief Vorster. Yes, the same Vorster, who wouldn't give anyone the time of day last time Lindiwe was on the island. Mention the word 'Mandela', recalled the girl, and an ice shield seemed to go down. It was like the word 'Mandela' was a swear word carrying a jailable offence. Now, here was the same local prisons boss talking to his superior and an African-American visitor. Something didn't make sense in Lindiwe's mind. Pieter too, had a suspicious look on his face.

"Hey, Lindiwe!"shouted a familiar voice nearby.

Lindiwe Buthelezi turned around to see CNN reporter Louise Burrell heading towards her.

Lindiwe hugged the media lady.

"Louise, I thought the government had chucked you out of the country for alleged irregular visa paperwork?" asked Lindiwe with a smile.

The American answered.

"They just read me the riot act about the way that I was reporting on the Mandela story," explained Louise.

"Some government officials had issues with the way in which I was handling the story. The local press is censored but they can't bar the foreign media from airing their views."

Lindiwe grinned.

"Did they mention anything about Pieter or me?" she asked.

Louise nodded.

"There were plenty of questions about why I am hanging out with the two of you," she answered.

"I told them I am a foreigner in this country and getting information from a cop seemed like a good idea. As for you, Lindiwe, I said that I had only recently met you, which is the truth."

Both Pieter and Lindiwe nodded in agreement.

"Now, by hook or by crook, I will get my Mandela interview today and..." said the reporter breaking off in mid-sentence as something caught her attention.

She recognised Pearce Ellison standing in the distance in conversation with the prison leaders.

"What is it, Louise?" asked Lindiwe.

"That African-American man standing over there talking to the prison people is human rights lawyer, Pearce Ellison," explained Louise.

"I have done an interview with him before. I think he may just be the key to get me that Mandela interview."

As luck would have it, Pearce was summoned to the side by a short man that he clearly knew and he excused himself and stepped away from the prison bosses to enter into dialogue.

"I think that you may have left your handkerchief on the ferry," said the ferry captain, a white man in his forties.

Pearce smiled and thanked the ferry boss.

When he had completed the conversation, Louise went for broke.

"Oh, Pearce," she said, charging towards him with a smile on her face.

Lindiwe and Pieter giggled as they saw the fake smile produced by Pearce. Here he was, in an important dialogue with the prison bosses and the last thing that he needed right now was a CNN reporter running up to him.

"Hey, there, Louise, long time no see," said Pearce.

"What brings you to the island?"

Louise grinned.

"The same reason that you are here," she replied.

"Mandela."

"Are you sure that Mr Mandela is on the island?" asked Pearce, as he tried to shake off the attentions of the reporter.

"Oh come on, Pearce, you can give me a little more credit than than," replied Louise.

"Come on now, we are both Americans. Let's work together here. My airtime could make you very famous globally."

Pearce was trying to be as polite as he could be.

"Louise, I will help you where I can, but I really need to get back into that conversation over there with the prison officials," remarked Pearce, as he gestured to the prison men with his eyes.

"Alright, I will let you off the hook for now, but please can we work together on this one?" asked Louise.

"Alright," said Pearce, as he passed his business card to the reporter.

"Text me on the number that is on the card. Remember that all is confidential for now. I will tell you when the time is right to pop my face on to television."

Louise winked at the reporter, and turned to go back to where Pieter and Louise stood.

"You certainly took your time, Louise, did you ask him out on a date?" teased Lindiwe.

"Not, quite, he won't tell me directly if Mandela is on the island or not but I am sure he wouldn't be here just for a historic site visit," replied Louise.

"He said that he would give me a call as soon as the time is right, but us Americans always stick together, so I know that he will do it.

Pieter asked to see the business card that Pearce has put into Louise's hand. She showed it to him, and Pieter's eyes caught on the words 'Human Rights Lawyer'. He passed the card back to Louise.

"So what is the plan?" asked Louise.

"How are we going to do this?"

Pieter grinned.

"Who is 'we', if I may ask?" questioned the Lieutenant.

"Oh come on now, do you trust me that little?" asked Louise, as she gripped her broadcast microphone with her right hand.

"I hope that microphone that you are holding is switched off?" teased Louise.

"Look, if I can get close to Mandela with Pearce Ellison's influence, it could help you to get close to him too," said Louise.

Neither Pieter nor Lindiwe had any intention of telling Louise that today might just be the day that Mandela gets eliminated. They certainly didn't want to carry extra baggage, in the form of a CNN reporter, as they attempted to save thousands of South Africans from bloodshed.

Louise took a chocolate bar from her jacket pocket and offered to break it into three pieces to share with her friends.

"So now you are trying to bribe your way in to work with us," quipped Pieter.

"I don't call it a bribe, I think of it more as incentivising."

Following the competition of the conversation with the prison bosses, Pearce turned around to wink at Louise, but the reporter was too busy unwrapping the chocolate bar to notice.

Pieter understood why Pearce had turned around. It was a sign that Mandela was definitely on the island.

The Lieutenant knew the importance of being able to follow Pearce, the Acting Commissioner and local prison boss Vorster, but the two wardens left behind at the entrance to the administration area was going to be a challenge.

Even with Pieter's police accreditation, it would only get him into certain places, and certainly not into a prison of the sort of Robben Island. He needed to find a decoy that could attract the attention of the two guards. Louise!

"Louise, here is the deal, I will work on getting you your Mandela interview but you got to help keep those two wardens at the gate occupied, so Lindiwe and I can slip inside," explained Pieter.

"I can do that," smiled the television reporter.

"When do you want to go for it?"

"Right now," exclaimed Lindiwe in a harsh tone, having caught sight of a further movement inside the administration area.

While Pearce and his contingent had gone into an office to discuss matters further, Lindiwe had spotted another man, waiting around the corner, before making a dash for it. She thought that she knew the identity of the man, but wanted a second glance. This could well be it! This could be the man who was seconds away from assassinating Nelson Mandela!

"Louise, do it now," ordered Lindiwe.

Charm was one of the television broadcaster's qualities as were her gorgeous looks. Prison wardens on Robben Island did not see hot girls often.

"Could you gentlemen please help me to bring some camera equipment from the ferry?" asked Louise, with a wink towards the nearest warden.

" _De Villiers, help vir haar, ek sal wag staan_ (De Villiers, help her, I will stand guard)," said the taller of the guards to his colleague.

Louise didn't understand Afrikaans, but worked out what was happening.

"Actually, the equipment is quiet heavy and we may need two people to carry it up here," said the broadcaster.

Warden Lotter thought twice about it. Yes like it, if their superiors found out that both men had left their post....

"Alright, but quickly," said Warden Lotter, in a heavy Afrikaans accent.

With the wardens on their way to the jetty, Pieter and Lindiwe took their chance.

"Pieter, we have to get to the Mandela cell," cautioned Lindiwe.

"Did you see the assassin?" asked the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe did not response but kept walking as fast as she could to avoid suspicions.

"If it is who I think it is then we have trouble on our hands," quipped Lindiwe.

### Chapter 35 - On the Trail of a Killer

Once well inside the main gate of the Robben Island prison, Lindiwe Buthelezi lengthened her stride and broke out into a jog in her quest to follow the person she thought she had just seen in the corridor area.

As she turned right at the end of the corridor, she could see up to fifty metres ahead of her, and there no sign of any person. She checked to see if there were any alleyways where the person could have escaped too, but no luck. It was almost as if this person had disappeared off the face of the earth. Either that or Lindiwe was losing her mind.

"Lindiwe, just breathe deeply and calm down," said Pieter Erasmus to the girl.

"Pieter, I know what I saw, it was him," remarked Lindiwe, before the conversation was broken by a passing warden.

"Do you have permission to be here," asked the guard.

Pieter flashed his police accreditation, and the low ranking prison employee didn't know any better and accepted it as fact.

"What about the girl, as a policeman you should know that blacks aren't allowed here unless they are locked up in a prison cell," said the warden, in his early twenties.

"We are waiting to meet with the prisons boss, who is in another meeting at the moment," quipped Lindiwe.

The warden kept his eyes firmly on Pieter. He wasn't used to speaking to black people. His President has told the nation that the blacks were the enemy and on a mission to take over the state at the expense of the whites.

"Well, please move back to the front and wait outside the administration office for Chief Vorster," said the warden.

Pieter nodded in agreement. He wasn't going to lose everything because of an arrogant warden who knew little about the past, present or the future.

The pair waited near Vorster's office door until the warden had headed off, and then moved on to a safer area away from the door. It is a pity that they could not hear the conversation that was happening inside the chief's office.

If Vorster's eyes were daggers, Pearce Ellison would have been dead a long time ago. Like the young warden who had found Pieter and Lindiwe in the corridor, Vorster was not used to engaging with black people in a civilised manner.

A black man sitting in his office engaging with him? No, man, what would be next, a black man in government? Vorster was not at all comfortable with the meeting, even though his boss, Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen, was.

"How safe do you think Mr Mandela is on the island?" asked Pearce.

Vorster's blood pressure went to a new high level. To Vorster, this African-American was questioning his ability to do his job. Why? Did he think that he could do better?

"Listen here, Mandela has been on this island since 1962, and only recently was moved to the mainland prison," answered Vorster abruptly.

"Yes, he was moved to the mainland prison, because the government wanted to engage in talks with him," said Pearce, with his eyes fixed on the island's prison chief.

"Pearson, look..." began Vorster.

"It is actually Ellison, Pearce Ellison," interrupted Vorster, with Mark van Pletzen hiding his laughter.

"Right, now you must understand that this country is in good hands as it is right now and my President does not engage with terrorists," said Vorster in an aggressive tone.

Now it was the turn of Pearce's blood pressure to reach new heights.

"Look, sir, it is only a matter of time before negotiations between the ANC and the government take place," said Pearce sternly.

"There is no reason why whites and blacks cannot live peacefully together in this beautiful country, but then all need to have equal rights, so oppression needs to be removed."

Vorster's knuckles on his right hand were turning white as he gripped his desk with such strength. The nerve of this Ellison guy to come to our country and to try and tell us how things should be done!

Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen entered the conversation.

"Look, I believe that Mr Ellison makes some good points here as this country cannot continue watching over the shoulder forever," said Mark.

"A peaceful solution for all is possible if people put emotions and past history aside. President Botha has already made an offer to Mr Mandela, but this has been rejected."

"Oh, you mean about the retirement deal for Mandela to go off to pasture in the Transkei?" asked Vorster.

The Acting Commissioner nodded. He wasn't aware that the government's offer to the ANC man had been made public knowledge.

Pearce chipped in.

"Only a spineless individual would accept such an offer."

"Are you saying that my President offers sub-grade offers?" said the prison chief to the African-American seated opposite him.

"Well, if you were black and in a struggle for the rights of your people, and had spent so many years behind bars on an island, would you have accepted the offer?" questioned Pearce.

"Look, I would have respected authority and not transgressed on the laws of the country in the first place!" said Vorster in an aggressive manner.

"Then I wouldn't have ended up in prison."

Again, Mark van Pletzen felt the need to intervene.

"Vorster, I am here today with Mr Ellison to request for him to meet with Mr Mandela for a few minutes," said the Acting Commissioner.

Vorster gulped.

"Acting Commissioner van Pletzen, I respect you as my superior, but you are asking me to do something that I am not authorised to do," said the island prison boss.

"You know the terms and conditions under which Mandela and his political prisoner colleagues are jailed. I will carry out whatever order you give me, as long as you are prepared to be accountable for whatever the outcome is."

"Vorster, I would like to keep this as confidential, but I am prepared to carry the consequences," said Mark.

"With respect, Acting Commissioner, are you sure that you understand the risk of what you are asking me to do?" questioned Vorster.

"I do, but I believe that this really needs to happen," said the Acting Commissioner.

"Acting Commissioner, I will carry out the order."

Vorster gave a sidewards glance at Pearce, who was trying to hide his grin. The last thing that would have pleased Vorster was a black man grinning at him and having won the dialogue battle.

"I will arrange for you to meet with Mandela for ten minutes, but if the press get a hold of this, none of us on the island will have jobs anymore," remarked Vorster, glaring at Pearce.

"I understand, sir, no press will be involved or told about the interaction with Mr Mandela," commented Pearce, as he thought of the promise that he had made to CNN television reporter Louise Burrell.

Meanwhile outside of the office, Pieter Erasmus and Lindiwe Buthelezi were still busy ducking and diving out of sights of the wardens. At one stage they had to run forty metres to escape being spotted. For the first time while on the island, the girl heard the sound of black African voices. She couldn't see who the speakers were but the sound of whips, led her to believe that these were prisoners being manhandled by the prison wardens.

" _Jou dom donner, vandag gaan jy rots slaan_ (you dumb idiot, today you are going to hit rocks)," said one warden to a prisoner.

The prisoners were standing out in a courtyard being prepared to be marched to the lime quarry where they chip away on rock for a good few hours.

Those who went on a go-slow or simply refused to work, suffered the wrath of the brutal wardens.

The worst of it was the limedust which flew through the air as the prisoners chipped away with hammers. The limedust certainly had an impact on the prisoner's eyes, with most the high profile prisoners including Mandela, ending up using thick glasses for reading later in life.

" _Glo jy in God_ (do you believe in God)?" a warden asked to one prisoner who was being disobedient.

" _Seker nie want julle behoort ann die duiwel_ (probably not because you belong to the devil)."

The warden was stuck in the conservative Afrikaner mindset that all blacks worshipped ancestors, not God.

The prisoner did not respond to the warden. Most of the prisoners who had been on the island for some time could understand Afrikaans and even speak it, but they did not want to give the oppressor the satisfaction of answering in their home language.

Nor would they look the wardens in the eye. If the prisoners were being treated like sub-humans, then they would definitely not try and act like equals, even though they knew they were.

Somehow word had slipped out about P.W. Botha's offer to Mandela.

Two wardens standing near the door to the courtyard were discussing it just loud enough for Lindiwe and Pieter to hear.

" _So P.W. Botha gesels met die ANC om Mandela vrytelaat as hy beireid is om in die Transkei te gaan aftree end die mooilikheid te stop_ (so P.W. Botha is talking to the ANC about releasing Mandela if he is prepared to retire to the Transkei and if he can stop all the fighting)," the one warden said.

Of course the warden did not know that the President was not talking to the ANC, but to Mandela in an individual capacity.

Botha would not speak to the enemy based in Lusaka, Zambia, not would he allow any of his Cabinet to engage with them. Later he would find out how several Cabinet members flew to Lusaka without his knowledge and this led him to lose his cool and eventually lose control of his Cabinet and resign as President.

For now Botha was the man and few inside his Cabinet would confront him on the Mandela issue. Most were too afraid and did as they were told. It was the 'ja, baas (yes, boss)" philosophy.

"How lank kan die Nasionaliste uithou (how long can the Nationalists last)?" replied the other warden.

" _Of die regte vleuel gaan oorneem van Botha af, of the swartes kan ons almal trap_ (either the right wing will take over from Botha, or else the blacks will stamp us into the ground)."

The warden was speaking sense. Few countries were open to trading with South Africa due to the country's apartheid policies. The 'Free Mandela' campaign, which ran in London, worked off the back of the sanctions.

White sport still went on as if nothing was wrong. The white sports people had the best coaches and facilities. Despite being at this disadvantage, the black South African Council of Sport (SACOS) stuck to their 'no normal sport in an abnormal society' philosophy, taking it so far as any SACOS person caught watching white sport on television was severely dealt with.

Lindiwe was actually oblivious as to just how the rest of the world was against South Africa. Her fight was not to push for the New South Africa, at least not yet. Her mission was to make sure that Mandela was not eliminated.

"Lindiwe, are you sure you saw a person going down that corridor, if so who was it?" said Pieter to the girl, whose mind was dazed after hearing the conversation between the wardens.

"Pieter, we have to get to Mandela's cell before it is too late," she responded.

"Who was it, Lindiwe?" asked Pieter again.

The girl ran her hands over her face.

"What I saw happened very quickly, but if I am not wrong, it was one of the Security Service guys that captured us at the old laboratory site on the Natal border," she explained.

Pieter's eyes widened. If this was true, the security service men must have let him go by car, and flown ahead themselves in order to get to the island before him, but why?

Did they not release him to get to Mandela to save the day? What type of game was being played here? Clearly this was a football match. The pity was that Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus was being used as the ball.

The truth of the matter was that there was a security service man who was hell-bent on eliminating Mandela but did not want to take the fall for it. Pieter was about to find out that he was being eyed as the fall-guy. Pieter would not be the one to fire the killing shot, but all leads would point to him as having been the assassin, if the real hitman did his job properly.

The Security Service men were used to underhanded tactics. Afterall, they worked with this every day in order to keep the white minority in power and the blacks at bay.

Pieter scrutinised the terrain with his eyes. He had not seen anyone in a Security Services uniform, but he had to believe that Lindiwe was not imagining things.

Whether the Security Services hit-man was acting with or without the President's mandate was immaterial right now. One bullet could change the destiny of South Africa. It could change from potential prosperity to civil war in the space of seconds.

Pieter patted his right hip. He was one of the non-Correctional Services people who was armed on the island. Of course, there could be another man too. The illusive assassin who needed to be stopped before it was too late!

### Chapter 36 - Flashback Time

" _Jy daar, wat maak julle_ (you there, what are you doing)?" shouted another warden, who noticed the suspicious pair.

"Let me handle this," said Pieter, as he headed off to consult with the warden.

Lindiwe suddenly felt as if she was going to faint. Her knees seemed to be giving way under her delicate body frame and she thrust her right arm forward to catch hold of a pole in front of her.

What was going on? She was normally quite healthy. Was the stress of the task getting to her? What if it was too late already? What if the assassin had eliminated Mandela? If that had happened, South Africa would never be the Rainbow Nation after all!

Then she heard a familiar voice inside of her.

" _Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."_

Lindiwe took it as a sign to her that the voice of Nelson Mandela in her mind, meant that the ANC icon was still alive!

" _For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."_

There was that voice again!

Initially, Lindiwe thoughts that the powerful words of Mandela would strengthen her, but she felt like she was about to collapse. It was like another human being had taken over her life. My God, Lindiwe, you are the spirit of Nelson Mandela.

The girl's eyes tried their best to stay open, but it was a forlorn task. Things became extremely dark and the next time she saw light, things were extremely different.

She reached for her purse a friend had given her for her birthday, but it was not in her jacket pocket where she normally stored it.

Hang on, she thought, things look different.

She managed to catch the attention of the first warden who was walking near her.

"Sir, I seem to have lost my brown purse," said Lindi.

"You what?" asked the Afrikaner warden.

"Your purse, alright, and by the way how did you get on to the island?"

"With the ferry," replied Lindiwe, with a smile.

"No I meant...," retorted the warden before putting in a sneeze.

Lindiwe stared down at her clothes and realised that the items on her body were not hers.

"What is the date today?" asked the girl.

"It is the 23rd of June 1973, but I need to know how you made it on to the island?" asked the young warden.

Before he could get his answer from the girl, he got hailed by a colleague and had to go off and sort out some unruly prisoners in the courtyard.

Lindiwe shook her head. 23rd of June 1973!

What was going on?

That familiar voice returned.

" _I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."_

A warden's wife walked past Lindiwe, and immediately called the nearest prison official to get the black woman off of the island.

" _Wat maak sy hier_ (what is she doing here)?" asked the woman, in her early thirties.

" _Sy behoort in die tronk saam met die ander. Hulle het twee van ons polisiemanne in Rhodesie hierdie jaae vermoor. Hulle behoort almal in die tronk op hierdie eiland_ (she belongs in the jail with the others. The blacks have killed two of our policemen in Rhodesia this year. They belong in jail with all the others)."

The _'hulle'_ (they) that the woman mentioned was with reference to the blacks. It was a stereotype outlook which the Nationalist Party brainwashed the whites with. Any black person was seen as an enemy of the state.

Lindiwe was battling to understand what she had done wrong to deserve this sort of judgement. In reality, she had done nothing wrong. This was 1973 and only a white skin meant freedom of movement or a right to any privilege.

For some reason, the warden was more interested in calming the Afrikaner woman down that he was in finding out why Lindiwe was on the island. The girl took her chance and moved away from the confrontation to a corridor close by. Eventually, the warden turned around to look for the girl, but he couldn't see her. Would he call his colleagues to do a search of the island? No, he escorted the Afrikaner woman back to the jetty for her trip back to the mainland.

An out-of-breath Lindiwe stood around in a corridor with her back up against the wall. What was going on here? How did she end up back in 1973? Where was Pieter Erasmus? She suddenly saw some light at the end of the corridor where she was standing. What was this now? Was it a trap?

A greater force seemed to be pushing her body towards the light. The Mandela voice had stopped in her head. She was not sure if that was a good sign or not.

A prison warden at the end of the corridor was striding in her direction. Lindiwe's heart skipped a beat. Would she be locked away or at best, asked to leave the island? The warden walked past her without greeting. What was happening here? It was almost like the spirit of Mandela had made her acceptable to authority, but not to the non-uniformed white minority.

Again, the force pushed her to turn left into another corridor. Lindiwe Buthelezi had no clue where she was going or what was going to happen next.

As she went down the corridor, another warden pointed her in the right direction. The light in the corridor was not great and soon she arrived at a steel door guarded by two wardens. One unlocked the door and she passed through. She was not being locked away. Something else was happening here, but what?

Lindiwe Buthelezi stride forward in fear but also in hope.

As she rounded the next corner, she heard whistling. It had been a good number of years since the prisoners had seen a woman, let alone a woman of their own skin colour. Yet here she was. The young, gorgeous sexy Lindiwe Buthelezi was in the corridor right in front of their prison cells.

" _Wena into enhle (you sexy thing)," one prisoner flirted with the girl from his cell._

" _Uthule yena mncane ngokwanele ukuba yindodakazi yakho_ (quiet, she is young enough to be your daughter)," quipped a prisoner from the cell next door to the one holding the man who made the original comment.

" _Ukube benginawe imizuzu emihlanu nje_ (if I could only have you for ten minutes)," chipped in another prisoner from his cell three doors down from the entrance, and the other prisoners burst out laughing.

Lindiwe was used to being flirted at by men in her real life and she knew how to handle herself in such situations. However, this was a dream and she was in untested waters here. She had no control of her spirit, as someone else did. Was Mandela controlling her movements and thoughts? If it wasn't him, then who was her puppeteer?

Ouch! There was that magnetic force yet again, pulling her body to the side of the corridor. One prisoner tried to fit his fingers through the small barred window to touch the girl, but ended up getting a warden's sjambok over his fingers for his effort.

" _Eish,"_ groaned the man, as he withdrew his hands form the iron bars to give them a good rub.

The pain was worth it, thought the prisoner. Just to see a woman walking in the corridor was like an early Christmas.

Lindiwe took another step forward and little did she know but she was at the prison door of a man who would make a big impact on the future.

"You are not my President," she said, and then wondered what made her say that.

It was like she had lost control of her tongue too. She did not have a clue who the man inside the prison cell was. Was it Mandela?

The prisoner broke out into continuous laughter in a tone that would become recognisable to South Africans in years to come.

"I will become your President," said the man in the cell.

Zuma did not appreciate the girls silence. He was seething deep down inside at her non-reply to his quip on being a future President.

The Zulu man had developed a hunger for three things in life - power, money and woman.

" _Baqinisile wena umuhle kakhulu_ (they are right, you are very pretty),' he said.

She didn't even think about accepting the compliment, but was more focused on what the man had said about being the future No 1 of the country. This was 1973 and it was hard to believe that a black man would be allowed to sit inside Parliament, never mind serve on the Cabinet or lead it.

Eventually Lindiwe spoke in Zulu.

" _Ungubani_ (who are you)?" she asked.

Again, Zuma broke out in hysterical laughter.

" _Ngokuhamba kwesikhathi niyokwazi_ (in time you will know)," replied the prisoner, as he adjusted his spectacles.

The man's words had sent a shiver down the spine of Lindiwe throughout the conversation. He seemed so sure of himself. How could someone be so sure of the future? It was 1973 and it felt like Apartheid will last forever. The horror of Apartheid was that it did not seem wrong in the minds of the power-holders. How could something so wrong seem to be so right in the minds of the white minority?

Simple, the South African public believed what Lindiwe had just thought. Apartheid would last forever. The whites could not picture themselves having black neighbours, let alone a black government. Life was all too good at present. Crime was low because the blacks weren't allowed in white areas without carrying pass books which needed to be stamped by the authorities. A black caught in a white area without a pass book was an automatic ticket to jail.

Even when it came to hiring gardeners or painters, most whites went the way of hiring coloured men. The same applied to the hiring of domestic workers. _No, man, if we let the black person on to the property, that is just a bit too close for comfort_ , many conservative-minded whites thought.

Lindiwe Buthelezi wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Ungubani (who are you)?" asked Lindiwe to the prisoner.

Again, the Zulu captive responded with a sarcastic laugh that would be synonymous in the 2000s.

"Zuma," he replied, with his hands clasped against the iron bars.

"Mandela will be my President," responded Lindiwe in English and with a sense if irritation.

Zuma just stared at the visitor. He was close enough to the ANC action to know that the winds of change would be sweeping through South Africa sometime in the future. The dream of Nelson Mandela and every black person in South Africa, always had hope attached to it. The white minority thought that the hope that the blacks had would remain such for eternity. However, as life pans out, oppression is no smiled on globally, and has a way of coming back to bite the one who thought that they would control forever.

"Angazi, ukuthi ungubani (I don't know who you are)," quipped Lindiwe to the prisoner, who again began to laugh deeply.

" _Ngolunye usuku uyokwazi_ (one day you will)," said the prisoner.

Lindiwe carried on walking down the corridor. She didn't have time to waste in being stopped to shoot the breeze with people whom she didn't know. The girl needed to get the the cell of Nelson Mandela soonest.

Just as that magnetic force had pushed her towards the corridor where the prison cells were, there now seemed to be some form of resistance in stopped her from getting to the cells further down. What type of spirits were at play here? She wasn't one to believe in praying to ancestors but there was definitely some serious power involved inside the creepy Robben Island prison.

Her knees were beginning to feel weak and she was forced to hold on to the walls of the prison corridors amid the whistling and flirting that was taking place at her expense.

Surely this supernatural visit to Nelson Mandela's prison cell would not end up without her having the chance to meet the great man? Had that Zuma character ruined everything and used up all the trance time?

The corridor was getting darker and Lindiwe was getting more frustrated. What was the purpose of this visit if she was not going to get the opportunity to meet Mandela?

Lindiwe's heart was beginning to feel heavy. Surely this was not going to end this way? Where is that Mandela voice, she thought. Please speak to me, Mr Mandela!

The girl found herself drifting back down the corridor to the entrance door to the prison cells area. Was this similar to the tunnel that many have allegedly seen when they managed to escape death. People on the verge of leaving this earth have often given stories of the bright light in a tunnel which supposedly takes them to the next life, be it heaven or hell.

Lindiwe certainly was not on her way to heaven or hell, at least not yet. She had much more to do on earth and saving Mandela was a part of that.

Lindiwe snapped out of the trance and found herself leaning against a wall in the corridor near the office of prison chief, Vorster.

Her heart was pumping like never before and her clothes were damp from sweat. She was able to remember every detail from the trance. If she was not able to meet Mandela, then that meant that this part of her future had still to happen. The mission had not changed. She needed to get to Mandela before the assassin did.

Lindiwe looked around just to make sure as to what time zone she was in. She pressed the fingers of her right hand into her jacket pocket and found her brown purse. Yes, there it was. The one that had not been in her pocket in 1973.

How was Lindiwe going to explain her time warp to Pieter? He was surely going to think that she was crazy!

### Chapter 37 - Blocked and Frustrated

"Lindiwe, you look like you have seen a ghost," exclaimed Pieter Erasmus, as he led Lindiwe Buthelezi to a wooden bench in the corridor.

The girl sat down and Pieter knelt next to her.

"Pieter, you are not going to believe what I saw in the past," said Lindiwe.

Pieter shrugged his shoulders. What Lindiwe knew about the future was scary enough. Here he was. Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus, son of conservative minded parents. What was the Erasmus' son about to do? He was about to help the enemy to power in the land of his forefathers. Pieter Erasmus was about to put the blacks in authority over the Afrikaner. There was no going back on his decision, whether his family or current employers like it, or not.

"Pieter, I heard Mandela's voice in my spirit again," began Lindiwe, as she began to pull herself together.

"I even saw the prison cells on this island as they were in 1973."

"Did you see Mandela?" asked the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe shook her head.

"No, but the strange thing was that I got sidetracked by another individual who claimed that he would be the country's President one day," she said.

Pieter waited for the man's name, but when Lindiwe did not respond, he had to ask for it.

"Who is he?"

"Zuma," replied the girl.

Pieter thought about the name for a moment but he had not heard of it before. His acquaintances in the government's intelligence unit would know better.

"Zuma seemed so sure of himself that he would one day be President of South Africa, Pieter, it was so freaky in there," continued Lindiwe.

"What else did you see or hear?" asked Pieter.

Lindiwe sighed and tried to stretch her brains to remember every detail of what happened.

"It was so unlike what we are experiencing here," She said.

"The wardens did not question my presence at all. When I went down that corridor towards the prison cells, it was like a magnetic force was pushing me forward. Then once I had been distracted by Zuma and the prisoners who were whistling at me, the opposite happened."

Pieter looked confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The same magnetic force that had pushed me forward, was now holding me back from getting to Mandela's prison cell," commented Lindiwe.

"I was so close to seeing Mandela. I could feel his presence in my spirit, but after chatting with Zuma, that Mandela influence disappeared. The Mandela voice in my mind vanished and I was pushed away to the exit, before I woke up. Am I going crazy, Pieter? If you say so, I will believe you this time."

Pieter shook his head.

"I don't think that you are going crazy," he said.

What the pair did not know is that someone was keeping an eye on them from a distance. As quick as he could, that someone ran back to the prison chief's office to set the trap for the Lieutenant.

" _Daar is twee mense op die eiland wat nie hier behoort nie_ (there are two people on the island who don't belong here)," reported the man to the boss, Vorster.

This was hardly the news that Vorster wanted. He had just finished a tough meeting with Correctional Services Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen and the African-American, Pearce Ellison, with the result having been that the human rights lawyer would be given ten minutes with Mandela in thirty minutes from now.

Vorster remembered what Pearce had said about a possible threat on the life of Mandela. If the ANC man died while he was in charge, that would be the end of his career in the Correctional Services or even perhaps the end of his life.

" _Kry vir die manne om hulle wegtevat, of nee, laat volg vir hulle tot dat hulle naby die Mandela sel uitkom en dan skiet vir hulle_ (get the men to take them away, or no, follow them until they get close to the Mandela prison cell and then shoot them)," said Vorster with a grin.

The island prison boss could see his name up in lights. Vorster, the man who set the trap to save Mandela's life, by eliminating two potential assassins. He would be the talk of the town, and his pension money would be huge one day.

The man left the office and returned to within eye-shot of the spot where he had seen Pieter and Lindiwe. Damn it, they weren't there any more. He pulled out a two way radio from his jacket and began to bellow down it to his colleagues. He needed back-up support.

Pieter and Lindiwe were well hidden in a cupboard, but through a crack in the door, could see wardens moving at great speed in the direction of the prison cells.

" _Hulle is nie by Mandela se sel nie_ (they are not at Mandela's prison cell)," said an out-of-breath warden, a short while later.

" _Hulle kan nie weg kom nie. Kring die eiland_. (They can't get away. Circle the island).

Why were the wardens so keen on finding them when there was another hitman on the loose? Then it dawned on the Lieutenant. He was going to be the fall guy. He would be blamed or killed for allegedly attempting to kill Mandela!

You are on your own, Lieutenant.

He felt those words in his spirit, but where they came from, he didn't know. So, he could not turn to the Correctional Services employees on the island for help. They thought that he was the bad guy.

"How long can we stay here in this cupboard?" asked Pieter, out of frustration.

Two wardens, jogging down the corridor in front of the cupboard where Pieter and Lindiwe were hiding, suddenly came to a halt, as a crackling message came through on their two-way radios.

" _Alles manskappe na die kaai toe (all men to the jetty)," a voice ordered over the communications system._

A cold chill went down Pieter's spine. If the man or men that wanted to eliminate Mandela were really a part of the employees of the government, then this would be the perfect opportunity for them to carry out the task, with maximum manpower ordered to report to the jetty.

"Are you sure that you will know the way to the prison cells?" whispered Pieter to Lindiwe, with both still hiding in the cupboard.

The girl nodded.

One of the wardens standing within three metres of the cupboard turned around and glanced at the wooden closet for a moment.

Pieter cringed. Was their challenge about to be over?

Then the warden looked back at his colleague.

" _Cilliers, sluit hierdie duur voordat one af kaai toe gaan_ (Cilliers, lock this door before we go down to the jetty) _,"_ said the taller of the two men.

The clanging sound of keys could be heard as the other warden took a bunch of keys on a keyring from his pocket.

He began to work through the twenty-odd keys one at a time in search of the correct one that would turn the lock of the door that would secure the corridor to the prison cells.

" _Jy weet mos, dit sal altyd die laaste sleutel wees_ (you know, it will always be the last key)," he muttered, before turning the key to lock the door.

With the door secured, the two wardens headed off to the jetty.

Once Pieter was sure that the area was safe, he put his hand forward and was about to open the cupboard door when he heard footsteps. What now?

Another man in a grey uniform made his way to the door and found it locked.

He tried his best to work the door open, but he had no chance of opening the lock or moving the iron door. The man had a grey hood over his head so it was not possible for Pieter to see his face from where the pair were in the cupboard.

The man did a u-turn and walked back down the way that he had arrived, but Pieter thought that it was too risky to leave his place of hiding to try and see the man's identity.

"When do we climb out of this cupboard?" asked Lindiwe.

"When it is safe," snapped back Pieter.

He glanced at his wristwatch. It was 11h35. That wasn't good news. He knew how pressed they were for time, but the good news was that the corridor door was not only a challenge to them, but also to the assassin.

He heard a thumping sound and soon more footsteps were heading towards the door.

" _Ek het twee mense gesien, n wit man en n swart vrou_ (I saw two people, a white man and a black woman)," explained the man who had reported to the pair to island prison chief, Vorster.

A warden snapped back at the man out of frustration.

" _Wel hulle is nerens op die eiland nie en het ook nie die eiland verlaat nie_ (well they are nowhere to be found on the island, and never left the island either)!"

The man was not happy that the warden was not believing him.

" _Wel, ek gaan hulle vind al is dit die laaste ding wat ek doen_ (well I will find them even if it is the last thing that I do)," snapped the man.

" _Ek sal vir julle wys dat ek nie mal is nie_ (I will show you that I am not crazy)."

The man headed off and the warden slammed his right fist against the locked door in front of him.

" _Vind Cilliers met die sleutel_ (find Cilliers with the key)!" yelled the warden to the man, who was a good few yards down the corridor.

The warden's two-way radio began to take a call and this time it was island prison boss, Vorster, talking to his men.

" _Hoe mooilik kan dit wees om n swart meisie op Robbeneiland to volg_ (how difficult can it be to follow a black girl on Robben Island)?" ordered Vorster, in a seething tone.

" _Wanneer julle haar vind, en die man saam met haar, volg net tot by Mandela se sel, moenie skiet nie, ek herhaal, moenie skiet nie_ (when you find her and the man who is with her, follow them to Mandela's prison cell, don't shoot, I repeat, don't shoot)!"

Pieter breathed a sigh of relief over the fact that the wardens were ordered not to shoot Lindiwe or himself.

The warden at the locked door turned around and spotted the cupboard. He started to stride towards it and Pieter prepared his mind and fists for a fight.

Then the warden's two-way radio crackled again.

" _Verwey, laat vir die Waarnemende Kommasaris en die prokereur, Meneer Ellison, in om met Mr Mandela to gesels in the klein kantoor vir tien minuute_ (Verwey, let the Acting Commissioner and the lawyer, Mr Ellison, in to meet with Mr Mandela in the small office for ten minutes)."

Verwey nodded in acceptance of the order as if Vorster was standing in front of him. The warden moved away from the cupboard and stared down the corridor, as he waited for the key for the door to arrive.

He certainly hoped that the key would arrive before the Acting Commissioner and the lawyer did. He did not enjoy looking unprofessional and disorganised.

Finally, Warden Cilliers arrived with the key for the door, which was unlocked a minute or so before Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen and Pearce Ellison walked through, in deep conversation.

Cilliers watched Pearce cautiously. Aside from the prisoners, he wasn't being so close to a black man, especially one with an American accent.

The warden was also quite taken aback as to how relaxed the Acting Commissioner was in his dialogue with the African-American.

Once the pair had passed through the gate, Cilliers looked at the other warden.

" _Moet ek die duur weer sluit_ (must I lock the door)?" he asked.

" _Nee, maak hom toe maar bly net hier by die hek_ (no, close the door but stay here," replied the other warden.

The second warden went through the door before Cilliers closed it. All was quite for a few minutes, before footsteps were heard yet again.

The approaching looked at the tag on the warden's shirt.

" _Cilliers, ek moet by the Waarnemende Kommassaris uitkom_ (Cilliers, I have to get to the Acting Commissioner)," the man said.

Inside the cupboard, Pieter gasped as he recognised the grey top and hood, as that worn by the man who was at the locked door earlier. The Lieutenant also recognised the voice but was trying to put it to a face.

The Lieutenant's mind was starting to give in due to a lack of sleep, but now was not a good time. He stretched his eyes in trying to identify the man at the door, who was showing some sort of accreditation to the warden.

The warden eventually agreed to let the man enter and radioed the pending arrival of the man to the group ahead. Pieter tried his best to hear the name of the man, but Warden Cilliers spoke so softly that it was almost impossible to work it out.

Pieter need to do something. Next to him in the cupboard, Lindiwe was trying to stretch her legs as much as she could. Her legs felt jelly-like due to a lack of movement which brought about a shortage of blood circulation.

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus had to make a call. He could not wait any longer. If the man who had just gone through the entrance to the prison cell corridor was indeed the potential assassin, then time was really something that neither he not Lindiwe had.

Pieter Erasmus needed to time his move to perfection. With the corridor seemingly quiet and empty, he waited for Warden Cilliers to face the opposite way.

A crashing sound could be heard as the butt of Pieter's 9mm pistol slammed down on the back of the skull of the warden. Cilliers' legs gave way under him and he dropped to the floor.

Pieter grabbed the upper body of the unconscious warden, while Lindiwe grabbed his legs, and the prison employed was placed inside the cupboard in which the pair had been hiding.

### Chapter 38 - Out for the Count

The warden was in dreamland and Pieter and Lindiwe were on the move.

Inside the maximum security prison cell area, Pearce Ellison was smiling from ear to ear. He had long since tucked away his sunglasses and was now in a corridor that was dark and doomed.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Pearce Ellison's name was going to go up in lights, or so he thought. Pearce was about to become Nelson Mandela's new best friend!

As Acting Commissioner Mark van Pletzen and Pearce were led into the top security corridor where the prison cells were, the black political prisoners began to make a loud boo-ing sound. Any white man in a Correctional Services uniform was bad news in their eyes and they did not take long to realise that the African-American was not one of them.

"Hey, you sell out!" shouted one prisoner to Pearce.

"Do you know what a black man who is not in a prison cell is called? He is a token darkie!"

The other prisoners roared with laughter.

"Hey P.W.'s puppet!" shouted another prisoner at Pearce, in reference to State President Botha's control of many black minds, who had surrendered all levels of open thinking to believe that Apartheid was their portion in life.

"As you can see, the prisoners are in good health and well fed," said Mark van Pletzen to Pearce Ellison.

One of the prisoners overhead the remark and laughed hysterically.

"Well fed?" he mocked.

"A dog would pull their nose up at what we are given to eat!"

"Yes, and let's not talk about the medical care!" screamed another prisoner, pointing at the bruising on his wrists.

Of course, the prisoner had received the injuries after being hit by a warden, after not working hard enough in the lime quarry.

Mark ignored the comments.

"These prisoners are better cared for than those in many other countries in the world," motivated Mark to the lawyer, as he ushered Pearce towards Mandela's prison cell.

The cell was not empty. Pearce noted the mat and cushion which made up Mandela's bed. Also in the small cell, was a _ballie_ which the prisoner used as a toilet. The small barrell had a lid on it and it was emptied out twice a day. There was also a small table inside the cell.

"I think the wardens have taken him to the office for your meeting," explained Mark.

The boo-ing sound from the prisoners got even louder as Mark ushered Pearce out of the corridor. The trip to the prison cells was to show the lawyer that the jail conditions are not as bad as the international media made them out to be. Of course, the world press did not get to see first hand just how the conditions were, but were picking up bits and pieces from people who had seen the living conditions for prisoners on the island.

Meanwhile, back in the prison administration office, island prison boss, Vorster, had been hard at work to bring down Pearce's dream.

As the Acting Commissioner and the lawyer walked out of the corridor that housed the prisoners, they were met with two heavily armed men.

" _Waarnemende Kommasaris, jy en die prokereur moet saam met ons kom asseblief_ (Acting Commissioner, you and the lawyer must come with us, please)," said the one man, who held a rifle close to his body.

Pearce thought that the two security men were there to escourt the pair to the meeting room where they would meet Mandela. However, Mark knew better. These two armed individuals were not Correctional Services men, nor were they from the police. They seemed to be undercover agents who were placed on the island to ensure that everyone, including the wardens, were kept in check.

"Waar vat jy vir ons (where are you taking us)?" asked Mark.

" _Dit is beter dat jy so min as moontlik weet_ (it is better that you know as little as possible),"answered the man holding the rifle.

Mark could sense that the pair were about to be taken from the island for a meeting at the government intelligence offices, where he would need to answer some serious questions as to why he allowed a foreign stranger to get close to Mandela.

The Acting Commissioner held a black belt in karate and was a pretty handy boxer in his younger days. Still as fit as a fiddle, Mark needed a way out of the situation. He needed a spiritual fighting partner. At the moment, the hopes of finding one seemed slim as he surveyed the empty corridor.

Then, it was as if God had answered his prayer.

Out of the blue, a world class rugby tackle from the side took down the man with the rifle, who had been walking at the rear.

The agent's rifle fell to the ground as Pieter Erasmus used all of his strength in trying to pin the agent to the cement floor. The agent reached for his 9mm pistol on his hip, but three right hooks to the jaw from the Lieutenant left the man out cold.

The attack only took a few seconds, during which Mark sprung into action by providing a karate kick to the chest of the second agent. A wheezing sound could be heard from the man's chest as he fell to the ground.

Mark grabbed the man's pistol while Pieter took the rifle and a pistol off the other agent.

"Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus," said Pieter, as he identified himself, before pointing to Lindiwe Buthelezi, who now stood next to him.

"Acting-Commissioner Mark van Pletzen," replied Mark with a grin.

"What are you dying on the island?"

Pieter wiped the sweat from his brow.

"We are trying to save Mandela's life," explained Pieter.

" Ditto," said Pearce, as he stepped forward to join in on the chat.

"Let's move the bodies out of the way before the wardens come," said Pieter, and the four dragged the two agents into an area away from the main corridor.

"I haven't got time to explain everything, but there are at least two people on this island who are on a mission to eliminate Mandela and we need to stop them," explained Pieter.

Pearce nodded and Mark caught on. It was the threat to Mandela's life that Pearce had feared, when the pair had spoken in the meeting at Polsmoor prison.

"Do you know the identity of the assassin or assassins?" asked Mark to Pieter.

"I caught a glimpse of a man trying to force the corridor safety door open, but I could not see his face," said Pieter.

"He wore a grey top, with th grey hood covering his face. I think there may be more than one person involved."

Mark looked at the human rights lawyer.

"Vorster!"exclaimed Pearce.

"He wasn't happy to give us time with Mandela, but submitted to authority."

Mark began to put his strategy together.

"We need to split up, Lindiwe, you stay with the Lieutenant, as you seem to work well together," said the Acting-Commissioner.

Lindiwe nodded.

"We will go to safeguard Mandela," said Pieter.

"If we are not back by one hour from now then raise the alarm, but be carefully who you speak too, as we don't know who is in on the plot."

"Dirty cops," remarked Pearce.

"Rather, dirty wardens," replied Pieter.

"We are going to pay Vorster a visit," said Mark, as he released the safety catch on the 9mm pistol in his right hand.

The four split into pairs and it wasn't long before Pieter's sharp shooting was required.

A warden spotted him from about fifty metres away and shouted out as he drew his pistol.

"Jy daar, staan stil of jy is vrek (you there, stand stil or you are dead)!"

Pieter pulled Lindiwe to the nearest wall and told her to stay low.

The warden had approached with pistol in the firing position. Pieter saw a Coca Cola can lying on the floor next to Lindiwe and the girl passed it to him.

He threw the can out into the open and the warden fired a shot at it. Pieter returned the compliment and fired one bullet from his pistol, into the right shoulder of the warden.

Clutching his shoulder, the warden fell forward, as he cried out in pain.

"This way!" commanded Pieter, as he pulled Lindiwe towards another corridor to their right.

Meanwhile, Vorster was becoming more worried as the minutes ticked by. Seated at his desk in his office, he had tried to get hold of Warden Cilliers on the two-way radio communications without any luck. Next, he tried to contact the Agent Van Zyl, who had held the rifle in stopping the Acting-Commissioner and Pearce, but there was no sign of him either.

Vorster stood up from his chair and took a 9mm pistol from the top draw of his desk. He was about to put some live ammunition in the gun's chamber, when he received two unexpected guests.

"Vorster, I can seek that you were not expecting to see us," said Acting-Commissioner Mark van Pletzen, with eyes raging.

Vorster looked pale.

"Tell us about your plan to have Mr Mandela executed," ordered Mark, while Pearce Ellison kept an eye on the door area.

"I never had any intention of having Mandela killed," remarked a shaky Vorster.

"Oh, but you were quite prepared to allow it to happen, not so?" questioned Mark.

Vorster was lost for words.

"You were the only one who knew that Pearce Ellison and I were going to speak with Mr Mandela, so you sent some of your heavies to stop us from doing that," went on the Acting Commissioner.

With his 9mm pistol aimed at Vorster, Mark moved over to the desk, and in a flash, had the island prison chief handcuffed to his metal chair. He also relieved Vorster of his pistol, ammunition and two-way radio.

"I never liked you from the day I met you," muttered Vorster to Mark.

"That is your democratic right," quipped the Acting-Commissioner.

"Mark, we are about to have company," said Pearce, stationed on guard near the half-closed office door.

Footsteps could be heard in the corridor and it was clearly that they were getting closer.

Mark positioned himself just wide of the door on the opposite side to Pearce, who was hidden by a cupboard.

Agent Van Zyl knocked on the door and stood in the doorway, rubbing his jaw.

" _Daai ou is so sterk soos n bees, hy het my uitgeslaan_ (that guy is as strong as an ox, he knocked me out)," said van Zyl to Vorster.

The agent, standing was completely unaware that Vorster was chained to his desk.

" _Soek oorals op die eiland, hulle moet iewers wees_ (check the whole island, they must be somewhere," replied Vorster sternly.

" _Moet ek nie Mandela se sel bekyk nie_ (must I not check Mandela's cell)?" asked the agent.

" _Nee, die ander manne staan wag daar, soek oorals op die eiland_ (no, the other guards are on duty there, check everywhere on the island)," replied Vorster.

" _Reg so,"_ quipped the agent, as he turned and left.

Pieter shook his head and stared at Vorster.

"Why did you not tell the agent that we were here?" asked the Lieutenant.

Vorster narrowed his eyes.

"Does it matter?" he quipped rhetorically.

"You are to late to save Mandela anyway. I was not in on the plan from the start, but then I thought of just how nicely things could be for the Afrikaner if Mandela is eliminated. Sure, I might get fired because of his assassination on my watch, but we need to think about our families and where South Africa is ten years from now."

Pearce Ellison went over to the desk and for once, lost his cool.

"Where we are ten years from now, did you say?" said the lawyer, as he held the handcuffed Vorster by the throat.

"I will tell you where you will be ten years from now. In the local cemetery. If Mandela gets eliminated, the blood will flow in this beautiful country, white blood, black blood, any time of blood."

"I don't mind dying, but I hope that you are the first to get taken out so I can watch it happen!" said Vorster, as he spat towards the lawyer.

Mark came over to break up the emotional 'white vs black' showdown. This was racist South Africa at its very best. He was used to seeing this situation in the prisons.

"You go to hell, Vorster!" shouted Pearce.

"If I go there too, then so be it, but I will take pleasure in seeing you roasting with the devil!"

Vorster laughed sarcastically.

"Leave it, Pearce, we need to go," said Mark, as he pulled the human rights lawyer away from the island prison boss.

"Vorster, if anything happens, to Pearce Ellison, my other two colleagues or myself, hell will be mild compared to what will happen to you," threatened Mark.

"Remember my face, van Pletzen, because it is the last time that you will ever see me!" shouted Vorster.

Mark loaded the pistol that he had taken from Vorster and gave it to Pearce.

"I don't know how to shoot this," said the lawyer.

"Well, you may have to do some on-the-job learning," grinned Mark.

"It is simple. Take the safety catch off and aim just below the target. Try and keep the weapon as still as you can when you fire it."

Pearce looked back at Vorster.

"Lucky you only gave this weapon to me now," said the lawyer.

"I would have blown Vorster's head off if I could have done so earlier. I can't believe a person in a position of authority like Vorster can believe that black lives are so cheap."

"Let's get to Mr Mandela before the wrong people do," said Mark, as the pair cautiously headed out of the door.

### Chapter 39 - Taking the Bullet

Lieutenant Pieter Erasmus clicked open the safety catch on his 9mm pistol. His gut feeling was that he would be firing off another shot soon, and his instincts were seldom wrong.

He stared down at his belt. The other pistol that he had taken off of one of the agents, was safely tucked away, but ready for action when needed. Pieter had been a hot shot shooter at police college. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would need to fire live ammunition at Apartheid law enforcement men who were up to no good.

Lindiwe too, was staring at the second pistol that was hooked on Pieter's belt. Pieter glanced at the girl, and then handed the pistol to her.

"Put the safety catch off and then pull the trigger," he whispered, as he gave her a quick lesson on how to fire the weapon.

Lindiwe lowered the pistol as she attempted to control the safety catch.

"Watch it, you are going to shoot yourself in the foot," warned the Lieutenant, as he pushed the pistol up from the position that the girl had held it.

At that moment, there was a noise on the other side of the closed door leading to the passage to the prison cells, and Pieter and Lindiwe instantly had their pistols aimed at the target.

Pieter had already worked out that there were three wardens at the prison cells. Add on the assassin and at least one henchman, and there were not five persons that he needed to take care of.

" _Hoof Vorster, ons is reg vir aksie_ (chief Vorster, we are ready for action)," said the man on the other side of the door, who was expecting the arrival of the island prison chief.

The door opened and the man, in his twenties

Pieter immediately recognised the face as one of the sidekicks of the General. This man had tried to drown him on the General's orders when he was held captive in Natal.

The man's face turned green when he saw Pieter.

" _Wat is fout_ (what is wrong)?" asked the Lieutenant.

The man tried to pull the door closed, but Pieter threw himself at the man and forced him to the ground. With Pieter having dropped his pistol during the tussle, Lindiwe pointed her weapon at the two men, who were rolling over one another.

The General's sidekick put a knee into Pieters ribs, and the Lieutenant winced in pain. While Pieter tried to pull himself to an upright position, the man reached for the Lieutenant's pistol which lay on the floor.

The General's accomplice gazed at Lindiwe, whose pistol was pointed directly at him.

"You won't shoot," said the man, as he got to his feet and put his hand toward's Pieter's pistol.

"Shoot!" shouted Pieter.

Lindiwe's hands were sweating. She had never fired a gun before. She closed her eyes and pulled back the trigger on the pistol until a shot went off.

The man cried out in pain.

"You black bitch, you shot me in the nuts!" he said, as he lay on the floor in agony, with his blood flowing around him.

Pieter grinned as he picked his pistol up from the floor.

"Nice shooting," said the Lieutenant.

"I didn't mean to shoot him between the legs," said an emotional Lindiwe.

"Relax, you did what you needed to do," quipped Pieter, amid the cries from the man.

" _Ek het hulp nodig_ , _jy kan my nie hier los nie_ (I need help, you can't leave me here)," said the wounded man, who gritted his teeth in an attempt to hold back the pain.

Pieter stepped wide of the man, took his pistol and headed off through the door.

Pieter was doing the mathematics as he and Lindiwe moved forward. Two wardens and a potential assassin down... that left one potential assassin and one warden.

The Lieutenant and the girl took cover behind two cabinets that stood in the corridor. Having heard the gunshot, two wardens rushed to down the alley, and through the open door, to find the wounded man on the floor. The wardens realised their mistake too late.

Pieter closed the door and turned the key that the injured man had inserted in the lock before walking through the doorway.

" _Hy het ons fokken uitgesluit_ (he fucking locked us out)!" shouted one of the wardens, who was now stuck with his partner on the wrong side of the locked door.

Both wardens began to slam their fists on the door and scream their lungs out, which drowned the pains of agony from the man on the floor.

"Let's go," said Pieter, as he and Lindiwe began to jogged down the corridor.

The two wardens on the far side of the locked door used their two-way radios to inform their colleague near the prison cells as to what was happening.

The message could be heard loud and clear over the radios and the prisoners began to sing 'Nkosi Sikelela I Afrika', as they sensed that some person or people were coming their way to free them from the oppressor.

"Shut up, _fokken_ (fucking) shut up!"shouted the warden.

The prisoners did not listen and the noise grew to deafening capacity, with the prisoners banging their metal coffee mugs against the iron barred window.

The warden got on to his radio and called for help. The wardens at the jetty, could not hear the message clearly, while the likes of Vorster, Cilliers, the two wardens at the door of the corridor, and the two agents, were not in a position to help.

" _Kom ons waai en sluit die duur toe_ (come let's go and lock the door),"suggeted the warden to Acting-Commissioner, Mark van Pletzen.

Mark shook his head.

They had come on this journey for human rights lawyer, Pearce Ellison, to have ten minutes with Nelson Mandela. A bunch of locked-up, chanting prisoners was not going to make Mark change his mind.

The light at the corridor entrance was bright enough for the warden to spot Pieter's shadow. Instantly, the man in uniform drew his pistol and fired a shot, which went past the wall, about six centimetres away from Pieter's nose.

" _Moenie verder inkom nie, my mannekrag is oppad_ (don't come inside, my manpower is on its way)!" yelled the warden, whose pistol hand was beginning to shake.

The warden was bluffing or at least hoping that some of his colleagues had heard his distress call over the two-way radio.

" _Ek soek nie vir jou nie_ (I am not looking for you)!" yelled back the Lieutenant.

" _Sit you wapen op die grond en staan by die duur met jou hande in die lug_ (put your weapon on the ground and step into the doorway with your hands in the air)!" ordered the warden.

Pieter signalled to Lindiwe to hold her position and be ready to fire if need be.

The Lieutenant put his pistol on to the floor and pushed it out into the open with his right foot. He then raised his hands and walked out. The warden stood ten metres away with his pistol aimed at Pieter.

He noted the presence of Mark van Pletzen and Pearce Ellison.

" _Tronkbewaarder, gaan vandag probeer om Meneer Mandela te vermoor_ (Warden, someone will try to murder Mr Mandela here today)," explained Pieter.

The warden glared at Pieter.

" _Ja, dis jy, jou vark_ (yes, its you, you pig)," he responded, as he clicked the safety catch on his pistol.

" _Nee, dit is nie ek nie, maar daar is nog n persoon wat n probleem gaan wees_ (no, it is not me, but there is another person who is going to be a problem!" said Pieter.

The warden held the pistol in one hand, and clutched on to his two-way radio with the other.

" _Hoof Vorster, ek het die man wat Mandela wou vermoor, kom in Hoof Vorster_ (Chief Vorster, I have got the man who wanted to murder Mandela), come in, Chief Vorster?"

Besides a crackling sound, there was no response.

" _Lyk my jy is man aleen_ (looks like you are man alone)," said Pieter, and some of the prisoners giggled.

"Shut up, jy (you)," said the warden, to Pieter.

" _As ek nou vir jou kon vrekskiet so ek_ (if I could shoot you dead right now, I would)."

Moment's later, the sound of a shot was heard, and the bullet lodged in the chest of the warden, killing him instantly.

General Jan du Toit, the man with the conservative mindset who had interrogated Pieter while he was held captive in Natal, stepped out into the open five metres to the right of Pieter. He had his arm around the throat of Lindiwe Buthelezi, with his grip so tight that the girl was battling to breath.

"So, Erasmus, it looks like this is the end of the line," said du Toit, as he waved his pistol across Mark van Pletzen, Pearce Ellison and then Pieter.

Mark van Pletzen recognised Jan du Toit from Correctional Services training courses that they were on together a few years back. Many people in the prisons set-up frowned when du Toit got transferred to a strictly confidential government department. It was thought that the fact that his father was the much-respected Brigadier Kobus du Toit, had something to do with it.

" _Dit hoef nie so te wees nie_ (it doesn't have to be this way)," said Mark, with his hands raised.

Du Toit shook his head.

" _Jy weet nie hoe dit voel om jou beste te probeer en dan almal ignoreer jou want jy is Kobus du Toit se seun_ (you don't know what it is like to do your best and to be ignored because you are the son of Kobus du Toit)!" yelled the General.

" _Niks wat ek reggekry het was goedgenoeg in die ooe van my pa. En die res van julle wat agter my rug gelag het, oor hoe ek n Generaal geword het_ (Nothing I did was right in the eyes of my father. The rest of you just laughed behind my back, about how I became a General)."

" _Wel, julle kan nou getuie wees hoe ek vir Mandela doodskiet en julle kan vir julle families die storie vertel van n man wat n goeie ding gedoen het namens die Afrikaners_ (well, you can now be witness as I shoot Mandela dead, and you can tell your families the story of what a good thing I did in the name of the Afrikaners)," went on du Toit, who began to cough.

" _Tuberkolose_ (tuberculosis)?" asked Pieter.

The General looked at him.

" _Long kanker, maar dit beteken niks in jou lewe nie_ (lung cancer, but it doesn't mean much in your life)," quipped the General.

" _Ek is jammer_ (I am sorry)," said Pieter.

"' _Sorry'se moer, ek het nie jou 'sorry' nodig nie_ (to hell with sorry, I don't need your sorry)!" replied du Toit sternly.

The General then began to cough again and it looked for a moment as if his knees were going to give in underneath him.

" _Loop, Erasmus, daar is genoeg in hierdie geweer om julle almal dood te maak_ (walk, Erasmus, there is enough in this gun to kill all of you)," said the General.

" _Wanneer jy vir ons en vir Mandela dood gemaak het, wat dan_ (when you have killed us and Mandela, what then)?" asked Pieter.

The General tried to laugh but his ribs were too sore from all of the coughing.

" _Dan vertel ek vir die polisie dat ek vir jou doodgeskiet het nadat jy vir Mandela doodgemaak het_ (then I will tell the police that I killed you after you killed Mandela)," answered the General

" _Wat van all die gevanginaars wat alles sal sien_ (what about all the prisoners who would have seen everything)?" asked the Lieutenant.

Again, the General tried to laugh, without any luck.

" _Wie gaan die hof glo? N Generaal of n klomp swart tronkvoels_ (who will the court believe? A General or a bunch of black jailbirds)?"

The prisoners nearest to du Toit bashed their coffee mugs against the door with anger.

The General went into another fit of coughing and leaned forward. Lindiwe took her chance and elbowed du Toit in the ribs, forcing him to drop the pistol. Mark van Pletzen and Pieter Erasmus were on to the General, pinning him to the ground, and relieving him of his weapon.

" _So, jy will dit nou doen_ , _Erasmus_ (so you want to do it, Erasmus)," asked the out-of-breath General.

" _Jy will vir Mandela skiet_ (you want to shoot Mandela)?"

Pieter looked at the gun and then at Lindiwe.

" _Nee, nie meer nie, daai dae is verby_ (no, not anymore, those days are over)," said the Lieutenant, as Mark handcuffed the General.

" _Jy het Suid-Afrika uitverkoop vir generasies wat nog kom_ (you have sold South Africa out for generations to come)!" fumed du Toit.

Soon, about twenty armed Correctional Services wardens entered the area.

" _Alles is in die hak, maar vat vir hierdie Generaal weg asseblief_ (everything is under control, but please take this General away)," ordered Mark.

" _Wat van hierdie ou_ (wat about this guy)?" asked the nearest warden, as he indicated with his rifle towards Pieter.

Mark shook his head.

" _Nee, dankietog vir hierdie man, ons het nog n kans vir vrede in hierdie land_ (no, thanks to this man, we still have a chance of peace in this land)," replied the Acting Commissioner.

" _En wat van die swart meisie_ (and what about the black girl)?" asked another warden.

" _Los haar uit, sy is ook deel van die rede dat ons land n toekoms het_ (leave her alone, she is also a part of the reason that our country has a future)," ordered Mark.

The warden didn't understand.

" _Ja, maar daar is ook n ander probleem_ (yes, but there is also another problem)," remarked the warden.

" _Een van ons manne is hospitaal toe met n geweer skoot tussen die bene_ (one of our men is on his way to hospital with a gunshot wound between the legs)," explained the warden.

" _Blykbaar die swart meisie het hom daar geskiet_ (apparently, the black girl shot him there)."

Mark wanted to laugh, but then managed to control himself and winked at the girl.

" _Ons sal dit later uitsort_ (we will sort that out later)," said Mark to the warden.

The Acting Commissioner turned to Pearce Ellison.

"Mr Ellison, I believe we owe you something," said Mark, as he led the contingent of the the human rights lawyer, the Lieutenant and the girl toward the prison cell which was home to Nelson Mandela.

### Chapter 40 - All over Bar the Shouting

_Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world!_

Nelson Mandela was still in his prison cell, but Lindiwe Buthelezi felt these words of his, pacing through her spirit.

It had been decided that the great ANC man would meet Pearce Ellison, Mark van Pletzen, Pieter Erasmus and Lindiwe in the small office, and not at his prison cell.

How would President P.W. Botha feel about all of this? Well, what the President did not yet know, would not hurt him.

" _I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul."_

Lindiwe shook her head as the words sent a shiver through her body. She had heard the words before. Yes, those very words were uttered by Mandela in her spirit when she had visited the Robben Island prison in 1973 in a trance. This time, she knew that things were real.

She grinned at Pieter, who stood next to her.

"I thought you said that you don't know how to use that pistol?" teased the Lieutenant.

Lindiwe giggled.

"I don't actually, you will have to teach me when you have time," she answered.

"As long as you don't shoot me in the same place that you shot the warden," teased Pieter, in reference to the bullet wound to the warden's private parts, inflicted by Lindiwe.

"Come on, you know that was an accident," the girl explained.

"Sure, you tell that to the poor guy's wife," answered Pieter.

Lindiwe burst out into hysterical laughter.

Moments later, the sound of footsteps could be heard. It seemed like a large contingent of people were heading their way.

Surrounded by six armed guards, Nelson Mandela walked down the passage towards Pieter and Lindiwe. The grey-haired man did not look like one who was filled with hatred against the white oppressor. He seemed to be jolly individual who was quite happy to remain on the island until the government agreed to the human rights demands laid down by the ANC.

Mandela smiled at Lindiwe.

" _Ndiyakholelwa ukuba usindisile ubomi bam_ (I believe that you saved my life)," said the ANC man in Xhosa language.

With the Xhosa language being in the same ballpark as the Zulu language, Lindiwe could full understand what the he said, but was still taken aback at the attempted compliment.

Before she could reply, Mandela stepped into the small office and sat down at a table. He was soon joined by Pearce, Mark, Pieter and Lindiwe.

Mandela chatted freely with his guests and it was easy for them to see that this man was not the communist terrorist that the Nationalist Party government made him out to be.

He was a caring individual who wanted a peaceful outcome for all citizens of South Africa. As he spoke, a tear fell from Lindiwe's right eye. How could such a humble man be caught up in an international commotion that left him away from his family and friends for so many years?

Pearce asked him how he managed to remain positive during his time locked up on Robben Island.

Mandela cleared his throat.

"I am fundamentally an optimist," he began, in his husky voice.

"Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say."

"Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun and one's feet moving forward."

Pearce smiled. He couldn't remember as to how long he had waited for this moment to meet Mandela. It had started as a childhood dream and had grown from there.

Lindiwe noted that the man's voice was identical to the one that she had heard in her spirit.

Here she sat. Millions of oppressed black people wished that they would be able to see a photograph of Mandela, never mind sit opposite him at a table. All this, while most white South Africans said _'Mandela, who?'_

The old man kept his arms folded as he listened to Pearce's reasons for his trip to South Africa. Then he heard from Pieter and Lindiwe about their journey.

"What I need to know, Mr Mandela, is why I was hearing your voice in my spirit?" questioned Lindiwe.

Mandela smiled and shifted his body in his seat.

"I really need to know, sir, your thoughts have inspired me," continued Lindiwe.

"If it wasn't for your voice in my spirit, Pieter and I may have given up on the New South Africa long ago. There is something about you that..."

Lindiwe could not finish the thought as she started to cry and Mandela put his hand over hers, while Pieter passed a tissue, offered by one of the wardens, to the girl.

"It is alright to cry," said Pieter.

"It has been a long journey and it all worked out in our favour."

He turned to the ANC man.

"Mr Mandela, Lindiwe is the real hero here," began Pieter.

"She worked out that a white man would try and kill you, which led us on this journey to the island. Then, she saw someone moving swiftly around the administration corridors here and quickly worked out that it was the potential assassin. In the end, she was right as General Jan du Toit and one of his men from the security services were on on a mission to carry out the evil act."

This time there was a tear on the left eye of Mandela.

Lindiwe looked into the old man's eyes and suddenly she got the answer that she so sought after.

"That is it!" she exclaimed.

"Those words that I kept hearing from you in my mind..."

Lindiwe wiped more tears from her face with the tissue.

"You were trying to tell me that you will one day lead this wonderful country, but not for long," she went on.

"However, the future for South Africa, would hold many trials and tribulations. Things would not be smooth. Then, after your time there would be a highly controversial leader, who would be at the helm during extremely trying times."

The old man listened intently, as Lindiwe paused and then gulped.

"Zuma!" she said.

"In my 1973 trance, he is the prisoner who told me that he would one day be our President," remarked Lindiwe.

Mandela was about to answer when there was a knock on the office door.

"Sorry, to interrupt, Mr Mandela, but we have just been informed that President P.W. Botha is out of the country," said a tall senior warden.

The word was that the government planned on meeting with the ANC man later in the day at the presidential residence, Tuynhuys. Botha wanted to keep the meeting as low key as possible. He had recently given his Cabinet a roasting in Parliament, as to what would happen to them if they dared meet with the ANC in Lusaka. Yet, he was keen to meet with Mandela.

Botha was not the outright racist leader that people saw. Would he have wanted white minority rule to continue forever and a day? Of course, as it was in the interest of the Afrikaner. However, deep down inside, he knew sustaining South Africa on Apartheid principles did not have longevity. Like many white South Africans, the thought of a black man occupying the No 1 seat in Parliament or the Union Buildings in Pretoria, was something that he could not visualise.

"So who will I be meeting with later today?" asked Mandela to the senior warden.

The man in uniform cleared his throat.

"I believe that the meeting has been postponed," said the warden.

Mandela shook his head and then wished that he had not. He knew that the National Party were desperate to strike a deal with the ANC, sooner rather than later. While he needed to play the role of not seeming to desperate to cut a deal, he was also aware that the country was bleeding. Racism had never been as fierce in South Africa as it currently was, and he did not want to be blamed for dragging his feet in finding a solution.

Mandela respected the fact that Botha had international business to attend to on behalf of the country. In a way it was a blessing that the meeting had been called off as it would be best to speak to the No 1 decision-maker, rather than someone who would have to get Botha's approval.

He could well have seen the postponement of the meeting as another slap in the face from the Apartheid government against a black man. Mandela of all people, realised that leaving prison as a bitter man would not help. If he had any form of bitterness in his heart against people of other skin colours, then it would be better for him to stay in prison.

Mandela could have guessed that the President may have double edged his bets. While telling his Nationalist Party Cabinet members not to meet with the ANC, the chances of Botha having asked some of his close confidants to meet with Mandela in his absence, was strong.

Nee, ons los dit vir jou, President (no, we will leave it to you, President), was the likely answer that Botha would have got. Striking a deal with Mandela was like selling your Afrikaner soul to the devil.

The senior warden left the office.

"Are you disappointed that the meeting will not take place today?" asked Pearce Ellison to Mandela.

The ANC man shook his head.

"Do you believe in the Bible, Mr Ellison?" asked Madiba, the clan name of Mandela, by which he was affectionately known.

Pearce nodded, saying that he did.

"Then you will understand that all good things come from the Lord at the right time," replied Mandela.

"Yes, sir, but time is something the ANC does not have at the moment, with people, notably innocent civilians, being killed on a daily basis by government and ANC operatives," said Pearce sternly.

"I am aware of that as much as Mr Botha is, but the pressure is on the highest authority in the country to make the first move," said Mandela, with reference to the government.

Despite Mandela's words, Lindiwe could sense disappointment in the old man's eyes. He desperately wanted to make things happen to stop the blood shed. At the moment, due to his prison situation, he was taking decisions without the rubber-stamping of his ANC executive members in Lusaka, and this annoyed many there.

Was Mandela becoming soft? Was the years in prison finally breaking him? Had he cut a side deal with the South African government and set his mind on selling out the ANC?

These were fair questions from liberals who had no access to question Mandela on these matters. However, Nelson Mandela was no sell-out. He was a man of dignity and integrity down to his toes.

Lindiwe turned the conversation back to the part about Jacob Zuma.

"Mr Mandela, your words in my spirit were warning me about something bad that is going to happen to this country, a few years after you have left this earth," she tabled.

"You were warning me weren't you? The wheels of nation building would fall off along the way."

Clearly, this was reference to Jacob Zuma's time in office, with his second term eventually ended by a vote of no-confidence by the ANC, who install the President. Reluctantly, and facing several corruption charges, Zuma would step aside as President of South Africa, to be replaced by his Vice President, the more popular Cyril Ramaphosa.

Mandela smiled.

"This beautiful country can overcome any form of odds because of all the people that live in it," said Mandela with confidence.

"That is if you come out of prison now, sir," said Pieter.

"The time is right."

Mandela nodded.

One of the wardens tapped Pieter on the shoulder.

"Sir, your time is up and Mr Mandela needs to return to his prison cell to rest," remarked the warden.

Clearly, the conversation was getting to upbeat for the conservative-minded warden, who was prepared to die for his country to preserve Afrikaner control.

Pieter, Lindiwe, Pearce and Mark thanked Mandela for his time.

"I can't wait to see you in a suit and tie, instead of a prison outfit," smiled Pieter, and the future President grinned.

"Before we go back to the mainland, I think we should walk to the beach," suggested the Lieutenant.

Out of sight of the prison wardens, he held Lindiwe's hand firmly. From the far side of the island, all that one could see was open kilometres of sea. Pieter remembered the Rime of the Ancient Mariner from his school days. Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink. How true it was, he thought, as he looked out over the ocean. The waters looked so peaceful and the bright sun shone brightly on the water ripples.

Lindiwe began to have flashbacks to her youth. She walked over to a rock and ran her hand over the smooth surface. It was like she had been here before. Whether it was a trance or reality, she did not know, but she identified with the environment. Suddenly, she remembered that her father had been worth her here and had scratched the word 'Lindiwe' on the rock in front on her.

Yes, there it was - _Lindiwe._

She called Pieter over to the rock.

"Darling, can you write my name here?"

ENDS

### Appendix

Thank you for reading first book of The Mandela Effect Trilogy, Black and White.

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Eric Blue

May 2020
