As the donkey cart neared the huts of the family’s masimo, MmaGosego knew immediately something was wrong. They had delayed in the village stopping at the shop to collect some supplies before heading back. By now lunch would have been cooking and smoke should have been rising from the motsetse hedge that surrounded the kitchen. But they could see nothing. They were still far; in the small dip in the flat land just before the road along their field leading up to their huts, but still she knew something was not right. She stood up holding the back of the seat to steady herself. Maybe they had gone somewhere. She knew her daughter, Gosego, had not been happy remaining behind, maybe she convinced the old woman to go into the village anyway. Maybe they were at the fields still. But as they neared the compound she knew that none of those could be the truth. She knew something more serious, more deadly had happened.

“Gosego!” the woman called out as she rushed for the hut. When she opened the door, her eyes moved first to the paraffin lamp still burning on the metal table and then to a sight that no human being should be allowed to see. A sight that would never be erased from her mind. The sight of the charred bodies of her children and her mother lying in their charred beds.

The scream was heard at the fields a kilometre away. MmaGosego lay collapsed on the floor of the hut when her brother, Tumisang, pushed his way through. He bent down to collect his sister and quickly went back out the door stopping his wife, Dineo at the door with, “Don’t enter” and a look that made her run with fear back to the donkey cart.

Tumisang lay MmaGosego near the cart and although he knew he was the only one left to take control of the situation, he could do nothing but stand silently looking at the hut, his hands shaking at his sides. The hut stood almost perfectly intact giving no evidence of the terrible scene that lay within. Only the edge of the thatching was darkened by the inferno that had raged inside. By some fluke, it never caught fire.

As Tumisang stood, unable to move, two men from the nearby fields came running up the road. “RragoBobo what’s happened? “

Tumisang turned towards his neighbour, Mr. Molale, “They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

His voice was mechanical and without emotion and Mr. Molale realized that he was in shock. He instructed his sons to take the donkey cart into Mogobane and collect the police. He remained behind with the family. They all sat far from the hut looking blankly at it waiting for the police. The only sound was the quiet, low moaning coming from MmaGosego being rocked in Dineo’s arms.

They could see the dust from the vehicle before they heard any noise. The car disappeared in the dip and then reappeared just next to the compound. A tall man got out of the car. Mr. Molale knew this man very well. It was Constable Lecheng. He was well known in Mogobane for his wild drinking sprees and irresponsible behaviour. Many a kgotla meeting had been held where his name had been raised. Drinking and harassing their young daughters were what interested this constable, even girls as young as primary school. He was always absent from work and highly unreliable whenever he decided to earn his salary. Mr. Molale wondered why Mr. Matebele, the station commander, would have sent this useless excuse of a police officer for such a serious matter.

“Dumela Rre Molale, Rre Kopano. I understand that you have a problem here.” Tumisang woke up from his shocked state at the police officer’s voice. He pulled Constable Lecheng away from the women and children.

“They’ve killed all of the children and my mother. They’re in the house,” he whispered in a low voice.

Constable Lecheng slowly walked towards the hut. Near the door, the burned acrid smell filled his nose and he hesitated. He took a deep breath before opening the hut’s door. Five black piles of burnt clothes and what remained of the human beings who had been wearing them, lay around the room. He scanned the hut without touching or moving anything. He had never been on a case such as this before, had never seen such a gruesome sight, but he knew the best thing to do was to get the station commander out here. Constable Lecheng knew his limitations and this case was going to be far beyond them.

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think the police should do to catch the killers?