After the tragedy, Zamani decided to visit a sangoma and have a ritual performed to fortify him against being shot. He spent a great deal of time trying to escape MaNgidi’s hired killers. Month after month, he’d go into hiding, always migrating from place to place, often living with relatives.
His daughters were left under the guardianship of his sister who worked as a teacher, since their father had had to give up working because of constantly having to go into hiding. The thug he shot opened a case against him, leading to Zamani’s arrest. He was released from prison after 10 months.
His sister took care of the children while Zamani was behind bars. The two young girls were extremely unhappy, though their grandmother — Zamani’s mother — did her best to fill the void left by the absence of both parents. There were days when their pain was unbearable. The girls were simply too young to understand why they hadn’t seen their father in such a long time. They were told that their father would return in summer.
MaNgidi and her sons tried to cheat Zamani of his inheritance, taking advantage of his imprisonment. Thankfully, Zamani’s lawyers froze his assets and ensured nobody could touch his inheritance. He thought it would be easy to get his money reverted to him after his release, but his lawyers demanded a hefty payment of 50 thousand rands, which was strange, since this should have been something they did for free. Little did Zamani know that his lawyers were in cahoots with MaNgidi, conspiring to squander his inheritance.
This posed a grave danger to Zamani’s life, since he had no income. Right until the end of that year, he tried to raise funds to pay his lawyers, with no luck. Try though they might, his mother’s and sister’s attempts to beg and borrow so they could help him raise the money proved futile. At the beginning of the second year, the lawyers seized and auctioned off two of the cars Zamani had bought himself. But they still wouldn’t release the money Zamani’s father had left him.
Zamani survived by operating two taxis. He was sure that MaNgidi would continue doing everything in her power to ensure he never saw a cent of his inheritance until the day he died, conniving as she was.
Zola and Zuki failed dismally at business and both sold the companies their father had left them. Both businesses went bankrupt and neither were able to pay their workers’ wages nor generate a profit.
Even the farm succumbed.
*
One day, Zamani went past the farm to check up on the employees and livestock, as he used to do with his father when he was younger. He found the workers aggrieved.
“Son of Mkhize, we’re dying of hunger. Your brothers have not paid us our wages for such a long time, we are suffering. We only see them when they come and sell cattle. Neither wants to take responsibility for our delayed payments!” the workers said.
“Mr Sokhela, I wish there was something I could do, but I have no say in the running of my father’s farm since he left it to Zola and Zuki. I was just passing by to see how you’re all doing, thats all.”
They looked at him dejectedly.
“What you can do is sell some of the livestock so you can pay yourselves. That way you won’t go hungry.”
The herders were happy with the resolution and stayed on out of loyalty to the late Mkhize, who had shown them kindness in their time of need.
*
Zola and Zuki had since taken wives and were just as greedy and determined to get their hands on Zamani’s inheritance. They brewed yet another plot to have Zamani killed. Unfortunately for them, they had no clue where they’d find him and when, so they resorted to asking one of his taxi drivers. Determined not to hire hitmen, they decided to go after him themselves, not knowing what was in store for them.
Tell us: What advice would you have for this family?