And yet it did. According to the Auditor General, not only had TALC been given funding to attend the exhibition in New York, Lizo and the group had spent R970 000 on the trip. As group leader, they now wanted him to explain a gross misuse of funds.

It was all there: dates, times, reasons for the funding. Everything – right down to the details of the bank account into which the funds had been deposited, an account in Lizo’s name.

Only thing was …

… Lizo had been nowhere near New York, and this wasn’t his account. The account numbers were different, and as for the bank—

“I’ve never even been inside that bank,” said Lizo. “And now someone’s making me out to be a crook.”

It was messed up. Someone had stolen Lizo’s identity, and then they’d used that stolen identity to open an account and implicate Lizo and the other members of TALC in a huge lie.

“The only question is,” Lizo said, his face angrier and sterner than Bhuti had ever seen it, “the big question is: who? Who did this to me?”

Bhuti gazed down the street. The posters were still there, the candidates’ faces a little faded, party slogans still promising the world.

“Bhuti!” Laula was standing in front of him, her face frozen in shock.

Bhuti looked up. “Hey, babe.” He tried to smile but doing so only reminded him that his lip was split as well. His face was a mess.

“What the—? Who—?”

Laula dropped her bag and sank to the ground next to him.

“Who did this to you? What happened?”

“The usual suspects,” Bhuti said ruefully. “Odwa, Velile, Ntando. I could have taken on one maybe, but not three.”

They’d been waiting for him when he came out of the changing rooms. The boys who messed around during lessons, never listened to the teacher, said school was a waste of time. The ones who said Bhuti was teacher’s pet, who stood on the sidelines jeering at Lizo as he coached his young team.

“Oh Bhuuuuuti? Beautiful Bhuuuuuti.” Odwa’s voice was alive with glee. “Not so high and mighty now, are you?”

Bhuti had walked past them, Lizo’s words loud in his ears. “Take no notice of them, Bhuti. They want you to react. They want to drag you down to their level.”

“I tried to ignore him,” he said to Laula. “But then he said, ‘So how’s your brother, Bhuti? How’s Lizo? Sounds like he make quite a killing? Lizo the lawbreaker, that’s what my father says. Taxpayers’ money. He didn’t just rob the Department – he robbed every single one of us.’

“I shouldn’t have responded, I know I shouldn’t,” Bhuti said miserably. “But when he spoke about Lizo like that …” Bhuti’s fists clenched. “Let’s just say, I’m not the only one who’s going to have a black eye tomorrow.”

“Good!” Laula stroked his face gently. “I mean, I know we’re supposed to turn the other cheek and all that, but sometimes … I wish I’d been there, Bhu! I’d have made sure he had two black eyes!”

Bhuti laughed, then winced. “I bet you would.”

“What happened then?” Laula asked.

“Well, then Ntando and Velile held my arms behind my back while Odwa went to town on my face.” Bhuti shifted and groaned. “Oh, and a few good punches and kicks to my stomach. I think he broke a rib or two as well.”

“That’s so wrong, Bhu.” Laula was furious. “You need to tell the principal. They should be punished.”

“What’s the point, babe? It’s not going to change anything. There are always going to be some people who think my brother is a thief and a fraud. That’s the worst of this whole thing.”

“No smoke without a fire?” Laula said sadly.

“Exactly,” said Bhuti. “Only this time the person who started the fire isn’t going to be caught. Lizo, all the TALC members really, they have to pay for someone else’s crime. Even if they manage to clear their name …”

“And how are they supposed to do that?” Laula asked, her voice as miserable as Bhuti felt.

“It all falls on Lizo. He’s the founder member, he signed the forms. He has to present himself at the Auditor General’s office as soon as possible. With his ID number and his passport AND an affidavit.”

“An affidavit? What’s that for?”

“He has to go to a police station. Lizo’s never been inside one before, Laula. And now … now he has to get them to stamp a document saying that he is who he says he is, that he has no knowledge of this bank account or the funds that went into it. Someone else caused all this mess and now Lizo has to scramble around, trying to prove himself. And while he’s doing that, people like Odwa Nondlwana and his father are free to go around spreading rumours, making his name mud …”

Bhuti swallowed hard.

“I know, babe, I know. It’s hectic. So unfair.”

***

Tell us: What do you think Lizo should do? Have you heard of cases of identity theft?