There are rumours and speculations spreading in the village about who had a hand in Manqoba’s murder. Some suspect a dispute between the town’s bachelors and the local hooligans who do drugs behind the toilets. None suspect Mr Mbatha. He conducts his own search, pretending to look for information on who might have committed the murder. He goes as far as offering a reward of R10 000 to whomever can provide information that leads to the arrest of the perpetrators.

“SENZENI NA, SENZENI NA? SENZENI NA?

SENZENI NA? SENZENI NA?”

The hymn carries a melancholic tone, and embodies the spirit of everyone who has shown up to march and demand justice at Bhekisizwe Secondary School. It is the day of Manqoba’s memorial service. Members of the community are furious, demanding to know how a weapon entered the school premises without being detected. Surely this speaks to how unsafe their children are?

“We demand answers!” members of the community cry out in unison.

“Comrades, let’s please calm down. There’s nothing we can do if we’re all angry. The police are investigating Manqoba’s death. As a school, we’ve offered a reward to anyone who comes forward with information about what happened to Manqoba. Plus, we’re beefing up security to ensure that your children are safe as we reach exam season. There’s nothing else we can do except for trust the law to take its course,” says the principal.

As days go by, and the date of the inter-school traditional singing and dancing competition nears, pressure escalates as Zenani is expected to lend her talents to many different things. She’s the logistics manager in charge of transport and catering when they go to the big district hall in Port Shepstone. She works alongside teachers and members of the student body to make sure everything is in order. Her plan to evade questions about why she’s not part of this year’s choir proves challenging since she’s the one tasked with opening with a praise poem in honour of Princess Mkabayi kaJama.

“This hymn begins with a praise poem by…”

She can’t hold back her tears as she tries to coach her understudy, who will begin the hymn on the day of the competition. The thought that she will never sing alongside the maidens at the Reed Dance unleashes a torrent of tears. It’s important that it remains a secret that the debutant has been used up and denied, plus, she can no longer dress like the other virgins. Mr Mbatha is busy scouting for his next victim, ogling the young virgins in their regalia, which exposes their nubile bodies, with their perky breasts and colourful beads. He asks one of the girls to help him carry boxes to the bus they arrived in. He offers to teach her in-depth about womanhood and growing up. The child has no idea what trap she’s walking into. As soon as they are inside the bus, the teacher reveals his true colours. The girl’s cries fall on deaf ears as Mbatha assaults her with no one else to defend her.

He threatens to hurt her and everyone close to her if she lets slip about the incident to anyone. Nobody knows why, despite the school coming back with multiple trophies, there is a girl in the bus whose crying cannot be consoled and makes the trip back feel longer than it is. The weekend ends with Zenani wondering what happened to that girl. She saw Mbatha watching her like an eagle circling its prey. She’s made it her mission to make sure that Mbatha doesn’t get up to his old tricks. She knows there is something up when she sees the same girl crying on the way home. Those are the same tears she’d seen falling from her own eyes not too long ago. Her attempts to try and get the girl to talk in the bus come to nothing.

She tries to gather evidence so she can open a case and make sure Mbatha is put away for a long time. Everything from saving the text messages he sent her, to stalking him when she sees him walking to his office with young girls, and trying to remember how much time her ordeal lasted on both occasions when he forced himself on her. This is enough evidence to expose him and have him investigated for child molestation and rape. She’s afraid of being seen as weak for having been victimised, and for keeping quiet for so long; she fears the rejection that comes with being seen as ‘damaged’ for losing her virginity. Her peers are nearby watching her, some anticipating her downfall, especially since she is renowned for being a Miss Goody Two Shoes with a bright future ahead of her. The boys even jokingly propose marriage to her.

Early the next morning, she goes to open a case at the nearby police station in Port Edward. There she meets another family who’ve come to lay a similar charge against her perpetrator. She begs the police to reinvestigate Manqoba’s murder, assuring them she has no doubt that Mbatha is responsible. They come up with a strategy to get a search warrant and go to search Mbatha’s office and home for any evidence to confirm Zenani’s claims.

The sheep walks to the slaughter with its own four feet: Zenani offers to visit him at his house so he can help her to revise her maths knowledge in preparation for the upcoming exams. Mbatha is convinced he’s gotten away with his crimes and can’t believe his luck when Zenani suddenly has a change of heart about him.

“Sir, do you by any chance have a maths textbook? I’ve forgotten mine at home.”

“Check in my bedroom, inside the wardrobe with the big mirror! Pour you a drink?”

“Yebo, sir, some tea, please.”

“Coming right up!”

She searches through the wardrobe, hoping to find something incriminating that can be added to the evidence. She stumbles across a thick file with a list of students who come from poor homes and need assistance. Next to each name are suggestions of ploys he could use to lure them into his web and threaten them into not reporting him to other teachers or the police. His plan are clearly well thought out.

Soon, his world will come tumbling down on him. In truth, there’s no turning back. She checks to see that Mbatha isn’t walking towards the room before searching for more evidence. Inside the wardrobe is a small bucket. She tries to open it and is greeted by a foul smell that reminds her of a sewer truck. Inside are words written in a language she doesn’t recognise, try as she might.

She decides to put the bucket back but notices a little bottle with blood inside, along with a weapon. She puts everything back where she finds it, but not before taking pictures and sending them to the detective in charge of the investigation. That way, the police will get a search warrant easily and come back to check Mbatha’s house themselves. That will help them search his house and office until they find something to use against him.

Zenani slips out of the house before Mbatha can find her.

And now she waits. I hope this helps. I hate to come back here, but I hope this helps the case, reads the message she sends to the investigative officer. She reads it over and over again, yet still, there’s no reply.

Dear Zenani Zulu, your case has been reassigned to a new detective as Detective Masuku has unexpectedly taken leave. Please visit the police station for more information. A text message is sent to her phone in the morning while she prepares for school after waiting forever for the police to respond to the pictures she sent.

Does this mean he’s on leave? Why now, though? Why would he leave me in the lurch like that, knowing the kind of danger I’m in? Could it be that Mbatha knows about the case? If they’ve told him, it means we’re all in danger.

She racks her brain, trying to find some answers. There is no turning back now; she must get justice.

“What I love is that you know I’m not afraid of you. Everyone cowers before you but I am Mageba…you better take note! I’m no pushover!” she says, talking to no one in particular but trying to wrestle her fear.

That morning’s assembly is disrupted by the sound of police sirens. One minute, they are all gathered in the quad, in single file, according to their grades; the next a scandal descends upon the school. Police vans drive into the yard, and four armed officers march towards the gathering. The principal raises his hand to order the singing to stop. Silence. The officer leading the other three gestures to the principal, and the two speak in hushed tones for over a minute. The students can see the look of alarm on the principal’s face, so they, too, whisper amongst themselves, speculating about the possible cause of the visit. They’ll soon learn how off the mark their speculations were.

“Quiet, students. Our visitors have a request to make,”

The students listen attentively. The police ask the students to go to their classes so they can speak to the principal in private. The teachers coordinate the students’ migration to their classes, leaving the principal and the police in the quad. Whilst The rest of the teachers lead their classes to their home rooms, Mbatha scurries off to his office.

Meanwhile, the students whose classes surround the quad bundle themselves up and peer through the doors and windows, dying of curiosity.

“Sir, I’m afraid I’ve come with bad news. We’re here to make an arrest,” says the head investigator.

There is an exchange of words between the principal and the head investigator. The principal leads the man in a westerly direction while the other armed officers follow.
They find the door ajar, with the man they are looking for sitting behind his desk.

“Sabelo Mbatha, you’re under arrest! You have been accused of the rape and abuse of Zenani Zulu and Sthandwa Mhlongo, the attempted murder of our investigating officer in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice, the murder of Manqoba, and the destruction of evidence.”

“Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you can’t afford one, the state will assign you a legal representative,” the officer says, grabbing Mbatha, cuffing him and dragging him off.

Hundreds of witnesses stand by, watching. There are gasps and shrieks everywhere, the students watching as the police manhandle one of the school’s most respected figures of authority. As they leave, the police comment to the principal on the amazing job done by Zenani Mbatha in assisting with the case and ensuring the arrest of Mbatha. His office is sealed off with barricade tape to preserve evidence before the crime-scene investigators arrive.

Zenani steps forward to get a proper look at Mbatha and say goodbye to the lead investigator. She feels a weight has been taken off her back.

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