Murder Most Foul

Michael - Thursday

While we were writing our first book, A Carrion Death, we managed to spend an afternoon with the then director of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department in Gaborone. We had a great time and I think he enjoyed our interest in his country and his department. At one point he asked us what our book was about, and we described it to him. He nodded and made a few comments, and then told us what he thought we should be writing about, describing the brutal abduction and murder of a young girl, Segametsi Mogomotsi in 1994. Parts of her body were used for muti – potions for black magic. He finished with the statement that following angry riots motivated by the lack of resolution of the case, the Botswana government had called in Scotland Yard to review the local police’s investigation. The UK team had reported to the government, but that report was never released to the public. The girl’s stepfather was arrested at one point and confessed to some involvement, but later withdrew his confession, which he said was coerced. When the director told us the story, no one had been convicted of the murder. That’s still the case twenty years later.

The story of Segametsi stuck in our minds, but we wrote three books before we thought about basing something on that case. We were ambivalent. In the first place, basing a novel, even loosely, on a real case can be hurtful to people involved. However, twenty years had passed, and the furor caused by the case in Botswana had died away. Secondly, a book about the ritual murder and dismemberment of children was much darker than our previous books, and finally, did we even want to deal with a subject that might well upset some of our readers?

Muti murders weren’t new in fiction. It had already been addressed by Unity Dow, a campaigner for women’s rights in Botswana, a high court judge, and subsequently minister of education, who also wrote fiction (and other works). Her book The Screaming of the Innocent is an excellent, if deeply disturbing, novel.

In the end, we wrote Deadly Harvest as sensitively as we could, trying to explore the factors that led to the beliefs as well as the motives and the impact on the families. Belief in black magic and its trappings is a horrific feature of much of sub-Saharan Africa—yes, even the Africa of skyscrapers and modern economies and technology. The belief hasn’t gone away, and these cases are hard for the police. They remain reticent to take on witch doctors and the rich and powerful people who employ them, and it's hard to trace the connection between the victim and the murderers. But technology has moved on.

Lobatse in southern Botswana

Six year old Tlotso Karema disappeared from his home in Lobatse this March. When his remains were discovered recently, forensic pathology confirmed them using DNA, and established that certain body parts were missing. The police assessed the case as a ritual murder and addressed it in that context. Here is an extract from Botswana news site The Voice:

“A distressing and dramatic three months after Karema’s disappearance, the boy’ stepfather, Lovemore Sithole has been arrested and detained in connection with his kidnapping. Sithole, a 37-year old father of three has allegedly confessed to the police that he sold Tlotso for P200 000" (about US$15,000).

‘Those bones discovered two weeks ago belonged to Tlotso. Some members of his family are implicated in his kidnapping. Some prominent figures too, but it’s too early to reveal names,’ a source close to the family has alleged."

According to a neighbor, what led to Sithole’s arrest was a discussion between Sithole and a possible partner in crime that the boy’s mother overheard when Sithole was in the (outdoor) toilet.

‘Kesego followed him to the toilet and overheard Sithole talking to someone on the other end about Tlotso. When she confronted him, he grabbed her phone and threw it, together with his in the toilet because she had claimed to have recorded the entire conversation on her phone,' said the neighbour.”

Arrest of Lovemore Sithole

The police were left with the job of dredging the toilet.

The Botswana Police Service had little comment, but Kgosi Ngakaayagae (described as a “celebrity lawyer”) summed it up rather clearly:

“The ultimate beneficiary of a ritual murder is usually some privileged guy removed from the scene. … The principal criminals in ritual murders are usually; some Chief, some Politician, some businessman, some traditional doctor who prescribes the evil, some sick person who has been told by a traditional doctor they 'need' a human sacrifice to heal,” he explained. “Their DNA is never at the scene of crime. It’s the runners (catchers, if you will), that get arrested and that ultimately hang...

“My point is that the big criminals, including the traditional doctors who prescribe (muti) always get away, with murder. The small guy pays for them all, with his life. So, Lovemore's guilt (if true), would only be 10% of the puzzle. He’d at best be a lead. The crime would be far from solved. I trust the police to do a thorough, job.”

Well, perhaps they did. Last month the Member of Parliament for Lobatse, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, was arrested and held in connection with the murder. Was he then Kgosi Ngakaayagae’s “ultimate beneficiary”? How had they traced him? Through the sodden cell phones?

Arrest of Dr Matsheka

Despite Kgosi Ngakaayagae’s description, Matsheka seems an unlikely "ultimate beneficiary". He has a successful financial consulting business. He has a PhD in economics from the University of Kent and an MPhil from the University of Glasgow. He has a safe seat in Lobatse for the government and was minister of finance until recently.

But “recently” was when he challenged the party hierarchy and President Masisi at a political level and was suddenly replaced. So was he the “ultimate beneficiary” of a horrible muti murder, or could it be that powerful political opponents have spotted a way to neatly settle a few scores?

UPCOMING EVENTS in September:

Saturday 17, 1:00 pm 

Nokomis Library event

5100 S 34th Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55417 Phone: 612-543-6800

 

Wednesday 21, 6:00 pm 

Thomas St. Angelo Public Library of Cumberland event

1305 2nd Ave, Cumberland, WI 54829. Phone: 715-822-2767

 

Thursday 22, 6:30 pm 

Spooner Library event

421 High St, Spooner, WI 54801 Phone. 715-635-2792

 

Saturday 24, 1200

The Bookstore at Fitger’s

600 East Superior Street, Duluth MN 55802

Tuesday, 27, 6:00 pm (In person and virtual)

Official launch of A Deadly Covenant at Once Upon A Crime

604 W. 26th Street, Minneapolis, MN 5540 Phone: 612.870.3785 

Email: onceuponacrimebooks@gmail.com

With Mary Ann Grossman

Saturday is for funerals

Michael - Thursday

The title is stolen from Unity Dow, an extraordinary woman who has been a lawyer, novelist, sociological researcher, high court judge, and minister of education in Botswana. The book is about the AIDS epidemic that devastated the country. At one time, Botswana had the highest rate of infection of any country in the world, and every Saturday had to be reserved.

Why talk about funerals now? you reasonably ask. Haven't we got enough depressing stuff? Well, funerals have become a big issue in this part of the world at the moment — not because of the deaths from Covid, but because of their role in spreading it. In order to understand why, we need to understand the role of the funeral in many African cultures. It’s the closing of a loop, an event at least as important as any in the deceased’s life, and the point at which that life is celebrated and recognized. And anyone who knew, or knew of, the deceased is expected to attend.

Tswana funeral

In the Setswana culture, for example, after the immediate preparation of the body, elderly persons are dispatched to inform all the relatives. The more personal this is the better. People converge on the home of the dead person from far and wide. Many keep vigil outside the home all night. The news spreads. More people join. Prayers and condolence sermons take place during the day. Relatives and older people known to the family must attend these, and absence is frowned upon. There’s a master of ceremonies for all this.

Traditionally, the night before the funeral, the corpse arrives at the home. Young men are sent to dig the grave, and must then stay away from the body; they have their own fireplace outside the compound, and are known as the “human hyenas”. The next morning, amidst prayers, many mourners stand up and praise the deceased, listing the virtues exhibited. By now it’s not only friends and relatives who are present but the whole village and as many people from beyond as can reach the location. Not only is anyone welcome to attend, but everyone who knew, or knew of, the deceased is expected to attend. And after the burial, the tension and mourning is relieved by a huge feast—the “after tears.” In our book, “A Death in the Family”, Kubu is almost bankrupted by all this!

So now we come to the time of Covid and social distancing. During our initial “hard” lockdown, only family were allowed to travel to, or attend, funerals. (No other ceremonies such as weddings were allowed at all.) Many people regarded this as the most invasive regulation, worse than curfews, and travel and alcohol bans. As things relaxed, up to fifty people were allowed to attend, and travel from anywhere in the country, but parties remained forbidden. However, last weekend the state president berated people for ignoring all of this. It’s not hard to predict the outcomes of these large gatherings when the close family of the deceased might well be infected themselves!

The virus opportunistically makes use of our social customs to its own advantage—whether they be large funerals or spring breaks.

President Ramaphosa doing the imbizo

Last night the president held a “virtual imbizo” – a session where people could use social media or the broadcast media to ask him and his team questions. It was impressive, and if he stuck to the party line, at least he shared his thoughts and made people feel that their input was important. They could be as critical as they liked. (One complained about the limit on the size of funerals!) Can you imagine Donald Trump doing anything like that? He'd have to listen to the question for a start.

We now have 4,500 Covid deaths and over 300,000 cases in total in South Africa—a pretty low death rate by world standards. Unfortunately, the number of excess deaths over what would be normal for the last four months is more like 11,000, pretty much the expected rate. There will be more funerals ahead.

This is all so depressing that I must finish on a more cheerful note. I haven’t read the new White House satire “Make Russia Great Again” by Christopher Buckley, but if the book is as good as the review by Ron Charles in the Washington Post, then it should be a scream. Charles’s last line: “Laughter may not be the best medicine for covid-19, but it’s a heck of a lot better than bleach.”

BOUCHERCON HIATUS: UNITY DOW

Last time I wrote about the Botswana elections and Unity Dow's election to the National Assembly. The piece below, which appeared four years ago, explains why we think that's a really good thing!

Michael - Thursday

Unity Dow is an extraordinary woman by any standards, but even more so by the standards of male-oriented Botswana. Born in 1959, she became a lawyer and immediately took up the cause of women’s rights in Botswana. In a landmark case, she challenged the constitutionality of a law which excluded her children from citizenship because her husband is a citizen of the United states. She won this, solidifying the equal gender rights promised by the constitution. Later she became a High Court judge – the first woman member – and served for 11 years. During that time she was one of the justices involved in the High Court challenge that gave the San (Bushman) peoples the right to return to their traditional lifestyle in the Kalahari. She later served on a commission redrawing the Kenyan constitution. And now she has been appointed to the legislature.

She is also a talented writer. She has written four novels reflecting deep issues in contemporary Botswana: the struggle between traditional and Western values, the AIDS pandemic (Botswana and South Africa compete for the world’s highest infection rates), and ritual murder.

The Screaming of the Innocent is a powerful and disturbing book. A young girl vanishes; the police guess that she has been eaten by a lion, but the reader knows that she has been ritually murdered for body parts reputed to bestow great power. Years later a female student doing national service in the community comes across a box of clothing which seems to belong to the missing girl. But after she draws attention to it, the box vanishes. She seeks out a friend – now a lawyer – and the two young women pursue the matter together.

The book is good not only because of the intriguing characters and plot, but because the reader finds the premise completely believable because the perspective is purely African. To westerners, witchcraft has become almost flippant superstition – like avoiding a black cat. But in many African cultures it is not only respected and feared, but deeply believed. It is this that Dow manages to capture so well in her novel. She makes no bones about the influence of male dominance being connected with these issues. When her evil characters are plotting the murder, they look for “a man with a hard heart, a heart of stone, a heart of a real man”. And, of course, they find such a man. The heroine follows the twists and turns and seems to be taking us to a successful resolution. But Africa is often not like that.

The book was first published in 2002 by Spinifex Press – a boutique publisher in Australia specialising in books focussing on women’s issues – and subsequently published in South Africa. Fortunately, it is widely available. It is a harrowing book, but one well worth reading.

It is tempting to see the premise of the story as an ingenious (if ghoulish) invention, but it is probably based on a real case which would have been well known to Dow. In 1994 a 14-year-old girl named Segametsi and her friend Monnye decided to sell oranges in Mochudi (a small town where they lived) to raise money for a church trip to Francistown. The girls separated near the house of a man called Mokgalo. Segametsi was never seen alive again. Her body was found with fatal chest wounds and with a variety of body parts removed, possibly while she was still alive. Clearly she had been murdered to harvest these organs for Dipheko, “medicine” made from human flesh.

Nothing about the case was obvious. Circumstantial evidence pointed to Mokgalo and he was held briefly, perhaps for his own safety. Soon he was released. Monnye then came up with a story that Mokgalo previously had made advances to Segametsi. Mokgalo wa held again. And in an almost unbelievable turn of events the murdered girl’s father made a confession that he had accepted a promise of 1,200 pula (about $200) to help with the girl’s abduction. Mokgalo was held for two months. During that time the police became suspicious of the stories they had been told. The father was sent for mental examination. Both the father and the Monnye eventually withdrew their stories, and the suspects were released. This led to rioting in Mochudi and nearby Gaborone and the focus moved from the murder to public order. The police and soldiers reacted violently and many people were injured. One was deliberately killed by a policeman.

The government was under continuing pressure and eventually was obliged to ask Scotland Yard to send a team to independently investigate the murder and the police conduct of the case. This lack of trust in the police and people in authority is all reflected in Dow’s novel.

The policeman who killed the suspected rioter was sentenced for manslaughter and the government paid his family about $100,000 in compensation. Mokgalo won a case for wrongful arrest, but describes himself as a broken man who is still treated with suspicion. The Scotland Yard report has never been made public. No one has been arrested for the murder of Segametsi.

When we met the then director of the CID and he heard we were mystery writers, he said there was much to write about in Botswana, and mentioned the Segametsi case. I have always wondered why the director of the investigating department would want this brought up. Also, he must have known about Unity Dow’s novel. What was there to add? It took us eight years to discover our answer in DEADLY HARVEST.

The belief in the power of evil medicines and witches has another somewhat unexpected and damaging consequence. Since witchcraft is used to ensure success in financial and other ventures, it can be dangerous to appear too successful. If you have risen faster and farther than others, is it not possible that you too may have dabbled with Dipheko? This perception may be very dangerous for you indeed. It is safer to be mediocre…

“Clouds of rain” or “promises of blessings”

 

All writers have to finesse parts of their main characters’ backgrounds.  They have to make the characters believable both with respect to who they are and how they behave.

We obviously had to do this with our protagonist, Assistant Superintendent David Bengu, widely known as Kubu.  How were we going to have the only child of a Botswana sharecropper end up as one of the country’s finest detectives?

The solution was simple.  Kubu did well in primary school in his hometown of Mochudi.  Typically he would have progressed to the local high school, which would have been of a decent but not high standard.  But fate intervened, and the local priest in the church his family attended saw Kubu’s potential and persuaded a private school in Gaborone to give him a scholarship.  His parents certainly couldn’t have afforded to end him there. 

Founder Deane Yates

We decided that the school that he would attend was Maru a Pula, which in Setswana means “clouds of rain” or “promises of blessings”.  The reason we chose Maru a Pula over several other private schools was that my high school headmaster, Deane Yates went to Gaborone in 1972 to found it, with the encouragement of the president of the country Sir Seretse Khama.

It was an easy finesse.  Poor kid gets a great education at a top school through a scholarship arranged by the local priest.

The story would have ended there but for my penchant for frequently moving between the United States and South Africa.  One January, I think it was, about five years ago, I was standing in line waiting to board the KLM flight to Johannesburg.  I was near the front of the queue and noticed a man a few places in front of me.  His profile looked familiar.  I racked my brains and eventually decided it looked like my high school math teacher, David “Doggy” Matthews, last seen in 1964 – thirty odd years before.  I approached the man and asked him if he were indeed David Matthews.  He said he was.  I introduced myself, and he immediately remembered both me and my brothers and parents.  I was astonished at his recall of a family amongst all the families he had known.

Obviously we chatted while we waited to board.  Two things emerged.  First, he lived only a few kilometers from my house in Knysna on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa.  And second, he had been the second headmaster of Maru a Pula.  This was exciting because it suddenly gave me access to more information about the school and hence about Kubu himself.

Doggie asked me to join him and his wife for drinks one Sunday night at their smallholding near me.  When I arrived, he introduced me to an Andy Taylor – an American.  He was, and still is, the current headmaster of Maru a Pula.

Current Maru a Pula headmaster, Andy Taylor

This was amazing.  Now I had a person with a contemporary view of schooling in Botswana and of the country itself.  Andy, it turned out, also knows everybody who is somebody, and everybody else as well.  Through him we have met everyone we needed to meet in our research for the Detective Kubu books.  We have dined with the Commisssioner of Police and the Chief Forensic Pathologist (whose labs we also toured).  We have talked with the remarkable Unity Dow, former High Court judge and wonderful novelist (you should read her Screaming of the Innocent) and spent time with the equally remarkable head of the human rights organization Ditshwanelo (“human rights not human wrongs”).  The list goes on – all because we chose Maru a Pula as the school Kubu should attend.  And because the fates conspired something positive while I was standing in an airline queue.

A word about the school.  It is one of the premier schools in southern Africa with students from over 30 countries.  It is dedicated both to academic excellence as well as to preparing students to be proactive members of their communities.  You can see a short movie about the school at http://www.maruapula.org/about-map/map-movie or read about the school at http://www.maruapula.org. 

One of the areas that Maru a Pula stands out is in the area of the Arts:

Maru a Pula Arts Centre

• Home of Maitisong, the premier centre for the performing arts in Botswana, attracting thousands to our campus every year
• Site of the highly acclaimed Maitisong Cultural Festival, the nation's largest arts festival
• World-class programmes in the visual and performing arts- drama, music and fine art
• Our marimba band has recorded three CDs and toured Canada, Brazil, Portugal and the USA (tours in 2003, 2008 and 2010).

Maru a Pula students

Maru a Pula students

Maru a Pula students

It is schools like this that are preparing kids to be community leaders in Africa.  Should you ever visit Botswana, a visit to the school will be a highlight.  Although I can't promise rain, I can promise blessings.

Stan - Thursday

Commerce - Botswana style

Unity Dow

 

Michael and I just returned from Botswana where we were researching our fourth book.  (You may ask, where is our third?  Sore point!  It has been with our editor for 8 months!).  It was a very successful trip that included a wonderful interview with Unity Dow, first female High Court, current judge on the Kenyan Constitutional Court, and prolific author.  You must read Screaming of the Innocent. 

We wanted to talk to her because the third book Death of the Mantis has as its back story the plight of the Bushmen, and she was on the court that heard the famous case challenging the government's order that the Bushmen had to move from traditional lands within the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.  The court ruled largely in favour of the Bushmen although, as usual, the issues are more complicated than some of the Bushmen supporters (eg. Survival International) like to make out.

Our fourth book, in progress, deals with the harvesting of body parts for the purposes of witchcraft - they're called muti murders.  Screaming of the Innocent deals with the same subject. 

Botswana's formal economy is simple - diamonds and tourism.  Botswana is home to the two richest diamond mines in the world – Orapa and Jwaneng, owned by Debswana – a 50-50 partnership between Botswana and De Beers.  It is the revenues from these that have made Botswana economically stable. These two mines are modern, well run, and immensely profitable - when people are buying diamonds.

Orapa mine

Also important is the tourism industry.  Botswana has taken the approach of “low impact, high revenue”.  That is, they want a few tourists paying a lot of money.  Although fine for the environment, this also means that locals find it difficult, if not impossible to visit the great game reserves of Botswana.  Probably if I were advising the Botswana Government, I would also suggest this approach.  Actually in some parts of Botswana normal people encounter wild animals every day.  In Kasane, for example, it is not unusual to have elephants walking through town, disrupting travel.  It is a wonderful sight.  

However it is the informal economy that is the most fascinating.  One of the pleasures of roaming around Gaborone and Mochudi and other small Botswana towns is looking at the signage of roadside entrepreneurs.  There is nothing slick about it, but there is enormous appeal.  When Kubu drives through Mochudi to visit his parents, for example, this is typical of what he would see.

Garage

Garage

Tuckshop

Where's Part 1?

Caterer

Here's Part 1

Where's Part 2?

Barbershops are big business in Botswana.  Unfortunately we could not photograph our favourite place – the sign had disintegrated – the Taliban Hair Cut and Car Wash.  But the other signs give you the idea!

 

 

 

 

Stan - Thursday

Update:

Earlier in the year I wrote about Kulula Airlines in South Africa (http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2010/08/love-to-fly.html) and the innovative approach they take to keep passengers entertained.  On Tuesday, I flew from Johannesburg to George on Kulula, and was I in for a treat.  As the doors shut, the lead flight attendant asked the passengers to welcome a staff member, Kay Lula, who had just returned to duty from having triplets.  Could we give her a big round of applause?  Which we dutifully did.  She then said that Kay would handle all the announcements thereafter.  At that moment, Kay emerged from the cockpit, all six feet of her!  Tall, elegant, attractive, she caught the attention of the male passengers.  She then proceeded to give one of the funniest cabin briefings I have ever heard.  Of course I should have taken notes, but was laughing so hard that I forgot.

Once en route, Kay came back on the intercom to invite all kids and any adults to join her at the back of the aircraft to have their faces painted, free of course.  I wasn’t surprised to see several kids dash back, but I was taken aback by the fact that several adult Hasidic Jews, yarmulkes and all, headed back there for their decorations.  It was weird to sit there looking at people wearing yarmulkes painted like Long John Silver and other literary reprobates.

Before landing, Kay told some very funny jokes – that unfortunately don’t work in print.  And as the plane  rolled to a stop on the tarmac at George, she thanked us, hoping we "didn’t find the flight a drag!"

Fly Kulula!