Mother to Mother

Recalling her childhood again, Mandisa says that she grew up deeply aware of boththe history of white colonialism in South Africa, and of the anger her friends and family felt toward white South Africans. Her paternal grandfather was a particularly bountiful source of historical information, and Mandisa recounts an exchange where he explained how the Cape of Good Hope got its name. Vasco de Gama, Tatomkhulu says, originally named the place the "Cape of Storms"; it was not until a group of settlers led by Jan van Riebeeck decided to stay there that the cape earned its modern name. Tatomkhulu claims, however, that, "the biggest storm is still here…in our hearts, the hearts of the people of this land" (175).

On a different occasion, Tatomkhulu asks Mandisa what she knows aboutNongqawuse. Mandisa says that her teachers taught her that Nongqawuse was a "false prophet who told people to kill all their cattle and they would get new cattle on the third day," and that people complied "because they were superstitious and ignorant" (175).

Tatomkhulu objects to this interpretation of events, and recounts his own. He first explains the significance of cattle to the Xhosa—one of the peoples that lived in South Africa before it was colonized. Cows, he says, not only provide food, but also raw materials used for shelter and clothing. Most of all, they are a form of currency that have various social functions, including serving as a bride-price, a tribute to chiefs, and an exchange for prisoners captured in war. The decision to kill the cattle and burn the fields was therefore"an abomination" that could only come from very deep anger and outrage (178). Nongqawuse, however, had prophesied that doing so would cause the sun to reverse its course and drive the white settlers into the sea: "Then, with the rising of the new sun, all the things that had been killed and burned would rise again" (180).In the end, these failed to materialize, and while the Xhosa never entirely stopped resisting, the white settlers remained in South Africa.

Back in the present day, Siziwe rouses Mandisa from her thoughts, telling her that Lunga has gone out, and that some friends of his had earlier stopped by to see him, talking about Mxolisi. Mandisa questions Siziwe, and Siziwe admits that she thinks the conversation had something to do with the attack the day before.

As Mandisa is still trying to process this, a car stops outside their house. Mandisa goes out to see who it is, and the man introduces himself as Minister Mananga, saying he has come to tell Mxolisi that he has found a place where he can hold his meetings. Mananga appears agitated, however, and slips Mandisa a note before he leaves, which tells her to take a taxi to Khayeletisha and to get off at the last stop.

Assuming Mananga has information about Mxolisi, Mandisacomplies, and gets in a taxi, where one of the other passengers—a young woman—slips her another note. Mandisa continues to follow a complex set of instructions until she finally arrives at an unfamiliar house.

Two men and a woman welcome Mandisa in before leaving her alone. Some time later, a door opens and Mxolisi enters. Mandisa asks Mxolisi what's happening. Mxolisi says that "everybody" says that "[he] did it," but insists he was "just one of a hundred people who threw stones at her car" (195). Mandisa says that she's heard the student was killed with a knife, and Mxolisi says that "many people stabbed her" (195). Mandisa presses him, asking first whether he took part in the stabbing, and then whether he was the one who killed the girl. Mxolisi breaks down, but continues to insist that he was not the only one responsible. Mandisa, however, says that it doesn't matter, because his knife will have the girl's blood on it. The two embrace, sobbing.