Daddy Long Legs Read Free Page B

celebrities. It was but one of many reasons why the investigation was doomed to failure right from the start.
    Initially many of the residents of Hope suspected that some black or Coloured man from the local township was behind the crimes. It was a measure of consolation (believe it or not) for some to hypothesise that a white man couldn’t possibly be behind the egregious misdeeds ... and that logically a black man must be to blame. Some even conjectured (bizarrely) that the crimes were a part of the terror campaign of the outlawed African National Congress – in their efforts to demoralise the minority white population and thus destabilise the government. Although the ANC theory was never really taken seriously, these fears and suspicions did lead to sporadic attacks on black members within the community as well as other hate crimes. Thoko Motaung, an exiled ANC member living in London, reacted to the situation by saying that if it were an African committing the terrible crimes, the white community deserved it for their centuries-long oppression of the black population. Although it was a callous and cruel thing to say, Motaung received wide-spread support in the UK and US media.
    The two Kimberley detectives soon put the whole matter to rest by pointing out that it couldn’t possibly have been a black man. The detectives surmised – correctly – that the abductor had to be known to the boys – else he wouldn’t have been able to commit his crimes, in broad daylight, with such apparent ease. A black man wouldn’t have been able to gain the required proximity to the abducted boys – especially in Apartheid South Africa. Furthermore, they indicated that the killer mentioned both boys by name in the – now famous – Gazette poems. As much as most people hated to admit it, it was one of their own who was behind the repulsive crimes. Of course, in the racially charged South Africa of the 80’s, there were many who refused to abandon their suspicions that it was a ‘non-white’ who was behind the crimes. For many years, a substantial sector of the white community continued to believe that a black man was behind the murders.
    Whatever their suspicions, the crimes had disastrous consequences for the social structures within the ‘whites-only’ town limits. Paranoia and mistrust flared up. Neighbours eyed each other with suspicion. Social events all over the arid Northern Cape town were cancelled and even the annual Agricultural show was postponed. Kind gestures between citizens – formerly seen as polite social acts – were now frowned upon and viewed with deep enmity. Already having a reputation as a hard-drinking town, alcohol abuse sky rocketed. At the same time, church attendance was at an all time high. The children of Hope, for generations raised to be unreservedly respectful and deferential to their elders, were now taught to view grown-ups with suspicion. In this way, an entire generation of Hope children were inculcated with a warped view of their own society. Hope had finally joined the twentieth century. In a congruent act, some aspirant wit vandalised the Hope signboard on the N12. It now read HOPE(LESS). Things were not looking good for the little town on the edge of the arid Karoo.
    As for the official police investigation, things were not going much better. Like so much in South Africa – then and now – everything became politicised. In addition, the investigation was dogged by small-town politics right from the start.
    Frik Moerdyk, brother to the man who was the last person to see Barry Coetzee alive, was at that time mayor of Hope. A man with limited education and ability, it was only due to a burning ambition – and wholesale bullying – that he attained the position of mayor in the first place. It was this same ambition that made him believe he could attain even loftier political positions – maybe even parliament! Bliksem ! Imagine that. So it was with this misguided sense of self-worth