we approached the bridge, we came across five guys who were going towards the area we were coming from. I was walking behind Bongani and Khaya because they were more familiar with the path than I was, so I never really bothered to look at the other guys’ faces. I didn’t see any need to do so. We were just going our way, minding our own business. They were also going their own way, minding their own business. That’s what I kept telling myself but, in all honesty, I sensed danger.
As they approached, they seemed to be engaged in conversation. You could see this from the way the one in front kept looking behind to check on the others. He was wearing a maroon T-shirt and khaki Dickies pants. Strangely enough, he was the only one that I seemed to notice. Somehow he looked like the leader of the group. I cannot remember a single thing about the rest of them. This guy just stood out, for whatever reason.
“Hola, bafethu,” they greeted us as they passed by.
We returned the greeting and they continued with their journey, but I must admit that after those guys had passed I had an uneasy feeling once more and my heart started pumping faster.
I’m not usually someone who scares easily, but that day I just felt afraid. I couldn’t help having a quick look back, just to check that they weren’t up to something, just to be sure, but when I glanced over my shoulder they were just continuing with their journey towards town.
Reassured, I tried to concentrate on the conversation we were having. Neither Khaya nor Bongani seemed bothered about anything and I didn’t want to be seen as the scared little guy from Cape Town. After all, I had been to Five before and I had also been to a lot of supposedly dangerous townships in Cape Town. I didn’t fear any township.
We crossed the railway lines and entered the settlement. I felt relieved as we approached and we all started walking a little faster now we were on more familiar ground.
I smiled as I saw the shacks; some people had made their homes from planks and some from corrugated iron, but all of the shacks had been painted in different colours. I loved the assortment of colours that they boasted. But it was also obvious that the place had changed a lot. There was a big empty space behind the township that had once housed many people. Most of the shacks had been removed; presumably the owners had been moved to the new RDP houses in other areas. The shacks that used to be next to ours were no longer there, but I noticed a green shack that I recognised, opposite the water tap we used back in 2000. People were still fetching water from the same tap.
We went past a spaza whose owner used to call me mkhaya, since he was originally from Engcobo. We asked the shopkeeper about him, but he told us he was the new owner as the previous owner had sold the shop and moved to a different area.
Finally we saw the blue shack we were looking for. We knocked at the open door and found Nomaphelo and her cousin, who was visiting from East London, inside. As soon as we were in, she made a phone call and within minutes Mheza came in with a wide smile that went from ear to ear. I started laughing out loud when he started his trademark “salute”, but at first he didn’t recognise me as the light wasn’t bright enough. That was until I called him Mathintitha, the pet name I had given him back in 2000. Then he knew who I was immediately and shouted back, “Young boy, are you back from the Cape?”
We shook hands and started chatting. Mheza had a stutter, yet he wanted us to listen to him all the time. He was even more excited when he saw me as he wasn’t aware that I was in town. We started reminiscing about the last time I was there and it was nice. Then they began to tell us of how the place had changed and how dangerous it had become. When I asked about my abakhaya I was informed that they had moved to the nearby area called Rondebult.
After chatting to Mheza we decided to leave early so that we could get back to Germiston for the flat party and he could attend a memorial service for a lady who had been stabbed to death, apparently by a jealous boyfriend. Nomaphelo asked if she could come with us so that she could see where we stayed. We had already told her about the party in town that we were all going to, so she decided she’d rather go with us because she was
not going to go to work the following day. We said our goodbyes to Mheza while we waited for Nomaphelo to put on her jacket and then headed home the same way we had come.
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