After Tears. Niq Mhlongo

"That was it. I had had enough of Cape Town. The cold Atlantic Ocean, the white sand beaches, Table Mountain, the Waterfront . . . I decided right there, in front of the notice board, to go and pack my belongings and leave for good. The compass in my mind was pointing north, back to Johannesburg, my landlocked city, and Soweto. I was sure that if I stayed in Cape Town for one more day I would go mad. The four years that I had spent there, shuttling between the university lecture theatres and libraries, had come to nil. My fate had been decided. I wasn’t fit to become an advocate the following year. I was a failure." Bafana Kuzwayo has flunked his law studies at UCT. Now, back at home in Chi, Soweto, he has to pluck up the courage to confess the truth to his proud mother and uncle. But maybe, just maybe, it might be easier to let everyone believe that he is a qualified attorney. Especially as everyone in Chi is already calling him Advo …