I am an Afrikaner myself, he thought. I ought to be able to understand these crazy people. Even if I don’t want it that way, they are my enemies today. Maybe they haven’t really understood deep down that the future of South Africa will force them to reassess everything they’ve been used to. Many of them will never manage that. They would rather see the country destroyed in an explosion of blood and fire. But they will not succeed.
He gazed out over the sea. As he did so, he wondered what he was going to say to President de Klerk. Henrik Wervey was also expecting a report. In addition he had an important visit to make to a house in Bezuidenhout Park. He was looking forward to meeting the two women again.
What would happen to Sikosi Tsiki, he had no idea. That was Inspector Borstlap’s problem. He put the rifle and the cartridges back into their case. He left the metal frame where it was.
Suddenly he thought of the white lioness lying on the river bank in the moonlight.
He would suggest to Judith they should pay another visit to the safari park soon.
Maybe the lioness would still be there.
He was deep in thought as he descended the hillside.
He had realized something that had not been clear to him before. At last he realized what the white lioness in the moonlight had meant to him.
First and foremost he was not an Afrikaner, a white man.
He was an African.
Epilogue
Parts of this story are set in South Africa, a country which has long been poised on the brink of chaos. The potential social upheaval and the internal human trauma have reached a point where many fail to see any possible outcome beyond an inevitable apocalyptic catastrophe. On the other hand, one cannot deny hopeful signs: the racist-controlled South African empire will collapse in the foreseeable future. At this writing, June 1993, a preliminary date has been fixed for the first free elections in South Africa: April 27, 1994. In Nelson Mandela’s words: “a watershed has finally been reached. In the long term, the outcome can already be predicted, albeit with the natural reservations that apply to all political prophesies: the establishment of a democratic society based on the rule of law.”
In the short term the outcome is less certain. The understandable impatience of the black majority and the active resistance of the white minority is leading to increased violence. No one can state with certainty that civil war is inevitable. Nor can anyone state that it can be avoided. It could be that uncertainty is the only certainty.
Many individuals have contributed-sometimes without realizing-to the South African sections of the novel. Had it not been for Iwor Wilkins and Hans Strydom’s essential work in exposing the realities behind the Afrikaner secret society the Broederbond, its secrets would have been concealed from me as well. Reading Graham Leach’s writings on Boer culture was also a veritable adventure. And to round things off, Thomas Mofololo’s stories cast light on African customs, not least with regard to the spirit world.
There are many others whose personal testimony and experiences have been significant. I thank them all, without naming individuals.
This is a novel. That means the names of characters and places, and also the timing, are not always authentic.
The conclusions, and indeed the story as a whole, are my own responsibility. No one apart from myself, named or unnamed, should be blamed for any shortcomings.
Maputo, Mozambique, June 1993
Henning Mankell.
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The White Lioness kw-3 Page 53