DAY +4 Coming home

The past nearly six months have been an incredibly difficult time - I hope I’ve had my share for a good while to come! That said, it doesn’t just stop now either, but when I think about other similar situations that I have read or heard about, there is also a lot to be thankful for.

The arrest of Zola Mdyogolo happened on the day he murdered my mother - it can take months or even years for an arrest, sometimes it never happens. The case came to trial within six months - often it can take 18 months or more. The trial resulted in a guilty verdict without any protracted legal proceedings or the need for family and friends to give difficult evidence. They may seem small things, but I’m grateful for them all.

I am heading back into my everyday routine in the next few days, but the breathing space I have had this week has been good for me, as has this blog. When I started it a couple of weeks ago I wasn’t really sure whether I would get what I wanted from it, but it has been great. Certainly the amount of support I have received from people all over the world has been astonishing and all I can say is that I appreciate it very much - thank you.

Something that I have done each day during the past week is visit the spot on the beach from where the photo on today’s posting was taken. It is where we scattered my mother’s ashes early one morning last October, a favourite spot of rock pools and chasing sticks for the dogs. Where you’re almost sure to find nice big sea-urchin shells and sometimes a cowrie shell. Where the African Oystercatchers, Pied Kingfishers and Whimbrel probe and dive for food and the water is always just a bit warmer than on the main beach. I’m off there now one last time before I leave.

DAY +3 Some reflections

A few days have passed since the verdict. The overwhelming feeling that I am left with is that not a lot has changed. But on reflection that’s not really true – we have a guilty verdict and Zola Mdyogolo is likely to get a long sentence, if that’s any consolation. The more I think about it, the more important it feels that he was found guilty and not really the sentence that he will receive.

The fact that he admitted guilt so readily may reflect that he realises what he did was wrong, or he may believe it will help with mitigating his sentence. As the article in the paper said, he didn’t express any emotion at the verdict – it’s difficult to know what he really feels or thinks. It seems important that he should express some remorse, but maybe it’s too soon for that and probably we will never know it if he ever does.

Today my sister Louise and I went to see ‘Tsotsi’, a South African movie which won an Oscar this year for the best foreign language/international movie (whatever the category is called.) It’s based on the book of the same name by Athol Fugard, a playwright and novelist of long standing in South Africa. If you get to see it, I guess you might understand a little more about some of the complex issues that contribute to South Africa’s crime statistics that I have talked about before.

Something else I have mentioned before is the Jacob Zuma trial. Attempts by the former Deputy President to have the charge of rape dismissed by the court have failed. The trial will resume on Monday. Some see this as a victory, many others don’t.

I plan to post my last daily blog on Friday and thereafter have updates when there’s anything worth reporting.