Showing posts with label Operation Dynamite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Operation Dynamite. Show all posts

Friday, February 10, 2017

The Manuscript ...

I have started writing the sequel to Saving Mandela’s children. The title will become apparent in the next paragraph.  But every now and again I have to lift my head up and look elsewhere so that I do not drown in the emotions that this manuscript is bringing out in me.

Writing is a solitary activity that requires a ‘spark’ or a ‘creative streak’, without which not a word will appear on a page.  This book is no nansy-pansy book with long descriptions of the undulating hills and wide open spaces of the Karoo.  It does not describe the extreme weather conditions.  It is explosive, very much like the code name given to the investigation by the Scorpions into my theft of donor money, money laundering and other equally horrid crimes that presented a prima facie case.  Operation Dynamite!  It is 3:15am in the morning and although I woke to nauseating pain and an inability to breath easily, once I had done all I could to alleviate the symptoms I started writing again.  Glancing at my watch, I see that I have been awake and tending to the oxygen, injections and sterilizing unit since 2am.

To take a document of 889 pages and turn it into a short synopsis of what happened is no small task.  I am now on page 70 and to make sure that I have everything covered, I am ploughing through lever arch file after another.  I have kept these documents through the years as a record to use one day.  That one day is now.  It is a task which is destressing as I re-live those times, with all the emotions attached to them, as though they happened yesterday.  One good thing will be the clearance and dumping of these numerous files, thereby making my life and my home easier to manage.  I want to leave all this stress behind once and for all.  I no longer need to carry it, but I do have an urgent need to write down what happened so that my grandchildren can know that I was never a thief or criminal. 

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Operation Dynamite - Nothing will be hidden

"Can you tell me how the money between you and the trust works?" asked Manual.

          "I don't think I am going to answer any of your questions because your Advocate Cilliers told me that you could use the answers against me and I don't want to talk about anything now because whatever I say may be misconstrued so if you don't mind, I will not answer any of your questions," I said. 

Just then I was interrupted by a call from Stuart.   "Guess what, these fucking bastards have forgotten their equipment here at the office. They brought me back and left.  All their equipment to take copies from the computer are lying here.  What a fucking bunch of pricks!"
 
          "Well, they are still here trying to take copies from the computers but they struggling.  Are you OK?" I asked.

          "Ja, I'm fine...just fucking angry.  They think they can do as they fucking please... driving at 180km an hour...no regard for the speed limit...fucking cunts.  They digging a hole they going to fall into themselves and this is all because of that fucking Jenner." 

Stuart was ranting and raving and swearing non-stop, not that I blamed him.   I realized that the reason why they could not get what they wanted from the computers is because they had left some of their equipment behind at Stuart's office.   I told Manual that they had forgotten something at Stuart's office and after he spoke to the computer investigator, he called someone to go and collect their equipment at Stuart’s office.
  
          "Are these all your computers?" Manual asked. 

          "No, we have one in for repairs."

          "Tell them to bring the computer back." 

I did as I was asked and phoned Gary to bring the computer.  He brought it back immediately.  Gary was asked for advice about how to copy from a hard drive without corrupting the files.  He told the computer investigator how to do it.  He left the computer, which the Scorpions subsequently seized.

          "This is taking too much time.  We will just take your computers and return them when we are finished with them."  
 
          "No, you can't do that.  We cannot run the children's home without the computers so you must take what you want from them and leave them with us," I said.  
The missing Scorpion equipment duly arrived and eventually they had what they wanted, leaving us with computers that we could not work on because all the files had been corrupted by them.  Sometime in the afternoon, all the Scorpions left.  Manual promised me that the matter would be dealt with and the documents and equipment that they had seized would be returned to us before February. 
           

It was the 6th December 2006. 


A page from the book, Operation Dynamite, that I am writing. 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Operation Dynamite

Operation Dynamite
It was a hot night; summer in South Africa.  

I remember stretching out in my bed, in my short summer pajama’s and feeling grateful for being surrounded by beautiful things; things that I had carefully chosen for my new home.  I was happy and contented. My future looked peaceful with long life ahead of me, filled with infinite possibilities.   I had nothing to fear and all was good in my world.   I fell into a restful sleep, excited about the possibilities of the next day.

I woke with the doorbell ringing incessantly, urgently.  I opened my eyes and saw that it was dawn.  The sun was only just peeping out, the freshness of a new day filling my lungs.  With uninhibited energy, I threw the sheet off my body and jumped out of bed. There was no let-up to the ringing of the doorbell.  I glanced over at the bedside clock.  It was just after 5am. 

My mind was confused.  I did not know who could possibly want me so urgently at this time of the day.  My son had a key to my back door, so it could not be him and the telephone had not rung so I knew that it was not a family member in trouble.  I stumbled down the stairs, not stopping to put on a gown or to cover my half-naked body that the summer sleeping shorts and skimpy top failed to provide.    Now I could hear someone banging on the security fence and gate, the bell still ringing.   I bumped into the coffee table as I moved with as much speed as I could to the sliding front door, and pulled the curtain aside.  My mind was in shock.  Standing around the front security gate was a dozen grim-faced and well-dressed men wearing sunglasses, and a half a dozen vehicles marked with the sign of the most feared police, the Scorpions. 


          "Open up!   This is a search and seizure operation." 


This is the opening paragraph of my new book: Operation Dynamite.  To be released before Xmas.