Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog

Author:Antjie Krog
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780307420503
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2007-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Truth Is a Woman

They asked me if I knew why I was arrested, I said no. They said it was because I’m Poqo.13 I denied any knowledge of Poqo. They said they would show me. They made me stand like an aeroplane on my toes. They beat me all over. I fell. They kicked me severely. They tortured me for three days . . . Pus came from my ear. I could not urinate. I felt dizzy. They kept on calling me Poqo. They said I should die, as I cannot live with white people. In Cape Town, I was sentenced for a year and six months.

Let me start by giving my story.

In 1968, Wednesday 24 at 4 A.M., I had a three-year-old child on my lap, and I was trying to light the stove, as it was a chilly day, when I heard a knock on the window. The police entered with heavy coats and asked for the owner . . . My wife gave me some overalls and a coat. I put on my socks in a disorderly manner . . . I saw they were very severe . . . They pushed me into the van. I saw Mr. Menena in the van. He didn’t know why he was there . . . There were many of us at the police station. The yard was full. We come from a small town, we all knew each other. They told us to keep quiet. They divided us into groups and drove us to Beaufort West. The whites were very happy. I kept talking to myself wondering what was wrong. Later Mr. Makulani joined me. We shared a cell. He told me we were accused of being Poqo. Then they took us, and I hoped I was going home . . . [cries]

TUTU: Even if this is tough, we go on . . .

MHLATSI: My wife was pregnant and it was her time to deliver. But we were taken back to Oudtshoorn and beaten. There were twenty-three of us. Then we were taken to Victoria West—others got in. The allegations were that we would poison the dam and disconnect the electricity of Victoria West and we were said to be an army and we would then take over the whole town. It was not true. We were in jail in Pollsmoor. My wife sent me a letter—she told me of the birth of a son . . .

The judge asked me if I was Alphius. I said, “I am Alwinus.” I took out my ID book and letter and the judge said: “You are Alphius.” There was an argument. I was discharged a year later. In May 1969, I came back to Victoria West. At home I found the house disorderly. My children were thin, my wife was working for Mr. Van Drieten, a farm owner. She had never worked before. She earned four rand [sixty-five cents] a month. I saw my baby boy and I was looking at my baby—he ran away from me crying.

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