An unknown victim

At 4 p.m. I got a phone call from a boy of the township, crying out for help. His friend had been attacked and stabbed with a knife and lied bleeding on the street.

At that moment we had just left the airport where we waved Lizzy’s parents out, and were at about 40 minutes from where the boy was lying.

We drove straight to the place and during the drive I made several phone calls to get a clearer idea of what had happened. I also told them to call the police and an ambulance, which they had done.

When we arrived after half an hour, three quarters of an hour, it was already too late: the boy had died meanwhile …

I called the police again while we were on our way …. 3 hours after the first phone call !!! – and the ambulance never showed up.

We looked after the boys and waited together with them for another 2, 5 hours before the inspector and a photographer arrived.

While we stood/sat waiting, the ideas in our head started to tumble. How is it possible that we are sooner on the spot than the police who have their base at a distance of only 15 minutes… Why doesn’t the ambulance arrive… What moves these boys to stab somebody cold-blooded… yes, it does happen, and mostly during the weekends we were told by the kind police officer… Especially alcohol is the evil-doer; the offenders would have been drunk according to witnesses…

A telephone rang and was handed over to the police inspector who on his turn handed it over to the boy that was being interviewed by another police man… it seemed to be the mother of the deceased boy… She was in Johannesburg… Imagine you get such news to hear as mother… tears come into my eyes.

A young life …17-18 years of age, a little heap on the asphalt road, lies peacefully with his arms crossed, eyes closed. It looked as if he could wake up every moment. I saw no wound, only a little rip in his T-shirt.

In the name of God, how is this possible?

A flash back to my own youth… have I ever known the feeling that I wanted to kill someone? Answer: ‘NO’, been angry, yes, wanted to smack someone’s head, yes… but to take someone’s life? I have never known that feeling.

After the officials had left, we took the boys to their home and remained talking with them for a while.

Gunter