In the absence of the father, mother and son developed an uncommon bond. They were friends. It was a relationship that survived the disruption of Josiah’s return to the family – which Lesedi had found difficult to cope with – and strengthened as the couple’s estrangement became permanent. Lesedi was Priscilla’s link to a past when morals mattered more than money. She might have given up on her husband but she had clung to Lesedi, hoping for the day when he would make his own mark on the world.

Now Priscilla recalled the conversation she’d had with Lesedi on the day he was killed. In fact, there had been two conversations. During the first, he’d been in ebullient mood, energised by the meeting with farm workers in Mpumalanga. That was when he’d mentioned Kagiso Rapabane. Lesedi had been full of admiration for the man, saying he wished he could do something as useful as that. Apparently he’d promised Kagiso that he would intervene on behalf of the farm workers.

‘Dad won’t like it but I’m determined that we do this deal differently. It’s a disgrace what’s happening,’ he’d said, his voice full of fire and indignation.

She’d listened with a mixture of pride and fear. Pride in his instincts, fear for what would happen when he confronted his father. She’d tried to prepare him for rejection, saying he needed to think carefully before he talked to his father.

The next call was markedly different. She’d known something was wrong the second she’d heard his voice.

‘I’ve just had a row with Willemse,’ he’d said. ‘I couldn’t reach Daddy so I called Willemse and told him that the whole thing stinks. I’m not afraid to lift the lid on this whole business and he knows that.’

She’d asked him what the minister had said.

Her son had tried to make light of it. ‘Oh, just a lot of shouting and stuff. He can’t touch me.’

She’d asked him if the minister had threatened him.

‘No, just going on about what was at stake for Daddy and so on. Said I shouldn’t meddle in stuff I didn’t understand.’

And then Lesedi had uttered the words that had left her cold. ‘But I do understand, Mom. I’ve got all the information – the deals, the bribes. I’ve got it all somewhere safe.’