The route further east was clogged with traffic. It seemed as if every minivan and taxi was heading towards Mozambique. She’d been told fares to the border post at Komatipoort had doubled, then trebled in as many days. Everything from armchairs to mattresses had been strapped onto roof racks, dwarfing the vehicles beneath them. At every major intersection on the N4 there was a crowd of people, arms held out, pleading for a lift. The coach driver, surly and silent since Middleburg, would slow down as he approached them, wait till they started gathering their bags and bundles, then accelerate away. He would glance at Lindi with a smug satisfaction, as if he was getting his own back for the earlier humiliation of being told what to do by a woman.

There were a number of checkpoints where passengers were being made to get off the bus, stand in line and be searched. Lindi was waved through all of them until the coach was pulled over at the last checkpoint before Nelspruit. A policeman ordered everyone off, then spoke to the driver, who flicked a look at Lindi as he answered. The policeman turned away slightly as he spoke into his walkie-talkie. Another officer walked over to the bus, flicking through a clipboard. His eyes settled on Lindi.

‘So you want to be friends with these people, eh? You have to be searched just like them. We are going to do it over there.’ He pointed to a windowless prefabricated shed some twenty metres away.

‘I have nothing to hide but please get one of your women officers to do it,’ Lindi said firmly.

‘They are busy.’

‘Then I will wait.’

Lindi watched as each of the other passengers on the coach was checked and allowed back on board. She had seen a couple of uniformed women chatting to each other.

‘What about those two?’ she asked the officer in charge.

‘Ah, no, they are very busy. Just wait your turn.’

‘The rest of the bus is finished. All of them are back inside.’

‘That’s because they are not proud white women like you. I can search you now or you can wait.’

Passengers from vehicles behind the coach had been allowed past her. The coach driver had leaned out of his window and told her he would have to leave her behind if she carried on with her nonsense. Some of the other passengers had started to call out to her. She looked up to see Paulo, fear and anxiety written all over his face. She knew she couldn’t hold out any longer.

‘Oh, so you are finally ready,’ the officer said, as he swaggered over to Lindi. ‘Let’s go,’ he said, pointing to the shed. Lindi turned to look at the anxious faces on the coach. She started walking, following the officer.