‘If that’s the case you can assume they have a hotline to the government and your ex-colleague has surely been onto them,’ said Kagiso. ‘It’s going to make your mission here pretty tough.’

‘It’s not really a mission. I’m sort of under the radar too. If I get anywhere South Trust will come here officially. For now, I just need to find out who’s who.’

‘How do you mean?’

Lindi looked around. The last time they’d done this, had a picnic, they’d been children watched over by Maude. She remembered the photo in her parents’ hallway, the family portrait with Kagiso and Maude included. It had always seemed forced, contrived, but sitting next to Kagiso now she accepted there had been a truth to it. Lindi checked they weren’t being listened to. Reassured by the distance between them and the rest of the gathering, she continued: ‘The way we work is to bring opposing sides together. You know, try to get community-level talks going, influence the media, see if third parties can be brought in to mediate. But for any of that to start we need to know who the opposing sides are.’

‘Well, Soil of Africa has probably done more to shed light on this filthy business than anyone else.’

‘That’s not strictly true, is it?’ Lindi tried to keep a note of scepticism from creeping into her voice.

‘We’re right there working on the ground, which is more than you can say for most.’

‘What about this Land Collective?’

‘What about it?’

‘Come on, Kagiso. Look, I’m not making a judgement or anything, but I’d say it’s their campaign of sabotage that’s made people sit up and listen. That’s how it seemed to us in London.’

‘Okay. Say you’re right – you certainly aren’t the first one to say that. But you want to talk to people, and that rules out the Land Collective. Talking, as you’ve seen, is not what they do.’

‘You’re not telling me you have no idea who they are? You can’t help me?’

‘Right now the best help I can give you is to stay away from you – and vice versa.’

‘You sound quite spooked, Kagiso. Is there something I should know?’

Kagiso leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Listen to me,’ he said. ‘All you need to know is just how high the stakes are. One man has been killed, and not just any man. Lesedi is like royalty here, you’ve just seen that. Whoever did it, if they’re willing to take him out, there’s no telling where they would stop.’