Rutherford supposed he could understand his friend’s actions, supposed he could understand why a man like Emil Coetzee would not want to live under the majority rule that would most definitely come with independence. But there was more to it than that. It was also Rutherford’s job to understand what his friend’s actions meant for more than just Emil Coetzee; he had to understand what the loss of Emil Coetzee would mean for those he had left behind – not just his family and friends, but even more so, the people who had turned him into a hero and a symbol, the people who saw him everywhere. Rutherford knew that Emil Coetzee had not been thinking of these people – nor, come to that, of his family and friends – when he decided to walk into the bush.

Rutherford knew this because he knew that his friend had never been one to see or fully appreciate the bigger picture. He just would not have seen how vital his presence would be in the next few months, years even, when people would need a sense of stability and continuity. Emil Coetzee could be an incredibly selfish man, and by choosing to walk into the bush … like one … like so … like this instead of choosing to walk into the future with the rest of the country, he had committed what was probably his most selfish act.

Rutherford chewed on the pencil a few times more before he said to Joseth, ‘Nature does not like a vacuum.’

There was a very long silence, which made Rutherford doubt if Joseth understood the significance of what he had said. Did he even know what the expression meant? Rutherford tried a different approach. ‘We cannot have Emil Coetzee walking into the bush deliberately. Suicide by misadventure – we cannot have that. Emil Coetzee was a hero to many; he is a hero to many. We are in the middle of a ceasefire that not everyone has adhered to.’

Rutherford spoke with a confidence that a recent editorial in The Sunday News had given him. The editorial had cautioned, Of course they will not cease immediately, even assuming that the Patriotic Front leaders put all their efforts into the ceasefire exercise. Hatred, psychopathy and greed cannot be removed by the stroke of a pen; there are bound to be those who will be reluctant to lay down their arms. Additionally, there are too many renegades at large to whom banditry has become a way of life; they are likely to be responsible for incidents for some time. The newspaper had already primed the people for the story that Rutherford was preparing to feed them. All he needed was Joseth’s collaboration.