All Walled In: Lockdown Sosha, #1

By Thokozile Eunice Mahlaola

Being locked down has a new meaning and it is either being locked in, locked out, or locked up.

 

Sello stands in a lottery queue and watches the crowd talk about winning the lottery. In no time he swiftly grabs an elderly woman's bag, takes off, and disappears out of sight. After a while he emerges from under Amogelang's fruit and vegetables table, thanking him for always covering for him.

 

Sello "Lolo" Sedibe finds himself in a situation he never thought would happen to him: his mother passes away, living him in great debt with no way possible to settle it. What's more, he made the debt by borrowing from thugs who are now hunting him down. On the other hand, his criminal ways have put him on the police's wanted list.

 

When he thinks that his plan to escape Sosha is finally working, now that the national lockdown and the global pandemic are over, he gets shocked to realise that their township is walled-in, and no one can leave nor enter Sosha.

 

Township life will never be the same again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The CherryBlue House
• Release date: May 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223100850

Book preview

Chapter 1

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Sello Sedibe looks out towards the dusty streets of Sosha as the afternoon light shadows a group of gamblers on the street corner. Just across them, drug-stricken young adults ask for loose money from taxi drivers while passengers buy snacks through the taxi windows. Down the road teenagers in their school uniforms dance to Amapiano music while passing a hookah pipe around. One of them, a schoolgirl, gets courted by an older guy with a sports car while a mother and her little child sit by the road and beg for food.

Sello walks into the plaza and heads straight towards a long queue that leads to the Lotto counter. As he stands in the queue, he listens as young and old Sosha citizens, both male and female, talk about their hopes for overnight riches.

It's sad to see how many of our people dream of hitting the jackpot and making it big. I also have the same dream, but I believe in taking my own fate into my own hands by doing whatever it takes to survive.

One woman from the queue, Sindiswa Luthuli, asks no one in particular, What would you do if you won the lottery?

Kgomotso Modise positions the umbrella to shade her arms from the burning sun before she answers. I would fill my fridge and cupboards with groceries.

How can you think of food? Vusumuzi Mahlangu questions, his blue overalls reflecting just how hard his day’s work has been. I would resign from my job and start my own electrical business. I'm tired of working hard for someone who looks like me; who thinks I should be paid peanuts! I wanna make my own money!

If I won, I would take a long and deserved break to Dubai! adds Elna van Vuuren while smiling at her colleague who is caught off guard by her comment.

"You must be dreaming, Elna! Oh, I get it! You are saying that because of your white privilege. Some of us have families and relatives to take care of before we can think about anything that pleases us!" Kgomotso tells her.

I work hard for my money, and I deserve to spend it however I wish. That’s my privilege! Elna responds confidently.

The crowd quietens.

Xaka Mdaka speaks up after dusting his shoes, Aren't we all dreaming?

No one answers him. Behind him Dipuo Tau calls her daughter and her daughter’s friend with irritation. Amahle! Sphiwe! Stop wandering off! The girls walk back to where she is, shyly. As they do, they notice their teachers and greet them simultaneously, Hi Teacher Elna, hi Ms Kgomotso!

Hi girls! Both Elna and Kgomotso greet back with wide smiles.

Dipuo ignores their kindness as she smooths down her cashier uniform trying to calm her impatience. Is there someone helping us or are we just wasting our time here?

No one answers her, yet they all notice the sun setting behind the plaza.

Nkosi Dube breaks the silence and brings back the topic, If I win, I will leave Sosha, go stay in the suburbs of Pitori. Plus being a taxi driver is not my dream job!

Why would you leave your own hometown? asks Rudzani Dagada.

Nkosi answers, You can't be rich and still stay in the township! You people know how to help people spend their money but when the money gets finished you are always nowhere to be found! Without waiting for their comment, he takes out his Lotto ticket and starts ticking his numbers, ignoring the rest of the conversation.

Khathu Ravele, a street cleaner adds, You know, what he says is true, it happened to my friend’s little brother.

Dineo Ndlebe, an elderly woman simply says, Shame. She just withdrew her very first pension money and wants to try her luck with the lotto so she can have enough money to pay for her grandchild’s Technikon fees.

The conversation trailed off on a sad note.

I don't like what I do, but I believe that I'm doing my people a favour by taking away what they have decided to freely give back to the rich. If they are standing in this queue, they surely have money to waste, and I’m shamelessly attracted to that kind of money.

Nobody suspects that Sello is only pretending to be waiting in line so he can spot whom his next target is going to be. He notices the elderly woman standing by herself, her handbag hanging loosely on her frail arm. Without wasting any time, he moves out of the queue as if to check what is holding them in place for so long. In a blink of an eye, he grabs the old woman’s handbag and runs off with it.

Dineo yells, Help! He took my bag! Oh, my money!

Blessing Gomo, a security guard at the plaza, shouts, Stop! Hey! Stop him!

Catch him! That boy is a nuisance! shouts Sipho Dladla, as he stands at the entrance of his grocery store.

Sello outruns the security guard. He runs out of the plaza yard and hides in one of the stalls on the side of the road.

Where did he go? Blessing asks but no one answers. They all go on with life as normal. The security guard walks over to Amogelang Bokaba’s stall and asks, Didn’t you see a guy this tall, wearing all black skinny jeans and a plain t-shirt with a bucket hat running with a handbag?

Amogelang answers as he sorts out his table, No, I’m sorry.

Okay. Blessing goes on to search elsewhere.

Chapter 2

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Amogelang looks past the other stalls as the security guard asks other vendors if they have seen the