Operations
"Uhmm, come in captain Dube" Commissioner Thomas Naidoo says as he calls the gentleman into the stuff boardroom at the Amanzimtoti police station. It is quiet a big boardroom with a huge table in the middle. At the front is a huge TV monitor plastered on the wall. This is where the where police are debriefed during morning meetings."Uhmm, thank you Sir. What can I do for you?" Fana Dube, the police station captain says as he sits down three chairs apart from the police commissioner. He is nervous about what this is about. Naidoo hardly ever visit this station and as far as he is concerned, there hasn't been any incident of insubordination that would require the commissioner to pay them a visit. So, what's this about? he thinks to himself. He looks at the Naidoo who sips on the glass of water with a file in front of him. He wonders what could be written in there.
"Captain, you look a little tense" Naidoo says as he continues to fix his eyes on the file front of him, not ;looking at Dube. "Relax, you are not in any trouble" as he makes eye contact with Dube before smiling as he sees the relief in his face. Then closes the file and gives full attention to the captain.
"I'm actually here about that taxi shooting that happened few weeks ago" Naidoo continues. "I just wanted to understand where you are with that. I also understand that you assigned two detectives on it? What can you tell me about them?" as he sips on his water again with calmness. There's a small pause in the room as Dube seems to be thinking about what he wants to say next. "Uhmm, yes Sir we are working very hard to find the culprits and we are following every lead. As for detectives Ximba and Zwane, they are very dedicated police officers Sir who will work hard in ensuring that the culprits are brought to justice, Sir" he says as he looks straight forward.
"So what leads do they have?" Naidoo interjects, which seems to unsettle Dube a little bit. "Well, Sir...at the moment, it's just anonymous tip offs there and there but nothing concrete as yet. Since this incident is alleged to have happened at night, it's hard to find witness." he says as if he is embarrassed by all this.
"Look Captain, this is not good enough okay?" Naidoo interrupts again. "I need solid leads and that better be soon. There is a considerable amount of interest in this case. The media is on our case demanding answers. Provincial and even National is piling pressure on district to get to the bottom of this. So make it happen, captain. Do you understand me?" as he raises his voice a little. "Understood, Sir" Dube says as he looks down. "Oh one more thing..." Naidoo says as he stands up. "Why is the media saying this was turf war? Where did they get that information from?" he looks at Dube with curious eyes.
"We are not quiet as sure yet who the source is Sir but we will find out." Dube says as he also stands up. "Find out soon. We don't want to confuse the public and we don't want people to think we are clowns, not knowing what we are doing" Naidoo says as he turns around heading for the door, leaving Dube standing there.
***
On a Wednesday afternoon a week after the police had paid Mthoko a visit, he is sitting in the car outside one of his supermarkets. He had come to see the manager of the shop and discuss some business with him. He hardly ever make such visits now that his wife and daughter are more involved in the day to day running of these supermarkets, Shisanyamas and the garage. His main focus now is on dealing with Taxi side of the business.
As he sits there, quiet by chance he happens to witness some activity not far from where his car is parked. It seems like there is a deal happening down the street not really far from him, maybe about 45-50 meters away from him. He is trained for this. He can tell when something is going down.
He sees this man crossing the street carrying a big black bag going towards a black SUV. He goes towards the passenger door and hands over the bag. The man on the passenger seat hands a thick brown envelope to him. Mthoko is trying to make out the guy, to see if he recognizes him. It's hard to see as it is beginning to get dark but he's pretty sure that the guy is Middle Eastern. Suddenly his mind think back when his handler, the Landlord gave him a file with a list of people Faroukh was dealing with. While he didn't get a chance have a good look at this guy, he thinks he remembers seeing his face on the file. But now he doesn't see the occupants of the black SUV and he can't risk being discovered by putting his car into gear and drive passed these guys.
So he takes a pen and a notebook. He tries to look closely at the plates. He quickly writes down as the SUV moves and the other guy walks back across the street. Mthoko thinks about following the SUV but again he thinks maybe that's not such a good idea. When he looks across the street for the other guy, he is long gone.
He decides drive around the block to see if he can't find this guy because as far as he could remember, he didn't jump out of a vehicle so he could be walking. This could be the break he has been looking for.
So he drives around the block, looking on both sides of the streets he's driving in. There are a few people walking around but no sign of his man. He thinks of asking those who are walking pass him but that may be alerting. Oh look, just ahead of him there's petrol station, his guy could be there. He pulls in and parks not too close to the entrance. He bends down to search under his seat, fiddles and pulls a gun. He looks at it. Maybe I should leave it, just incase there are police in there, he thinks. He decides to tuck it on his back, you can never be too careful, he thinks.
He gets out of his car and walks towards the garage shop. It's not closed since it's a 24hour service. All the while as he draws closer to the entrance, his eyes are fixed on the glass wall desperately trying to see inside. There aren't too many people.
He goes inside slowly and immediately his eyes look around the people who are shopping. He can't see this guy. He walks around the shop as if he's looking for an item while his eyes are wondering. He then looks forward towards the counter and notices two cameras facing the shelves. He then goes to the fridge and picks up water. He goes to the counter and pays. He walks out the door and gets to his car and drives off.
***
Few days later, Mthoko is in his home study room in the basement of his house. He looks very focused on something as he reads something on his laptop. You can tell that he wouldn't really like to be disturbed at this point but there is a knock on his door. He quickly gets up and open the door.
"You are late Bhekani" he says as he comes back to sit down on his laptop. "I'm sorry boss, traffic on the road" Bhekani says as he comes to sit down opposite Mthoko. "Alright. Anyone followed you here?" Mthoko asks curiously. "No boss. You know I'm always careful. I would have noticed." Bhekani says as he wonders why his boss would ask that of him. But then Mthoko gets up and starts to walk up and down in the room like a man who is in deep thoughts. "Man, are you okay?" Bhekani asks curiously sensing something isn't right. But then Mthoko goes to the side table and pours himself and Bhekani a drink and comes back to sit down.
"Look, I have a job for you" he says as he points to the big monitor on the wall. "That over there is Jahim Nazeel. He is the target" he doesn't finish as Bhekani interrupts him, "A taxi driver?" he asks but it doesn't look like Mthoko likes that as he gives him a look as if to say, don't interrupt me. So Bhekani keeps quiet.
"I have been studying Nazeel for a few days now, he is dealing with cocaine." Mthoko continues. "The last few weeks he's been supplying cocaine to unknown individuals and I managed to get hold of his delivery schedule. 5 days from now he'll be making another one, the biggest yet- 100kg of pure" he says much to Bheki’s shock who has his eyes wide open. He wants to say something but then he thinks maybe it's best that he let his boss finish. "This Nazeel dude is very inconspicuous, not flashy at all. He uses an Uber most of the time when he's doing these deliveries, that way he stays off the grid" Mthoko says.
"But on Friday, he will be here at 21h:45 sharp" as he points to the location shown on the big monitor. "He doesn't like a busy spot but at the same time he doesn't like it when it's too quiet, so there will be a few people around, I presume. Now, we need this done as clean as possible. No killing of bystanders, you hear me?" as he turns to look at Bhekani.
"Boss can I ask?" Bhekani says with a nervous voice. "What do you do with this stuff anyway? And whatever happened with the other one we took that night? Is this the line of business you want to get into now? Because hey boss I don't think..." he doesn't finish as Mthoko cuts him off, "Don't worry about what happened with that other bag" he says politely with a soft voice. "And no, I'm not getting in the cocaine business Bhekani, okay? Now focus, please" as he raises his voice a little bit. Bhekani throws his hands in the air as if to say, alright, say no more!
"Now take the target and if you can, and the buyer too" Mthoko continues. "At this moment I'm not sure who the buyer is but chances are that they'd send a messenger. Take him out too and then grab the stuff and bring it back here. This Nazeel guy is very discreet so you shouldn't encounter much resistance" as he switches off the big monitor.
"Alright boss, I will get on it right away" Bhekani says as he picks up his drink. "So please tell your guys that I don't want a mess okay?" Mthoko says as he gives Bhekani a thick brown envelope. "Like we always do, how you pay your men is up to you. But I don't want anything leading back to me or you, for that matter" he says with a more serious face as if to emphasize his point. "Yes boss" Bheki says as he downs whatever is left on his glass. "Okay that's all, now please go study up. Days move fast." Mthoko says as he also downs whatever was left of his glass and then leads Bhekani out of the room.
***
A week later, Mthoko has a visitor at his home. It his friend Nduna Morena. Mthoko, while not in hostile relationship with most taxi owners he is not close to many, but he is close to Nduna. They have a relationship of trust and their wives get along very well too. Nduna has come with his wife, Palesa who is in the kitchen with Lindiwe, Mthoko's wife. They brought their daughter Bongiwe, who happens to be a friend of Mthoko's daughter, Mbali. The plan is just to have supper together.
"Man, I didn't see Londiwe and Thula inside there, are they here?" Nduna asks as he sips on whiskey while they sit outside in the balcony, enjoying the afternoon breeze. "Oh yeah, they are here bro" Mthoko says as he also takes a sip. "They are probably just in their rooms. Londiwe is probably in her mother's office doing some work" he says as he shakes his head.
"What? You don’t want her to work in the family business anymore?" Nduna asks curiously. "I thought this was your idea. Isn't this what you wanted?" as he takes another sip. "Yeah man, it is what I wanted" Mthoko says as he frowns at his drink. "It's what I wanted but I didn't want her to spend most of her time working. Bro my little princess is only 23 years old, she needs to enjoy her life a little. But now she's always here at the office working. Me and her mom tried to take the load off her but she refuses. I don't know what to do anymore man" as his face begins to be sad a little.
"No man, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. She probably just want to prove herself to you guys. So let her" Nduna says with a smile. "You start to sound like my wife. That's exactly what she said" Mthoko says as he downs whatever was left on his glass. "Your wife is smart, you should listen to her, hahaha" Nduna says as he laughs, to which Mthoko can't help but join in.
"But man let me talk to you quick, about something serious before we head back inside" Nduna says as he becomes a little serious, which in turn makes Mthoko curious a little bit. "Yeah man, what's up?" he asks as he tries to keep his voice down. "Yeah man, did you hear about the shooting that happened last night at the Downing Road, in the City?" Nduna asks as he looks through the glass sliding door to see if anyone is listening to their conversation. Mthoko opens his eyes wide as he expresses shock, "A what? Shooting?" he whispers as he also looks through the door.
"Yeah man, some Pakistani was shot there but he wasn't alone." Nduna says with a low voice. "He was with another taxi driver, I forget that boy's name man" as he tries to think but is interrupted by Mthoko who says, "taxi driver?" as he is shocked.
"Yeah man, I'm trying to remember his name man..." Nduna says as he looks up. "I think he drives for Mavusana" he says. "But Mavusana has many drivers bro. It could have been any of them" Mthoko says as he interjects. "The tall, skinny one man, light-skinned" Nduna says as he bites his lips trying to remember. "Oh you mean, Njenje, right?" Mthoko asks as he assists his friend. "Oh yes, Njenje it is man" Nduna says with a look of relief. It is always frustrating to try and remember in vain something important. "What was Njenje doing with a Pakistani?" Mthoko asks curiously while avoiding eye contact.
"I really don't know man" Nduna responds as he looks down. "Look man, I just hope that this isn't connected to that Fezile guy. The taxi Njenje was driving wasn't taken and the Pakistani...I don't know if he was driving anything. Maybe that's what they took, because there's only Njenje's taxi on the scene" as he looks up trying to make sense of all this.
"Hey I really don't know what's going on here man" Mthoko says as he shakes his head. "What are the police saying?" he asks curiously. "Well, nothing as yet. They are yet to determine the motive. I suppose we will know soon enough" Nduna responds as he also shakes his head. This sombre moment is interrupted by a shout from inside the house, "Guys, supper is ready, please come back inside"
***
After hearing the news of the recent shooting Faroukh is absolutely mad at this, as he is still trying to get to terms with amount of money he lost. He is now on the phone with his trusted man, Zikode and the conversation is a heated one.
Faroukh: "Zikode, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on here? Who keeps hitting my merchandise? Speak up (as he raises his voice)
Zikode: "Faroukh, I don't know what to tell you man, at this point we don't know but we are looking hard"
Faroukh: "Look, that's not good enough damnit! Who is the mole? Who else knows about my deliveries Zikode?"
Zikode: "Look, as far as I know, only the people you and I know would have had knowledge of the delivery. The leak could have come from within the ranks.
Faroukh: "No, I trust my people. They wouldn't dare cross me. It must be one or some of the buyers who are leaking this. I need you to find out who?"
Zikode: "I'm working on it"
Faroukh: "Well, you better work faster, damnit. Do you know how much I lost over this? This was the biggest delivery yet.
*little silence*
Faroukh: "What about the people in your industry? That guy you don't like? Sibisi? Could this be his doing?"
*another silence*
Zikode: "No man, he has been kept completely in the dark. It can't be him. We are rivalries yes but he couldn't have known something like this. My beef with him is only taxi related, I don't think it's him."
Faroukh: "You better be right with that, you hear me? I want my drugs back. This makes me look so bad to my people. The amount of money I'm losing with this derails my plans."
Zikode: "Understood"
Faroukh: "Keep a close eye on everyone, including Sibisi and everyone at the rank. Somebody got to know something. Find out everything you can about that driver, uhmm..."
Zikode: "Njenje?"
Faroukh: "Yes...find out everything about him, his family and friends...people he was talking to. Someone must have known about the delivery, I want to know who"
Zikode: "Understood"
*Call dropped*
Please log in to submit a comment.