The Pencil ✏️

A girl in Rudairo's class stole her pencil the day before yesterday. Rudairo saw her using it and confronted her, but staying true to her brand, that girl - I'll call her Rose - stubbornly refused to hand back the pencil. She said, "Everyone knows I bite my pencils , so here..." and she proceeded to bite our pencil so it would look like the rest of her stash, probably also pinched from unfortunate fellow pupils. The teacher wasn't there when all of this was happening. Rudairo let Rose be, and yesterday showed up with a receipt from a month ago when she bought the pencil.

I had no idea she still had it. She reported the thieving classmate to the teacher and presented her receipt as evidence that the pencil belonged to her. The classmate could only present the bite mark as evidence. In the end, we got our pencil back, which Rudairo proceeded to dip in sanitizer as it had been in Rose's mouth. I'm really proud of her for being so resourceful. We would have lost all of the R8.99 we used to buy the pencil, and money doesn't grow on trees, you know. When she told me she had been reunited with our pencil, I told her Rose should thank her lucky stars because I'd already ironed my bum shorts, ready to go and kick up some dust🥊🥊. Rudairo said I should remember to take off my earrings too if an opportunity presents itself again for me to start a fight. I believe it sure will, because that child wasn't punished, after all it was just an R8.99 pencil. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how hard-core criminals are created. They start small, with pencils, then next time it will be a jersey, money, and eventually a car and even a life as they get more brazen after getting away with "little offences". Before you know it, you're visiting them in jail and looking for lawyers. I'm not saying she should have been nailed on the cross, but she definitely needed to be reprimanded or get a demerit at the very least, to nip the bad behaviour in the bud.

You never really know people

In his testimony before the parliamentary committee investigating allegations of corruption in the South Africa Police Service, former Police Minister Bheki Cele said murder was not ruled out in Anele Tembe's death, but prosecutors refused to take the case forward. Anele was popular rapper AKA's fiancée, and she died after 'falling' from the 10th floor of a Cape Town hotel in April 2021. Her death was believed to be a su!cide, which her family and those close to her still dispute. There had been counter-allegations of abuse on the relationship, but mostly against AKA, who was subsequently shot dead in Durban in February 2023, almost two weeks after his 35th birthday.

In the wake of Cele's comments, AKA's father, Tony Forbes, came out in defence of his son. He said he wasn't a killer, wasn't aggressive, loved Anele dearly, and had even asked for her hand in marriage two weeks before she 'jumped'. Tony said the ex-minister's comments were hurtful and unfair. I do feel for him because it's definitely not pleasant to have your dead son's name dragged in the mud. I don't know if AKA took his fiancée life or not. In fact, nobody does. The two people involved aren't here anymore to speak for themselves. What I know, however, is that you can never really vouch for your child or loved ones. Our sweet, obedient and God-fearing children can be absolute monsters in other circles, especially to their intimate partners. It would hurt to hear someone describe your sweet little prince as abusive, but people are capable of such ugliness despite the good side they choose to show to those they hoodwink. There was another case this week at a Cape Town school, where a group of teens ganged up on a schoolmate, flogging him with an assortment of objects such as belts, a hockey stick and I don't know what else because I couldn't bring myself to watch. I'm sure the parents of those evil little thugs are also horrified to see a side of their children they didn't know existed. So next time someone claims they are being abused or have been abused by someone you love or think you know well, don't be quick to dismiss them and say oh I've worked with him for 20 years and he's the most humble of people, he preaches at church every Sunday, he donates to the poor and has no mean bone in his body, or whatever else you think you know. Abusive people are actually two-faced and pick who to show their ugliness. That's why there will always be people who will put their heads on the chopping block for them, believing them to be incapable of cruelty. People, men especially, buy flowers and cars everyday for women they beat to a pulp behind closed doors. Serial killers and child abusers are mostly known in their communities as upstanding people who wouldn't hurt a fly. Even Adolf Hitler had a legion of supporters too!