Helen Hillyndale

The Dog's Dead Helen Hillyndale

By 1998, four years after South Africa achieved democracy, hundreds of thousands of destitute South Africans still lived in squalid squatter camps such as the San Diego squatter camp or informal settlement west of Johannesburg. Nine-year-old Nandi "Legsie" Gwala lives in San Diego with her dad parents and five-year-old sister, Gugu. Her best friend, eight-year-old Keletso "Gobbles" Bafokeng and her parents also live in the settlement and the two girls witness the poverty and hardships that the residents have to endure: no electricity, no proper sewerage system and no running water, the appalling destruction caused by a runaway shack fire, a tragic "necklacing" killing of a woman accused of theft by the barbaric vigilante justice system, unresolved crime, Legsie's dad risking his life to save a stranger's child and a shameful xenophobic incident. They also experience playing in the snow, almost drowning in a storm water drain during a flash flood and hearing about African myths and legends. They struggle to understand segregation, the stokvel system (traditional savings scheme), learn about the dangers of illegal gold mining and experience the euphoria of sniffing glue. Legsie is traumatized by the murder of her good friend Sizani Buthelezi, the painful and lonely death of a young girl Nomvula Jali and the death of her dog Snooper and struggles to come to terms with these disturbing incidents. Other characters in the settlement include Misses Ntombi Zondo, the settlement's Sangoma or traditional healer, Mister Bongani Cele, the retired illegal gold miner, Misses Lerato Nonyana, the retired school teacher and story teller, Mister Calvin Tembe, the "mayor" of San Diego, Mister Joseph Amin, the Ugandan law student and Constable Edward Luthuli, the lazy incompetent policeman. In the midst of all this, a serial killer lurks.