The Kalahari Killings

by Jonathan Laverick

  Fraenkel began his cross-examination by asking Awekeca how she felt when the others were arrested:

  I remember the day they were arrested as it was raining heavily and I was very upset. When we were in Kombe, Tammai shared a hut with Chenda as she is his concubine. I do not know how long this was after the murder as we Masarwa never know how long.

  At Nekate there was a leather bag in Dambe’s hut, but I did not look in it. I was with my husband, Resetora, and my small child, Chara, when I saw this bag. I do not know who brought the axe that I saw, but it arrived at the same time as Matammai. I did not see anything else in the hut. By this time, Tammai and Twai Twai had been arrested.

  With Kelly again declining to question the witness, it was up to Ellenberger and Mackenzie to add more detail to Awekeca’s account:

  At Kombe there are four huts and these belong to Dambe, Matammai, Chenda and Morobe. Matammai is also the mother of Autwa, one of the accused women.

  I do not remember Preston-Whyte coming to look for an axe. I did not know Tammai’s axe before I was shown it in court, but my daughter Chicawe did know it and pointed it out to the police. I did not tell the police about the axe in the rafters when they first came because I had not seen it then. Chicawe knew about this axe, but was too afraid to tell anybody. Chicawe lives with me and our hut is about a mile from Dambe’s.

  Prosecution Witness –

  Flight Lieutenant Ronald Payne (Recalled)

  After hearing all of the prosecution witnesses, Flight Lieutenant Payne was recalled to clear up various issues that had come to light during the course of the trial so far. The RAF officer from Kumalo had been asked back to go through various technical descriptions, starting with items that were missing from the aircraft:

  The missing parachute pack was of the observer’s type and was only clipped to the body before use; normally it would be stored in the aircraft during flight. The pack was a canvas box with metal framing. The framing would collapse as the parachute was pulled out. The container was secured with red bands, that is the elastic was white, but the bands had red cotton threads running through them. It would have weighed about thirteen pounds. The canopy was a single piece of silk and was worth about eighty pounds. Because of this cost it is unlikely the airmen would have damaged the parachute by cutting it, although it is standard practice to use it for sleeping in an emergency. No blankets were carried in the aircraft.

  The water container that should have been in the plane was a metal cylinder about eighteen inches by nine and would have held two gallons of water. It did not have a handle. The bands that secured this were still in place in the aircraft when it returned to Kumalo. There are no standard canvas water containers that are issued by the RAF, but the pilots might have carried their own.

  There was no clock in the aircraft and I do not know if one of the pilots had a watch, but the time on the note they left was specific. The missing compass was about the size of an alarm clock.

  The Oxford carried two signalling strips, about eight feet long by eighteen inches wide. These are made from white oil cloth and are used to signal to aircraft from the ground. Along with the two strips there are five metal discs with holes in them. These allow a range of messages to be sent. These had been placed out on the ground, but it was impossible to say how they had been set up as they had been blown out of place by the wind. The two strips had been blown about the length of the aircraft, around fifteen feet.

  The questions then turned to the physical description of Edwards and Adamson. This was important as the prosecution witnesses had all described Edwards as tall and dark-haired, where Payne, in his initial evidence, had described his hair as ‘fair’.

  Adamson had dark hair and weighed about one hundred and fifty pounds, Edwards weighed somewhere between one-seventy and one hundred and eighty. Edwards had fair hair, but he used brilliantine and this could make it look darker. They would have worn leather flying helmets. I am convinced of this because the leads for the microphone were left in the plane and the pilots had contacted ground control after they had took off. They would have been unlikely to have carried any other headgear unless it was very hot or sunny – the Oxford has an enclosed cockpit but the glass lets the heat of the sun’s rays through very easily. The two pilots had peaked caps, but would only have used these for ‘walking out’ and it would have been very unusual for them to have taken them with them in the air.

  Brilliantine was a popular hair product, originally from France, and was very similar to Brylcreem. The lack of eyewitnesses that could describe the men was compounded by the fact no photographs of the deceased were available to the court.

  Finally, the Attorney General asked to submit the statements the accused had made in the pre-trial hearing as evidence. He outlined that while Twai Twai and Tammai denied everything, the other defendants had described events pretty much as the prosecution had painted them. The Attorney General suggested that these documents should be translated for the benefit of the defendants. Fraenkel objected to this approach as there had been no chance of any cross-examination in the Francistown court. The Attorney General claimed that the defendants had not asked to, while Fraenkel claimed they were not given the opportunity to ask. The judge stepped in and accepted the statements and this closed the prosecution case. However, de Beer asked for the recall of Morobe so he could ask her about Kico’s allegations that she had encouraged Kico to give false evidence. The judge also asked about why the other witnesses claimed that she had carried some of the murdered airmen’s clothes back from the fire, something she had denied in her testimony.

  Prosecution Witness – Morobe

  I never spoke to Kico at all and never told her to change her evidence. Nor did I carry any clothes belonging to the white men. The other witnesses are telling lies.

  At the time of the murder I was very afraid. I asked my father ‘Why are those people being killed?’ Twai Twai replied ‘What are they to you, to ask such a question?’

  This brief exchange brought the morning’s proceedings to a close and lunch was called. The courthouse slowly emptied, with many of those leaving wondering what defence Twai Twai Molele would employ after the recess.

  Defence Witness –

  Twai Twai Molele (First Accused)

  Twai Twai cut an impressive figure as he stood before the court. Six feet tall, Molele gave off an air of power such that the whole court was aware of the strength of his personality. His grizzled face and bald head may have told that his 50 years had been hard ones, but his deep-set eyes, looking out from under heavy eyebrows, suggested that he was in full control of his thoughts:

  I am Twai Twai Molele and I live at Nata with my wife, Dambe. Last year I went to Kombe and then to Kuaxaxa to hunt. I went with Tammai, Temme, Rekisang, Toi Toi, Kico, Selatole, Chikawe, and some of the children. We were at Kuaxaxa for about a month and Keree joined us during that time.

  One day, while out hunting, I came across an aeroplane on the ground. This was the first time I had seen this aeroplane – I had not seen the aeroplane in the air. There were five of us out hunting that day, there was me, Tammai, Temee, Orai and Toi Toi. We were on our way back to the campsite when we found the plane. I did not see any people or any tracks near the aeroplane. It had been there a long time and there had been a fire and the ground was burnt. There had also been a lot of wind. We went back to our camp. We did not see any white men, any axe, and we did not have any visitors at the campsite. We did not take anything from the aeroplane.

  The next day we went hunting again – Keree, Toi Toi, Tammai, Temee and me – and this time we killed a kudu. I had with me my muzzle loader, Tammai used his Martini Henry. The following day we went back to the kill to collect more meat. We then left the campsite and I went with Tammai, Rekisang, Temee, Toi Toi, Kico, Chicawe and Seltole to Mothlomogyane. We spent two days there and then one night at Jarie. We then split up and it took me two days to get back to Nata. I returned only with my blankets, I did not have anything that was not
mine. When we got back I reported the aeroplane to Rre Mareke at the WNLA camp at Nata. This was the day after I got to Nata – I had slept first.

  About five days later I saw Preston-Whyte, the policeman. I took this man to the aeroplane and he asked me to organise a search party, but I was arrested before I could do this. I told the policeman that I could not find any spoor around the aeroplane.

  I had never seen a European axe until I saw it in the court. This was the same with the bottles of fat, I had never seen them and I never owned one either.

  Twai Twai’s denial of almost everything, except being a member of the hunting party that had found the missing aeroplane, came as no surprise to those that had been present at the Francistown hearing. With only minor changes in detail, this was the story the headman had told since his arrest. It was now up to Attorney General E.R. Roper to try and find any chinks in Twai Twai’s story. His first point of attack was Twai Twai’s relationship with his daughters, two of the lead prosecution witnesses:

  Rekisang is my daughter, but we are not on good terms because she always takes the side of her mother. This is the only reason for her hatred. I live in the same village as her mother, but I do not always treat her mother well. I do not know whether her mother would tell the police about this. Despite all of this, I do treat Rekisang well.

  Morobe is also my daughter, but we are always on good terms with each other. Her mother is Mamorobe, who is now married to one of my sons.

  Many in the court would have liked to have a detailed family tree of the Molele family in front of them in order to try to follow the intricacies of some of the twisted branches. Roper, however, seemed to take this in his stride and next moved onto Twai Twai’s friendship with the other members of the hunting party, all of whom seemed to have some family connection:

  Temee and Toi Toi are sons of Resetora. I am on good terms with them, but I do not get on with their father. Toi Toi’s mother is now my wife – that is why I took the boys with me. Kico is the daughter of Meche, my cousin who is now dead. I treat Kico well. Of all the party, there was only Rekisang I was not on good terms with.

  Roper then turned to the inconsistencies between Twai Twai’s account of finding the aeroplane and that which had already been heard from the prosecution witnesses that had been part of the search party:

  Despite what Preston-Whyte said, I never told the police that I had seen footprints. I would have noticed any prints if they were there. Temee was lying when he said he saw spoor, I would have tried to trace them if we had found any. Toi Toi is also wrong. If anybody had seen any footprints he would have shown them to everybody else. Perhaps somebody did see some footprints, but I did not and they did not show them to me. I do not know why the boys would lie about this.

  I did see the signal cloths, there were two pieces of material and some metal discs. This cloth had been blown around. We did not touch anything and we took nothing with us when we left. We did not see any people, the boys made this up. I do not know why they did this; perhaps they wanted to get me into to trouble, so they did not. Maybe they made it up because lots of people were asking about the aeroplane and they were afraid of the chief. There is no evidence against me. I can only be convicted on what they say.

  Finally, Roper asked about the bottle of fat and the money Rekisang had claimed Twai Twai had given her:

  I never gave Rekisang any money, perhaps her husband did. She got the bottle and the money from her husband. She told me her husband gave her money when we were hunting. We left this money at home when we went to Kuaxaxa. Rekisang’s husband is a person of Rhodesia so he ought to have money from Rhodesia. This money was for a dress, her husband left it when he went back to work in Johannesburg. Rekisang is lying about the bottle. All the witnesses know it was hers.

  Fraenkel then took control of his witness again, asking why the boys would give evidence so damning against a family member. Twai Twai ensured that the idea of a conspiracy entered the mind of the court:

  There are people behind the boys. They were threatened by the chief. Keree heard this at Francistown.

  Although not mentioned by name, it appeared that Twai Twai and Fraenkel were suggesting that Tshekedi Khama had used his men to apply pressure to the witnesses. Kelly was up next and satisfied himself by confirming that Twai Twai fully understood the charges he was faced with and the seriousness of the alleged murder. The two District Commissioners then had a chance to question the alleged ring-leader. Ellenberger asked for more detail on what had happened when the plane was found, questioning why it took so long to report the finding of the aeroplane:

  I looked at the aeroplane carefully, but I stayed on one side of it. I did not go close and I did not see a door. Because of this, I wondered how the men had got out. The tracks of the aeroplane went some distance. I noticed this when we were looking for the spoor of the men. I reported this within ten days. I know that according to the law it should have been reported, but I was hungry and had to hunt. I was also frightened of what would happen.

  Ellenberger argued that it was twelve days and used Twai Twai’s evidence to show this. Twai Twai disputed this and there was a short discussion on this point before Mackenzie took over. Ellenberger’s opposite number checked that the grass where the aeroplane had landed was already burnt before the arrival of the aircraft and Twai Twai agreed this was the case. The native assessor then challenged Twai Twai over how they could be hungry after the kudu hunt and also why his children would give evidence against him:

  The kudu we shot after we saw the plane was a small beast and there was not enough meat for everybody so we were still hungry. The children want us in trouble as the Masarwa are full of hatred. Nothing but hatred exists amongst the Masarwa. I have never before heard of children testifying against their father.

  The assessor also suggested that it should not have taken two days to return to Nata as Kuaxaxa was only 37 miles away. The Attorney General finished the examination of the main accused by asking about his knowledge of aeroplanes:

  I have seen an aeroplane before on the ground. This was at Serowe. I do not know how people get out of an aeroplane.

  And with that the powerful healer was replaced by the contrasting Tammai.

  Defence Witness –

  Tammai Mashupatsela (Second Accused)

  Whereas Twai Twai had impressed the court with his height and presence, Tammai was short and stocky, and had a more obvious ‘Bushman’ appearance, with his lighter skin and prominent cheekbones. He was clearly much younger than the man he had just exchanged places with. Fraenkel walked him through his story, sticking to the main points. Like Twai Twai, Tammai’s defence was that they had never even seen the missing pilots, let alone murdered them:

  We were out hunting when we came across an aeroplane. This was around midday. I only saw the plane from the back and one side, there were no people there. We did not shoot anything that day and we returned to our camp. The native axe and the Martini Henry rifle in the court are mine. There is a problem loading and firing that rifle – sometimes I have to fire five bullets before it fires properly.

  Four days later I left to go to Kombe. I never saw any white men or their possessions. While I was at Kombe, Resetora visited my hut. I remember that day because it was raining so heavily. My bag was in the hut and inside were an adze, a rasp, three knives and some brains. The brains were animal brains. There was no axe. I did not see any other axe in Matammai’s hut in Nekate.

  Fraenkel then asked his witness about the mysterious bottles of fat, and Tammai offered a new and alternative explanation for them:

  The bottle of fat was mine. I had bought them from Patsima, who is a witchdoctor in Nonga. I kept them at my home and I used them on my face to bring me good luck and money. My brother and Rekisang know this, because they had also bought the same.

  Tammai almost certainly meant his sister and this was probably a mistake on the part of the translator. Even today many Setswana speakers use ‘he’ and ‘she’ interchan
geably when speaking in English. Roper’s first questions were about the strange bottle, starting with how the money got to be in the container:

  I put the threepence in the bottle on the instruction of Patsima, as the witchdoctor had no money. This coin was part of the change I got when I bought some tobacco in Nonga. Patsima told me the medicine would bring me lots of women and also would mean I would get assistance from my people when I needed it. The witchdoctor told me the coin had to be a thre’penny bit, but it did not have to be Rhodesian. Talifang also bought a bottle.

  The Attorney General then asked why Patsima had not been mentioned as the source of the bottles earlier and why he had not been produced in court as a witness:

  Patsima is too far away for the police to bring him here. I did not force him to come to give evidence as I have no power here. I did mention Patsima in the Francistown hearing.