VLAKPLAAS BRAAI

SENSITIVE READERS COULD FIND THIS POEM HIGHLY DISTURBING.


The Askari
lost his service pistol.
A negligent act.

His screams and pleas
fell on cruel ears
as the commander and his men
took turns kicking him

kicking
kicking kicking

until he was dead.
Or so they said.

Only one, concealed
in the shadows,
was spared

from participating
in the brutal murder.
He cowered,
hiding in the dark,

hiding
hiding hiding

as the team grilled
meat over open coals.

Hoarse from cheering,
they became noisier
as the liquid gold

caressed
their throats,
easing their vocal chords.
Drinking heavily

drinking
drinking drinking

their tongues loosened
as they reminisced.

Cool night air
became saturated
with the sounds

of nocturnal animals
and drunken chatter
and, above it all, the
sickening smell

sickening
sickening sickening

that wafted from the
open fireplace beside the braai.

A smell haunting
and repugnant,
as the Askari,

burned
burned burned

his skin
and his eyes
and his genitals

cooking
cooking cooking

in an impromptu
cremation.

Ashes to ashes.

He no longer
hides in the shadows
but he still has to

swallow
swallow swallow

breathe
breathe breathe

to stop the horror
that rises in his throat
threatening to erupt
in thick, warm fountains
at the mere mention
of the word
‘braai’.



Tragically this poem is based on fact.
Askari is the Arabic, Urdu,Turkish, Somali, Persian, and Swahili word meaning "soldier". Braai or braaivleis is the name for a South African barbeque.
Vlakplaas was a farm used as a base by the ‘Death Squads’ of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The commander in this poem is a man referred to by many as ‘Prime Evil’. His name is Eugene de Kock. In an attempt to get indemnity, he confessed to his 'politically motivated crimes' at the Truth and Reconciliation hearings. He was granted indemnity for a few ‘politically motivated acts’. For the rest he was convicted to 212 years in prison.

The only fiction in this poem is the man hiding in the shadows whom I introduced in an attempt to illustrate that not all white South Africans supported what happened during the apartheid era. Also, by far the majority of us had no idea what was truly happening in our country.