Deadly Truth
by
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Lugabi prefaced his testimony with a description of events at the Wine Cooperative that had caused the protest. On the day in question, he and his fellow workers, gleaming with sweat, stood and watched in mute horror as their paunchy white baas kneeled and peered into one of the winery’s eighteen-inch manholes to see what was going on below. He had ordered Noah down into the underground tank to find the cause of trouble they were having in rotating the wine-- "Stupid Kaffir!" he exploded in Afrikaans. "Can't carry out a simple direction. All he needs to do is pull out whatever's stopping the pump. Probably a vine branch." The foreman bent lower, straining to see and hear. "Better get Jacobi," he called, hoisting himself back onto his feet. "Thank goodness for one black bastard who knows Afrikaans." As the startled Jacobi came forward, the baas thrust a coil of rope into his hands and ordered, "Go get Noah. Bring him up. Fast!" Jacobi's eyes grew wider. "Go on, damn it! Get your bloody carcass down there!" The worker had no choice. His baas kicked him halfway through the manhole, then pushed. Jacobi fell into the slippery mush almost to his knees. Lugabi and the others huddled at a distance. "Go back to your jobs, you stupid baboons," the baas had shouted. "Nothing is wrong here. Go! Go!" No one moved. These migrant workers knew what had happened in that same tank three years before. The bosses thought that they could prevent them from knowing about past disasters by virtue of their nine-month contracts. But the masters fooled themselves. The grapevine told everything. Struggling for breath in the underground tank with its unbearable stench, Jacobi managed to reach Noah and place the rope around his waist. It was too late, though. Noah slumped lifeless into the sticky substance that oozed around him. Jacobi tried to pull but his hands slid on the slimy rope. His eyes began to close; his nose dripped. He began to choke on the fumes as he struggled to loop the rope over his own body while calling for help. "Pull up! Pull up quick!" he shouted. "Noah dead!" That galvanized the foreman. He signaled Lugabi, the strongest of the workers, to come forward and pull. Lugabi tugged mightily, but to no avail. The fermented liquid had already penetrated the men's clothing, adding to their weight. Other workers formed a line behind him on the rope and began to lift the weight. By that time Jacobi’s cries had ceased. Before the eleven o’clock break, the workers had brought up two dead from tank Number 17.
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About the Book
Deadly Truth is a fast-moving story of how a Jewish family deals with the complex dynamics of life in South Africa under the brutal system known as Apartheid. David Bellon, an industrialist in an Afrikaner dominated town, courts trouble by pursuing the dictates of his conscience. A major indiscretion leads to his downfall and, very nearly, to his death.
About the Author
Israel Heller.
Zelda Heller. Has had several successful careers: antique dealer and teacher of science in her native South Africa and now realtor in the States. Zelda is happy that she has four American grandchildren. She is grateful that her co-authors worked so well together on a story which she feels must be told.
Janice Rothschild Blumberg. Is an author and free-lance journalist with special interest in Jewish history. A native of Atlanta, she participated with her late husband, Rabbi Jacob M. Rothschild, in the struggle for racial equality in that city. Personal friendship, life long fascination with South Africa, and deep empathy for its people under the yoke of Apartheid sparked her enthusiastic partnership with the Hellers in writing Deadly Truth.
The authors reside in the Washington, D.C. area.