I NEVER SAW THOSE SHIFTING SKIES

NEW SEASON. SPENT THE DAY DOING SOME RESEARCH ABOUT THE WIT WOLF AND THE STRYDOM SQUARE MASSACRE OF '88 FOR THE NEW MOLEKE MBEMBE VIDEO. IT IS A GOOD HEALTHY SPRING DAY, A CURSE UPON THE SHIVERING NORTHERN HEMISPHERE (EXCEPT GNUCCI).

*On the afternoon of 15 November 1988, twenty-three year-old Barend Hendrik Strydom donned camouflage-style army fatigue, loaded his 9 mm pistol, and set out for central Pretoria. His pockets bulged: he was carrying a further two magazines and 200 loose bullets. At around 3 p.m. he parked his car in Prinsloo Street and walked to Strjdom Square - specially chosen for its links to Prime Minister J.G. Strydom, who had strong apartheid ideals - and began shooting any black person who got in his way. After shooting one man outside the State Theatre, he crossed Church Street and headed towards Prinsloo Street. On the corner of Church and Prinsloo Streets, he shot two more people. One of his victims was a man standing in the street; another a woman sitting inside a taxi. Strydom carried on walking down Prinsloo Street. “It was important to keep moving during the operation to keep the element of surprise”, he explained. “I ran and looked around searching for blacks. I did not look at their faces...”. After walking three blocks, shooting a number of innocent pedestrians as he went, Strydom turned down Struben Street and entered Sato Engineering. He went over to a counter and began to reload a magazine. At this point, Mr Simon Mukondoleli (32), who had bravely followed Strydom into the shop pretending to be a customer, walked up and tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me baas, but that baas is calling you,” he said. When Strydom looked round, Mr Mukondoleli snatched the gun from the counter and pointed it at him. Strydom raised his hands. “You've got me,” he said. The two men then walked out into the street together where several policemen arrested Strydom. “I am king of the Wit Wolwe,” Strydom said, just before being taken away in a police car. That afternoon, Pretoria saw a smiling Strydom murder eight people and wound a further sixteen - many of them seriously. “The shootings were to show the world that there are boere (farmers) in the southern part of Africa who will fight to protect what is theirs,” Strydom said. At the police station, after being told that he had killed five or six people, he replied: “I shot badly”.*

HANGIN WITH FRANK BLACK