Chapter 39: Time For Church and Mosque

…continued from 17 June 2026…

FIRST TIME HERE? NO PROBLEM – START AT THE BEGINNING – WARNING YOU WILL BECOME ADDICTED TO THE STORY.

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES OF VIOLENCE AND STRONG LANGUAGE - DO NOT READ IF IT OFFENDS YOU.

Two weeks later Elaine, surrounded by a hoard of media, local community leaders and even gang leaders, was again making news headlines. This time Elaine’s platform was in the church from where Whitney was buried.

Whitney’s funeral marked the turning point for the community’s rage. The week leading up to her funeral was marked by violent protests, the burning of the local police station, the looting of local businesses and an unstoppable rage. A rage which was ignited by the police finding DNA on Whitney’s remains which conclusively identified Justin as her killer.

Knowing that Justin would probably have been murdered by the mob, the police had arrested him without informing the media beforehand. However, his fate was unavoidable when he was brutally mutilated and killed in communal jail cell shortly after being arrested.

The polls showed that Elaine had surged ahead of her rivals by a significant margin. Johan felt that the timing of the election, just weeks away, was almost perfect.  

Several churches and mosques in the country, and practically all of the churches and mosques in the Coloured communities, held memorial services for Whitney for weeks after her burial. Religious groups held vigils and sang hymns in her honour as the mourning of the community took weeks to dissipate.

Even before the first memorial service had been concluded, Johan saw the opportunity. He picked up the phone and called Shawn immediately.

“Hey cuz, howzit going?” Shawn greeted Johan with a hug. 

“Yeah, yeah, all good cuz, thanks for coming on such short notice,” Johan replied. 

“The way we get the message to the people is via the churches,” Johan said. 

“I’m listening,” said Shawn.

“You need to share the strategy with our three friends immediately, I have the cash available and it needs to be distributed effectively and efficiently,” Johan continued. 

“You do know that these fuckers will take a huge cut for themselves,” Shawn replied.

“Unavoidable, but we have to appeal to their sense of duty and also capitalise on the Whitney effect, two of them have daughters, and I’m sure it won’t be too hard to trigger a bit of sympathy in Whitey as well.

“I hear you,” said Shawn. “So, you want the message to vote for Elaine to be communicated to the people via the churches, and the money to be laundered through the church to the people in return for their vote? Have I got it right?”

“Yes, that’s about the long and the short of it,” replied Johan. 

Shawn had a huge grin on his face… “Brother, I always knew you were the smart one, but this, is fucking genius.”

Johan acknowledged the compliment with a sheepish smile and said: “We’re going to face a few unknowns before we cross the finish line, but I think we have the major plays covered. There will be push back from the other political parties, they might even bring the cops into it, they might even bring other churches into to it.”

“Yeah, I see it...” Shawn suddenly had an insight into how Johan saw things, he could see the potential scenarios playing out as Johan had alluded to. 

Continued tomorrow 19 June 2026, before 12pm

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