It's been a few weeks since the release of my debut book, Killer Cop: The Rosemary Ndlovu Story. It's about South Africa's most recent female serial killer, a police officer based in Gauteng who was wiping out members of her family. Her motivation? Insurance policy payouts.
While many have asked how sales are going and how the book is being received, strangely, I haven't been too concerned about that. My biggest fulfilment from writing this book came when Justice Mabasa, the brother of Maurice, one of Ndlovu's victims, WhatsApped me the day after I'd given him a copy of the book. He said: “My brother's history is in black and white, and on behalf of the family, thank you so much. God bless you.”
For me, that was mission accomplished.
Sure, it is Ndlovu who is on the cover of the book, but for me it was about bringing to life the people she killed. Their names, their stories, their legacies are all captured.
Writing it was undoubtedly one of the hardest things I have ever done. Juggling a full-time job, motherhood and trying to put all the information I had down, there were many times when I threw in the towel. Days or weeks later however, I was back, picking up that towel and using it to dust myself off and try again.
I couldn't give up because so many of those who were affected were relying on me to deliver after spending hours rehashing some of the most painful moments of their lives.
I had been a reporter for a number of years, but taking the scores of articles I had written on this, fleshing them out and writing them as a book was much harder than I thought it would be. How in the world do I put into words what I was hearing about witchcraft and mysticism I could not get tangible proof of? I did it the best way I could.
Another tough question was how to approach this book, especially the style of writing. After spending hours in the rural villages of Tzaneen and Bushbuckridge, conducting interviews and being told the most fascinating stories about Ndlovu, I decided to write it in a way that the same people, some of whom have limited education, would be able to pick up it up, read it from cover to cover and understand it.
I know it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but coming from a society in which reading isn't something to which young people are immediately drawn, I hope this book will entice even one person to read.
Another book in the pipeline? I don't know. I am still recovering from this one. However, a perfect second offering would involve sitting with Ndlovu while she shares her life story.
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