merely told him to be ready to travel to Gauteng for an important
meeting. Perhaps the mayor thought he was going to be taken to
Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters in downtown Johannesburg.
As they progressed northwards on the N 1 highway, Magashule and
Manyoni mostly talked shop. The 2014 national and provincial
elections were around the corner, and both men would be required to
help convince the bulk of the Free State’s nearly 1. 5 million registered
voters^3 to once again gift their inky crosses to the ruling party. There
was also the issue of the lists the party needed to compile of candidates
it would send to the provincial legislature and the National Assembly
after the elections. It was issues such as these that dominated the
conversation during the four-hour drive, leaving Manyoni without any
hints as to where they were going.
When they arrived at Johannesburg’s southern edge, Magashule
steered the BMW X 5 past the exits that led to the city’s CBD. Manyoni
could now rule out Luthuli House as a possible destination. The
premier instead continued driving up the M 1 , the national highway’s
four-lane tributary that snakes through the city’s affluent, forested core.
Before they reached the point further north where the two highways
again merge, Magashule took an off-ramp. The black BMW now
cruised westward on one of the area’s wider, tree-lined roads. After a
couple of turns, the premier and the mayor entered Saxonwold, a
suburb where the top-floor windows of double-storey homes peeked
over tall gates and walls.
Magashule slowed as they reached a particularly large property. It was
protected by a white, spiked fence perched atop an already imposing
wall. This concrete bulwark stretched down the road for what seemed
like hundreds of metres.
nora
(Nora)
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