Permanent Removal is a beautifully written
political thriller focusing on the nature of justice,
truth, betrayal, socio-political and ethical
quandaries, complicity and moral agency. The
novel introduces readers to a cast of players
whose destinies intertwine in a particularly
gruesome murder.
The novel is set in apartheid South Africa
and fictionalises the events leading up to the
assassination of the Cradock Four. South
African security forces set up a roadblock to
intercept a car near the city of Port Elizabeth.
Two of the four anti-apartheid activists in the
car were secretly targeted for assassination. The
police abducted the four and murdered them in
cold blood. Their burnt bodies were found later
near the Port Elizabeth suburb of Bluewater Bay.
These murders are one of apartheid’s murkiest
episodes.
On the day of the funeral of the Cradock
Four, President PW Botha declared a State of
Emergency. It was the beginning of the end.