Exploration of collective guilt, individual justice

THESE ARE NOT GENTLE PEOPLE

AS THE saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction and while this book reads like a first-class thriller on land, race, murder and betrayal, it's the true story of a case that broke a South African town.

Written by a BBC foreign correspondent, it takes up the story of a group of 40 men, their vengeful act and its and ramifications.

At dusk, on a warm evening in 2016, the men gathered on a dusty field on a farm outside Parys in the Free State. Fury was rife but some of the men's cohorts treated the whole thing as a joke.

The violent events of the next two hours came to haunt them all, ripping families apart, leading to suicide attempts, nervous breakdowns, and acts of unforgivable treachery.

Harding's story is a murder story and a courtroom drama, a profound and deeply embedded exploration of collective guilt and individual justice.

He draws his material from the facts and turns it all into a fast-paced thriller, tracing the events from the prism of the black community who worked largely as labourers; the farmers; the police and the judiciary.

An award-winning journalist and author, Harding relates how one moment of horrific collective barbarism impacts on a fragile community. Lies, cover-ups, political meddling and betrayals are uncovered.

In writing that is as clear and descriptive as it is riveting, Harding unravels the inner lives of those involved.

While the story revolves around the town of Parys, it could be an examination of any small town battling to deal with a trauma that threatens to separate two communities irrevocably, putting it straight in the spotlight of modern South Africa.