Always, they used the same shots of Amy—here with a pudgy black baby in her arms, here grinning widely, here surrounded by African women with baskets on their heads.The trial was the first to be fast-tracked under a new act aimed at combating political violence and unrest. Other similarly political cases involving violence in the townships had been left to idle, but the local government swiftly applied the act to Amy’s case. Accordingly, for the better part of the year, the accused were denied bail and the state prosecution was urged to prioritize the case.The defendants were kept at Pollsmoor Prison, just outside Cape Town.“The prison is beautiful outside,” Easy recalled. “Nice gardens, nice flowers, very shiny. When you go inside, is cold showers, dirty beds, breakfast is porridge with one sugar, gangsters fighting and they cut your head.”When they were finally given bail of 250 rand (equivalent at the time to about $70), their families had to raise funds. Vusumzi eventually returned to prison, which transported him to the court because he couldn’t afford the daily train fare to attend the trial.The trial played against the backdrop of the Cape Town High Court, a pale gray building supported by pillars, its doors of carved, polished mahogany.
