Chapter 31: The Chinese Connection

…continued from 9 June 2026...

 FIRST TIME HERE? NO PROBLEM – START AT THE BEGINNING – WARNING YOU WILL BECOME ADDICTED TO THE STORY.

Themba just would not shut-up about the incident, engaging on all online platforms, claiming self-righteous outrage and injustice.

Johan allowed himself a smile and called Shawn to convey his thanks. All three plans had been executed perfectly and the scene was now set for Elaine to make it political. If anyone had been monitoring the coverage which the three incidents were receiving on social media and how it was being sustained and coordinated to bring all of the incidents together, they would have become suspicious that someone was consciously orchestrating it.

And so, someone was. Shawn, through the prompting and direction of Johan, had engaged, what could best be described as social media influencers for hire. Through a shady Chinese restaurateur, who operated a bunch of Chinese restaurants and take-out joints across the city and Cape Flats, Shawn was able to keep the social media fire on the subject ablaze.

Sidney Lin was definitely Chinese-looking. The eyes and diminutive stature gave it away instantly. However, his brown skin and wavy hair betrayed his mixed heritage which began when his Chinese mother fell in-love with his coloured father, who, himself was a familiar mixture of the cultural melting pot that was the Cape Coloured race.

Thanks to the racist apartheid policies, Sidney’s parents were forced to live among the general Coloured population, and as such his mother soon became as Coloured as anyone could be, being immersed in the Coloured culture daily.

She did however insist that Sidney travel with her back to her hometown in China, where he met and bonded with his many new relatives. Sidney also had a basic grasp of Mandarin and could speak it well enough to get himself out of trouble. This was thanks to his mom always speaking to him in Mandarin.

By the time Shawn and Sidney’s paths eventually crossed. Sidney’s parents had long ago passed on, and he had become a prolific owner of Chinese take-out joints. He was also connected to the Chinese underworld thanks to his family in China who convinced him to open the take away-joints which were actually fronts for money laundering.

Although the restaurants did average business, the books were cooked just enough not to arouse suspicion, and by virtue of the number of establishments, Sidney was able to launder substantial and consistent sums of money for his relatives who were expanding their own criminal empire from China into Cape Town.

Shawn had walked into one of Sidney’s take-out joints, which was located in a very dodgy suburb on the Cape Flats called Bonteheuwel.

Coincidentally Sidney had been visiting the joint to pick up the weekly take. Shawn was hungry and was driving through the area and stopped for a quick Chinese takeout. Shawn had a serious gangster vibe in the way that he carried himself. The way he walked, talked and dressed sent out a message to anyone in his space that he knew how to handle himself and that he was someone important in the gang world.

So, when he sat down at a dirty table, waiting for his take out and he started reading about these Chinese social media influencers and he exclaimed loudly: “Ek wonder hoe die mense die goeters doen en of hulle dit ooral in die wȇreld doen?” (I wonder how these guys do this and if they do it all over the world). Sidney’s ears picked up.

Sidney had never met Shawn before, but he knew enough about Shawn’s energy today to understand that there was an opportunity in the making. He walked up to Shawn’s table and looked him in the eyes and said: “do you really want to know how it’s done, brother?”

Shawn instantly knew he was in the right place and had found his man.

Continued tomorrow 11 June 2026, before 12pm

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