Their vision impaired by soft rain and mist, two shadowy figures lurk in the bush, peering through binoculars into the descending gloom, as they scan the border fence.
"Just the weather for violating the frontier, eh Baba [Father]," one mutters to the other, and they quietly chuckle (as lads do) at the sexual connotation.
"Yebo, mFana'kithi [Yes, Homeboy]," agrees the one addressed as Baba, "like amaRussia used to say: bad weather is the guerrilla's best friend."
"Some would rather be in bed with the 'blanket'," Homeboy responds; and the two chuckle at the army slang for the comforts of a sweetheart.
"Let's hope the Swazi men are doing the 'thing' on a night like this," says Baba, "instead of sniffing around the border," which gets them chuckling again.
"Sniffing the blanket!" and they struggle to control their laughter.
There was no sign of the dusk patrol along the frontier strip, a formidable no man's land some 20m wide cleared of vegetation, flanked by two parallel lines of strong, high fencing along the Mozambique-Swaziland border.They were on the Mozambican side, where their movement, the ANC, had a relatively secure base in the capital of Maputo. They were in a particularly dangerous area, for the South African border was but a few kilometres north of where they stood, and by daylight a listening post with gigantic satellite dishes was clearly visible on a prominent koppie, monitoring radio traffic across a vast area. As a result they literally operated in the dark, without any form of radio communication: if they had any, it would instantly give their position away and be tracked down by a South African reaction unit.
They had been dropped off an hour before dusk near the border village of Namaacha, where they avoided the local Frelimo troops, and slipped away into thick bush. Both men, in their early forties, were well clad for the weather, in waterproof anoraks with hoods, jeans and boots, armed with Makarov pistols tucked into their belts.They were well-built and in good shape. Baba was bearded and wore a balaclava cap. Homeboy was of lighter complexion, bearded too, the hood of his waterproof coat covering his head. Despite "Baba" being the respectful Zulu term for "Father", he was the younger of the two. But he had a tribal air of authority about him and enjoyed the deference, whether from his equals or underlings.
To be sure, he used the term when addressing others with an air of levity, a chuckle and flashing smile that showed his fine white teeth. One never quite knew whether he was serious about affected patriarchy or simply wryly patronising, for he loved to joke.
The frontier posts had shut down for the night; the villages astride the boundary were silent; there was no traffic, no sign of patrols. The border was enveloped in the kind of atmospheric hush that only fine rain and mist can produce. It was time for the crossing...