Sipho Majola — The Man Who Knows the Truth
The sun rose pale over the city, painting the streets in a soft, dusty gold.
For once, the weather matched the moment — tense, watchful, but dry.
Dombi, Kabelo, Ms. Mokoena, and Musa moved through the side streets, sticking to quiet paths and avoiding busy taxi ranks. Mandla's men were already combing the city; they could feel it in the air, like static.
The safe house door clicked shut behind them as they stepped into the morning.
"Stick to the script," Kabelo whispered. "We're ghosts today."
THE MEETING PLACE
Sipho Majola didn't live in the suburbs or the city center.
He stayed in an industrial zone filled with shipping containers, auto shops, and scrapyards.
The kind of place where you could scream and nobody would question it.
Kabelo led them to a container yard and stopped at a faded blue unit.
"This is it," he said quietly.
Dombi could hear typing from inside, fast and sharp.
Then a voice:
"Password."
Kabelo replied without hesitation:
"When giants fall, dust rises."
The lock clicked.
The door slid open.
SIPHO MAJOLA — THE GHOST IN THE WIRES
Sipho was nothing like Dombi expected.
Slim, sharp-eyed, with a beard that looked like it grew while he worked. His workspace was covered with monitors showing streams of code, CCTV feeds, and news headlines.
He glanced at Dombi only once — and in that moment, something shifted.
"You look like him," Sipho said.
"Your father. Same eyes."
Dombi didn't know whether to thank him or cry.
Kabelo stepped forward.
"We need access to Mandla's encrypted drive."
Sipho leaned back in his chair.
"You're not asking for a favor… you're asking for war."
"We already declared it," Ms. Mokoena said.
Sipho smirked.
"Good. Then let me show you why Mandla fired me."
THE DIGITAL MAP OF LIES
Sipho tapped a command.
Three screens lit up with Mandla's data trails — archives, shell accounts, off-record transactions… and something else:
A glowing red folder.
Marked only as:
R.I. — Restricted Inheritance
Dombi's breath caught.
"What is that?"
Sipho swiveled in his chair.
"Records your father left behind. Files Mandla hid. Proof of what he did to the company… and your family."
He clicked the folder.
Blocked.
Encrypted beyond anything Dombi had ever seen.
"I can break into this," Sipho said slowly.
"But once I start, Mandla will know someone's inside his deep server."
Kabelo nodded.
"We're counting on that."
Sipho raised an eyebrow.
"This is not hacking. This is declaring nuclear war."
Dombi stepped closer.
"If I don't do this now, Mandla will destroy everything my father built — and everything he wanted me to know."
Sipho stared at her.
Then he nodded.
"Okay. But while I crack this, you need to create noise."
"Noise?" Dombi asked.
"A distraction big enough to keep Mandla's eyes off me for at least forty minutes."
Kabelo looked at Musa.
"Musa, it's your turn."
The cleaner's expression hardened.
He was ready.
MANDLA — SENSES SOMETHING IS COMING
At Ntuli Group headquarters, Mandla stormed through the corridors.
His security team followed behind like frightened shadows.
"Show me the footage again," he ordered.
The tech replayed the moment the cleaner passed Dombi the keys.
Mandla's eyes narrowed.
"That man. I've seen him before."
His face twisted into something dark and hungry.
"Find him. He didn't run far."
He paced to his office, snapping:
"And increase the firewall protocols. Triple them. Someone's going to try something today — I can feel it."
His instincts were too sharp.
Too dangerous.
Time was running out.
BACK TO SIPHO — THE TIMER BEGINS
Sipho cracked his knuckles and placed his hands on the keyboard.
"Once I press ENTER," he said, "the whole game changes."
Kabelo stood behind him.
Musa moved to the door.
Ms. Mokoena checked the window.
Dombi steadied her breath.
Sipho's finger hovered above the key.
"For your father," he whispered.
He pressed ENTER.
The screens exploded with code.
Alarms flashed on the edges of the monitor.
Mandla's firewall fought back immediately.
Sipho's eyes widened.
"He knows. He already knows."
Dombi clenched her jaw.
"Kabelo — Plan B.2. Start the distraction."
Kabelo pulled out his phone, plugged in a drive, and triggered the fake breach they had prepared — a massive digital flare that would hit Ntuli Group's public servers.
"Done," he said.
Sipho grinned.
"Oh, that got his attention."
DOMBI — STEPPING INTO HER FATHER'S SHOES
She watched the red folder unlock layer by layer, Sipho's fingers flying faster than the alarms could keep up.
Whatever was inside
that folder…
Whatever truth Mandla had buried…
It was about to be hers.
And she was no longer the girl running from danger.
She was the woman walking straight into the heart of it.