The colour of crime in South Africa

Level 2 Intermediate

1 Key words

Fill the gaps using these words from the text.

folk hero racial harmony revenge martyr mass murderer

instilllowproleapartheidregimeunwillingness
1. is the political system that existed in South Africa, in which only white people had
political rights and power.
2. A/An is a system or form of government.
3. A/An is someone who has killed several people.
4. A/An someone who is admired for his achievements by the people of a region.
5. If you show to do something, you show that you do not want to do it.
6. If you terror in someone, you make that person feel very afraid.
7. is a type of behaviour that deliberately does not attract attention.
8. is something that you do to hurt or punish someone because they have hurt you or
someone else.
9. is a situation in which people of different races live and work well together.

10. A/An is someone who suffers or is killed because of their religious or political beliefs.

2 Find the information

Lookinthetextandndoutwhothefollowingpeopleareasquicklyaspossible.
1. Louis Van Schoor
2. Heidi Holland
3. Sabrina Van Schoor

The Colour of Crime in South Africa

Sympathy for an apartheid mass murderer highlights the refusal of whites to take responsibility for the past
By Rory Carroll

South Africas most famous mass murderer drinks some coffee, sits back in his chair and pauses when he is
asked if it is true that he shot more than 100 black people. I cant argue with that, says Louis Van Schoor.
I never kept count. Seated at a restaurant terrace in East London, a seaside town in the Eastern Cape,
theformersecurityguardlookscondentasherelaxesinthesunshineandthinksabouthisdaysasan
apartheid folk hero.

In the 1980s, he was hired to protect businesses owned by white people. He is thought to have shot 101
people, killing 39, in the course of three years. Some were burglars; others were passersby. All were black
or coloured, the term for those of mixed race. Convicted of murder but released from jail after 12 years, Van
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The colour of crime in South Africa
Level 2 Intermediate
Schoor does not regret his actions. I was doing my job - I was paid to protect property. I never apologised
for what I did.

He is not the only one. According to black clerics and politicians, whites in general have never apologised
for what happened during the apartheid regime. This unwillingness to admit past sins is revealed in a book
published last month, The Colour of Murder, by Heidi Holland, which investigates the cruel actions of Van
Schoor and also his daughter, Sabrina, who hired a hitman to murder her mother. The story is of a family
butitisalsothestoryofadividedcountryandofthepeopleofthatcountrytryingtondnewwaystolive
with each other, says Holland.

Magistrates and the police, grateful for the terror he instilled in black people, covered his tracks until local
journalists and human rights campaigners revealed his actions when apartheid started coming to an end.
During his 1992 trial white residents displayed I Love Louis stickers decorated with three bullet holes
through a bleeding heart. People still feel sympathy for him. The reaction is 90% positive. Strangers say,
Hey, its good to see you, says Van Schoor.

Van Schoor was convicted of seven murders and two attempted murders. Since his release two years ago,
afterbenetingfromasentencereductionforallconvictsissuedbyNelsonMandelawhenhewaspresident,
VanSchoor,55,hasslimmeddown,shavedoffhisbeardandkeptalowprole,workingasacattlefarm
foreman outside East London.

When he was released in 2004, Van Schoor said he had found God and expressed sorrow to the relatives of
his victims. I apologise if any of my actions caused them hurt. In an interview last week, he tried to clarify
his position. I never apologised for what I did. I apologised for any hurt or pain that I caused through my
actions during the course of my work.

Thankstohischangedappearanceandlowprole,hehasfacednorevenge.Fewblackpeoplerecognise
him, including the bookseller who took his order for The Colour of Murder. When Van Schoor gave his name,
she realised who he was. She nearly fell off her chair, he says, smiling.

Married four times and now engaged once more to a local woman, Van Schoor, says he is happy and
content. But he does not seem to approve of the new South Africa. Everything has changed - peoples
attitudes, the service in shops, its not the same. On the contrary, say black leaders, one crucial thing has
stayed the same: the whites still wont admit past sins.

Van Schoors killings were made possible by a white establishment that did not react as his victims increased.
ManyofthemwerepoorchildrensuchasLieePeters,13,whowasshotwhilehidinginthetoiletofa
Wimpy restaurant after breaking in to steal cash. Eating a burger yards from where Van Schoor killed the
teenage boy, Jacques Durandt, a 33-year-old white former member of the security forces, defended the
killer.Iwontsayhesamurderer.Forhimitwasajob.

East London does have at least one white supporter of racial harmony: Van Schoors daughter, Sabrina,
25. While her father was in jail she shocked the white community by dating black men and giving birth to a
mixed-race child. In 2002, she hired a black man to kill her mother, claiming she was a racist. Convicted of
murder and sent to the same prison as her father, Sabrina Van Schoor is seen as a martyr by some black
people.SheseemspopularamongfellowinmatesatFortGlamorganjail.Thatgirl,shesnotlikethewhites
outside of here. Shes OK, says one inmate.

Speaking through iron bars, Sabrina Van Schoor, powerfully built like her father, says she is nervous that
everyone will start talking about her family again because of the book. Im afraid it might open old wounds.

GuardianNews&MediaLtd2006
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The colour of crime in South Africa
Level 2 Intermediate

3 Comprehension check

Choosethecorrectanswersaccordingtothetext.Ifbotha.andb.arecorrect,choosec.
1. In the 1980s, Louis Van Schoor was .
a. a member of the security forces b. an apartheid folk hero c. both

2. He was found guilty of murdering .

a. black people b. Sabrinas mother c. both

3. never apologized for what happened during the apartheid regime.

a. Louis Van Schoor b. The whites in general c. both

4. He was released from prison .

a. before completing his sentence b. after twelve years c. both

5. When he was freed, he started working as a .

a. security guard b. foreman c. both

6. So far, no one has taken revenge on him because .

a.peoplehavesympathyforhim b.hehaskeptalowprole c.both

7. Van Schoors daughter shocked the community because .

a. she dated black men b. she had a coloured child c. both

8. Sabrina Van Schoor hired someone to kill her mother because .

a. her mother didnt respect black people b. her mother didnt respect her father c. both

4 Vocabulary1Nounsforpeople

Readthereferencesandcompletethesentenceswithnounsthatdescribedifferentkindsofpeople.

Louis Van Schoor killed (1) and (2).

(1) people who enter a building illegally to steal things

(2) people who are walking past a place

According to black (3) and (4), the whites have never apologised.
(3) people who are members of the clergy
(4) people who have a job in politics
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The colour of crime in South Africa
Level 2 Intermediate
(5) and the (6) hid the evidence of Louis Van Schoors crimes.
(5) judges in court for minor cases
(6) people who catch criminals and check that the law is obeyed

(7) and human rights (8) revealed Van Schoors crimes.

(7) people whose job is to report the news
(8) people who try to produce political or social change

All (9)benetedfromthesentencereductionissuedbyNelsonMandela.

(9) people who are in prison for a crime they committed

Van Schoor expressed sprrow to the relatives of his (10).

(10) people who have been injured or killed as a result of a crime

Sabrina Van Schoor claims that her mother was a (11).

(11) someone who does not like or respect people from other races.

5 Vocabulary2Idiomaticexpressions

Chooseaverbandanounornounphrasefromeachcolumntocompletetheidiomaticexpressionsused
in the text.

Verb Noun/nounphrase
cover alowprole
keep his tracks
keep old wounds
open count

1. Van Schoor did not of the number of people he killed.

2. The police decided to because they were grateful for the terror he instilled.
3. When he was freed, he slimmed down and shaved off his beard to .
4. Van Schoors daughter is fearful that Hollands book might .

Nowmatcheachexpressionwithoneoftheexplanationsbelow.

a. To try to stop people from noticing you.

b. To make someone remember something bad that happened in the past.
c. To hide any evidence that you were somewhere or did something.
d. To remember or record a number as it changes over a period of time.
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The colour of crime in South Africa
Level 2 Intermediate

6 Vocabulary3Prepositions

Usetheprepositionsintheboxtocompletethesentencesbasedonthetext.Useeachprepositiontwice.

from for of to with

1. Van Schoor was convicted seven murders and two attempted murders.
2. He was released jail after 12 years.
3. Hebeneted a sentence reduction.
4. He has never apologised what he did.
5. Thanks hislowprole,hehasfacednorevenge.
6. The police were grateful the terror he instilled.
7. I love Louis stickers were decorated three bullet holes through a bleeding heart.
8. He does not approve the new South Africa.
9. His daughter gave birth a mixed-race child.
10.InSouthAfrica,blackandwhitesaretryingtondnewwaystolive each other.

7 Discussion

HowdoyouthinkVanSchoorshouldbedealtwith?Shouldheandthewhitesingeneralapologiseforthe
killingsduringtheapartheidperiod?Why/Whynot?

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