Chapter 7

Arriving back at the hotel I dumped my bag in my room and went for a drink in the bar on the ground floor where I was able to find a quiet spot to update my notebook.

I wrote down:

Jacques Fortuin - Diamond dealer - missing presumed abducted or murdered?

Moira Fortuin - Wife - Doesn’t seem to be as upset as I would have expected - either an exceptionally mentally strong woman or knows something that she wasn’t willing to tell me.

In talking about her husband she never said ‘was’ but always said ‘is’. Was that force of habit or is it more significant than that.

No signs of any other family members living at home and no family photographs in living area.

Mookgopong mine in Limpopo province - Diamonds missing presumed stolen and last place that Jacques Fortuin was seen, before he disappeared.

Brett Polline - manager of mine and good friend of the Fortuin’s.

Link between Fortiscues in London and Jacques Fortuin seems to be quite strong as he is their SA contact.

Clear next step - Visit the mine and talk to Brett Polline.

I thought a bit more about the personalities that I had met so far and the pieces of the jigsaw that were starting to get a shape. So far I had found no common link between all the people I had met - there must be some common thread connecting them.

My drink and deliberation finished, I had a good dinner and, in deference to my lack of sleep the previous night, went to my bed. Sleep grabbed me as soon as my head hit the pillow and I slept, without interruption until woken the following morning by the sound of my mobile ringing.

‘Hi Vince, its Moira here. I hope that I haven’t woken you up,’ I had automatically put my hand out and grabbed my phone as I struggled from a deep sleep.

‘Hi Moira, sorry I must have slept in. Go ahead,’ I sleepily replied.

‘I managed to get hold of Brett Polline this morning at 7:00 a.m. He will see you at 2:00 p.m today if you can get to the mine by then. Is that OK?’

‘That’s brilliant Moira and many thanks for phoning me so early.’ I was now wide awake.

‘With Jacques not here, I find that I wake up at the crack of dawn, so it was no problem.’

‘I’ll let you know how I get on. Thank you very much again and have a good day,’ I put the phone down and sat up in bed.

Looking at my watch I saw that it was 8:45 a.m, so I had two hours before I had to leave. I could have a leisurely drive to Limpopo and still be there in plenty of time to have a look around before I had to go in to my meeting.

I had a full English breakfast to set me up for the day and then went back to my room to ring Harold at the London office to bring him up to date. He was delighted to hear that I had already met with Moira and was about to head off for the Mookgopong mine. In return, he brought me up to date on his brother’s murder investigation. It wasn’t good news as there were no fresh leads and nobody had been apprehended.

I left the hotel just before 11:00 and took the N1 to Pretoria. There was no need for the sat nav as the N1 would take me practically the whole way with little opportunity of getting lost. I even had time to stop off in a service area on the way and grab a coke and a sandwich. I pulled into the car park at 1:50 p.m and relaxed for a few minutes.

From my vantage point in the car park, I could see that the mine workings seemed to be quite a distance from the offices and the administrative block. Tall barbwire fences separated the mine from the admin buildings and were obviously there to control where the miners and other staff were able to go. It looked more like a concentration camp than a mine.

I brought my notebook and left my bag in the car. It was likely that I would be subjected to a lot of searches and I wanted to keep the inconvenience to a minimum.

A sign directed all visitors to an entrance door where I was welcomed by a security officer. Taking my details, he then phoned up the manager’s office to verify that I was expected. Receiving a confirmation, he directed me to walk through an arch which incorporated a scanner, and, in addition to this, he searched me.

Satisfying the security man that I was not carrying anything illegal, I was given a security badge and allowed to proceed to the offices about 50 meters away.

I entered a very refreshing air conditioned office block and was instructed to sit down and wait. The receptionist told me that Mr Polline would be with me as soon as he was free.

About twenty minutes later this fit looking man, of about 35 years of age, stood in front of me. The best description I could think of, looking up at him, was that he played front row for some rugby team. He was massive with a neck like a tree trunk, but with a body well-honed for sport. He had closely cropped hair and was about 5ft. 8ins tall with a flat nose and a sneer on his face. He was a truly impressive specimen of a man if not particularly friendly.

I stood up and took his outstretched hand. That was a mistake as his handshake matched his look and my hand suffered.

‘Good afternoon Mr Hamilton, welcome to our mine,’ he said with quite an accent, almost as if he were Dutch.

‘Good afternoon Mr Polline thank you for allowing me to visit at such short notice,’ I said, trying not to wince as he squeezed my hand.

‘Mrs Fortuin phoned me just after I got in this morning, she said that you would like to visit the mine to see how we run our security, is that right?’ he fired at me.

‘Yes that’s correct. I am interested in seeing how you prevent theft and would be extremely grateful for any information that you are able to give me without compromising the security,’ I replied.

‘Well I don’t have time to show you around myself, but Vic, my head of security will show you what goes on.’

He left me to go and talk to the receptionist.

‘Call Vic and tell him to come to reception to show Mr Hamilton around,’ he instructed. He then turned back to me, ‘I have already told him that you would be here and what you want to see. Just wait here for him. If you want to talk to me when you are finished, just ask Vic to get hold of me.’ He left me standing there and returned to his office.

I looked out towards the mine and saw this large bull like man, coming towards the office block. I assumed that this was the head of security as he was dressed in a light blue uniform and looked the part. He went through a door in the side of the building and then vanished for a few minutes until he reappeared in the reception area.

He came over to where I was standing.

‘Mr Hamilton, I am Vic Morrel, head of security. Mr Polline has asked me to show you around.’

‘Nice to meet you and I appreciate you taking the time to give me a conducted tour,’ I replied, making sure that I avoided another damaging handshake. Vic Morrel was another exceptionally strong and fit looking bloke; most likely from the same rugby club as Brett Polline. His shaven head and round face gave him a menacing look.

‘If you come with me, I will get you kitted out in a protective coverall and a hard hat,’ he said, leading me over to the door that he had just come through.

We went through into an area where there were a number of security monitoring devices and other security equipment. I also noticed at least three CCTV cameras which were flickering away, obviously active. Vic went over to a cupboard and pulled out coveralls and a hard hat which he handed to me.

‘You need to put these on, and, if you have any valuables on you, please put them into this tray. They will be locked away until you get back. Put your watch, phone, wallet and any change you have in the tray,’ he instructed me.

Kitted out, I was then instructed to go through the scanner. There was a loud beep, and the security guard in charge of the machine made me go through the scanner again.

‘You must have some metal still on you sir,’ he commented.

I mentally went over what I was wearing to come up with something that I had forgotten to take off.

‘Sorry, I forgot this chain,’ I said taking the chain in question off and handing it to him.

I then went through the process again and passed.

I was surprised when another guard asked to search me. He explained that he was checking for any container or receptacle that I might be carrying that hadn’t been detected by the scanner. His body search was quite intimate!

Having gone through the various security doors and the scanner I emerged outside the offices, with Vic Morrell beside me.

‘You have now seen how we check you before we let you onto the site. You can imagine how carefully we check all our employees on their return journey from their shift in the mine, prior to them going home,’ Vic said to me.

‘Yes, I didn’t expect that I would be checked on my way into the mine, but I can see now why you checked that I didn’t have anything on me that would set the alarms off when I return,’ I said, genuinely impressed with the level of security I was seeing.

We walked across the area between the office block and the mine, and Vic used a key to open a door with a large notice on it - ‘No Mining Operators allowed through this door’.

‘All the operators must go through another door which has stringent security and cameras around it,’ he explained. ‘They will try anything to smuggle diamonds out and will even swallow them. We have to X-ray-Ray them on a random basis as part of our screening process.’

‘I read in the newspaper that a theft of diamonds had been detected at this mine. Is that true?’ I asked.

‘There was a rumour that diamonds were being stolen. It has not been proved, and the police were unable to detect any thefts,’ he replied.

He then showed me around the mining area, explaining to me the process and also showing me the tight security applied to every aspect of the operation. I noted that all the mechanical parts, such as the bearings and couplings, were sealed in boxes that enveloped them, and these then were locked and had seals on them.

I asked Vic as I pointed to the boxes, ‘Does every mechanical part have to be controlled by those boxes?’

‘Yes, a maintenance man, who wants to work on a part, must get a security guard or a supervisor to authorise it and monitor the breaking of the seal. When the job is finished it must be re-sealed, also with supervision present, and re-logged.’

‘Surely they can’t hide diamonds in the part Vic,’ I asked, not quite believing what he was telling me.

‘Yes, they will put diamonds in the grease, reseal it, and then take the item back to the workshop where they take the diamonds out. They will try anything.’

Having started off my tour of the mine feeling that I had found the source of the illegal diamonds, I was now having serious doubts. How could anyone get diamonds out of this place without getting caught as they went into such minute detail?

We left the mining area and returned to the Office block. This time Vic took me through the exit the miners used.

‘The miners are first of all screened at this monitoring station and they then have to leave all their overalls, boots etc. in these lockers,’ Vic explained to me as he took me through the various sections. ‘They then go through these showers and a second security zone before they can go to their own clothes. After all that there is a final screening area they have to pass through before they reach the outside.’

‘Are they all X-Rayed as well,’ I asked.

‘No they will be randomly selected and probably only have an X-Ray once or twice a month.’

‘You seem to have a full proof system in place Vic, and I must congratulate you on what seems to be an excellent process.’ I was genuinely impressed with what I had seen.

‘Let’s go back to the reception area, and you will be able to leave from there. Since I have been with you all the time there is no need for you to go through the full exit screening, so you will be spared the strip search and shower,’ Vic said, smiling for the first time.

‘I appreciate that gesture as I wasn’t looking forward to that part of the procedure,’ I replied, delighted to be avoiding the embarrassing bit.

I returned the hard hat and the overalls and went back to reception.

‘Mr Hamilton, I have been asked to tell you that Mr Polline would like a quick word with you,’ the receptionist said to me as I passed her desk. ‘I will just give him a call to let him know that you are back in reception.’

Having been kept waiting for a half an hour, Brett Polline finally came over to where I was sitting.

‘Mr Hamilton, sorry to have delayed you, I was on the phone. Did you get all the information that you needed?’

‘Yes thank you. Vic was terrific and gave me a fantastic run through your security system and how you prevent theft. It’s truly impressive,’ I replied, standing up to talk to him.

‘I wanted to catch you before you left. I have heard that there has been a serious accident on the N1 between here and Bella Bella. It would speed up your journey home considerably if you took a different road back to Jo’burg. If you don’t, you will be severely delayed.’

‘Thanks for that. It is a pet hate of mine being stuck in traffic for hours. What route do you suggest I take?’

‘When you exit our gate turn right onto the R511 and then turn left onto the R516 which will take you back to Pretoria. The road runs parallel with the N1 and will save you a lot of time. It is all well sign posted.’

‘Many thanks for that, and, thank you again, for looking after me so well. You and your staff have been extremely helpful,’ I stupidly shook his hand and went out to my car with a severely crushed hand.

Back in my car I took stock of my visit. I had been extremely anxious on my arrival and had feared how I would be received. Contrary to what I expected, they had all been exceptionally friendly and forthcoming with the information. The time had flown by, and I noticed that it was now after 6:00 p.m, and was starting to get dark. Very pleased with my visit, I started the car and headed back to my hotel, remembering of course to travel west on the R511 and not east towards the N1.