Lens occurs during the political transition period in South Africa (1988-1990). The main character, Chris Meyer, is a young journalist at Oggendspieël. On his own, he investigates the death of the prominent couple, Dr. Albert and Prof. Hillerie Strydom, who died a decade earlier in a car accident. Albert was a politically enlightened advisor to the government. Chris tries to unravel the mysterious circumstances of the accident and discovers a connection to the double murder of Dr. Robert and Jeanne-Cora Smit in 1977. The words “RAU TEM” written on the wall of their murder house play a key role in the story.

Gert Coetzee is a versatile, seasoned journalist and Volksblad editor from 2015 to 2022. In Lens, he draws from 35 years of experience in the newsroom to write insightfully about the political changes in the country in the late 1980s – and about what might have been.