WARNING: THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE STORY, BUT A PRESCRIBED, SCHOOL CURRICULUM CHILDREN'S BOOK

"It's a story like smoke, I think. No one can catch it because there's nothing there."

In the heat and darkness underground, Regile Dlamini has stopped believing in anything much. Boys trafficked from their home countries, kept captive and controlled by a man they call Papa Mavuso, forced to work in an illegal gold mine near Barberton: their lives are brutal, terrifying and frequently short.

In contrast to Regile, the young Taiba Nhaca steadfastly believes in the legend of Spike Maphosa, a zama zama who is said to have escaped the horror of life in a mine. The inhumane conditions and savage beatings cannot shake Taiba's faith, something Regile finds disturbing. Above ground, Papa Mavuso's daughter Katekani shares Taiba's belief that their lives can change for the better, but Regile wants nothing to do with their unrealistic dreaming.

Is Katekani right when she tells him the mine has stolen his soul? Or is it his humanity that is lost?