After trying to find Maria Kwenda of the infamous Makwe Real Estate, or the woman with the sleepy voice who has been 'organising a house for me' in Block Five, I feel disappointed when I finally find her. There is nothing that screams out 'crook' about her. She looks like an average Motswana woman; someone's aunt, someone's mother, someone's older sister or someone's wife. She has her small daughter by her side. The young girl stares at the television screen. Every now and then, her palm rubs her daughter's head. Cartoons squeak and make dashing runs across the television screen. The small girl's body jerks with each dramatic part.
Anyway this is Maria Kwenda; the real estate agent whom the Urban Police Station commander Ringo Batshabeng calls a 'cheat whom the public should watch out for'. Motshwari Mooketsi, the president of the Real Estate Institute calls her legodu (crook). Kwenda is infamous among those who have attempted to use her services for making disappearing acts after grabbing 'security funds' leaving behind a trail of bitter, broke and homeless house-seekers. She acknowledges owing more than P15,000 after she promised houses which never materialised.
