When the census workers come to question the Komoeties, Fiela is right to be nervous. She knows they can take Benjamin away on a whim, and they do, even though they have reason to suspect there is more to the story of Benjamin’s presence in her home than she reveals. They have the power to insist that he leave home and be taken to the magistrate. The magistrate, acting on inaccurate information from Barta, is then able to install him with the van Rooyen’s and change his identity with the stroke of a pen. He is then able to bar Fiela from pursuing justice, as his word is law.

Later, when it is revealed that Barta chose Benjamin out of the lineup while being manipulated by one of the unethical census workers, the theme is further reinforced: problems arise when the powerful do not have everyone’s best interests at heart. This is a particularly intractable problem when the powerful are also agents of systemic racism, as was the case in South Africa during the time portrayed in the novel.