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Published: June 30th 2011
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"Give me money, give me money, I have a knife, I don’t want to use it, I will cut your throat, I have done it before!" Followed by "Do you have a stun gun in your pocket?" a quick smile, an awkward silence and he goes away! Another one of those crazy days in Africa!
After coming from Johannesburg, through the Drakensburg Mountains and down the Garden Route without any disasters I was beginning to think my luck on the road had finally changed. With the exception of walking face first into an extremely clean patio window, I had become complacent at the ease of travelling around South Africa.
The highest crime rate in the world? What crime? Somehow I had even managed to independently walk around the Soweto Township without so much as a disagreement on minibus taxi fare! On the surface, everything appeared to be running smoothly. As I began to question the security concerns of South Africa compared to other countries, I was soon brought back to reality with first hand experience of an African mugger.
We had just booked an expensive boat trip to Robben Island. Feeling slightly robbed by the governments monopoly on
this trip, Carlier and I decided to save some cash and proceed on foot from the V&A Waterfront back to Green Point, besides the hostel said it was a relatively safe area during the day.
While walking across the main intersection, a scruffy middle aged black man approached Carlier asking for money. This is quite common in Africa and while I am not a walking ATM machine, on occasion I have been known to buy food for the homeless kids from the local supermarket.
This thief approached slightly different to others I have encountered before. He asked for money with a menacing look. He stank of shit and booze. He stood closely, purposely invading my personal space. Carlier told him to fuck off and quickly walked off up the road, leaving the guy shouting "You tell me to fuck off, you tell me to fuck off, you come here, and I will fuck you up" in a strong Zimbabwean accent.
Next his attention turned to me. I couldn’t be arsed to run off and maintained a consistent walking pace. I only had $120 Rand in my pocket and had nothing of value to lose. I have encountered
this situation before and showing no fear usually sends a stronger message than having someone chasing you through the streets. Besides from past experience, I know better than to turn my back on a mugger!
He walked with me for 15 minutes. He was a persistent scum bag so I didn’t take my eye off him for one minute. He told me he was a good person, that he had kids and no money. He needed to eat, and the ANC government doesn’t support him. He told me he had a knife and didn’t want to use it. He tried to stand close and pick my pockets. He said he would cut my throat and take my money. He tried everything to get me to reveal the location of my wallet, while occasionally flashing the knife from his fleece.
I knew that if I got my wallet out he would take it. I knew if I turned my back to him he would mug me. I knew if I ran, he would chase me and I knew if I got aggressive he would stab me. But for some reason I didn’t feel afraid, I figured that if he
was going to actually mug me, he would have done it already, not 15 minutes later!
To stop him grabing for my wallet I put my hand over my pocket. As I moved my hand into this position, it must have looked like I was going for a weapon. He immediately asked "why is your hand in your pocket, do you have a stun gun?” Slightly confused I just looked at him and smiled, what else was I supposed to say? "No - I am completely unarmed" and give him a list of my valuables. Besides what sort of retarded mugger asks a question like that!
After an uncomfortable silence, he looked at me as if I was the dangerous criminal! He quickly walked across the street putting a considerable distance between us within a few seconds. I guess this mugger has been the victim of a failed mugging before. He clearly didn’t like the idea of being blasted with a stun gun again!
This Is Africa (TIA)
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