Life with Suzie - T'is the season to be jolly

Metal thieves have been stealing the cast iron manhole covers around our city for a while now and we knew it was just a matter of time before they hit Richmond Hill. For the sake of a few rands these thieves have no qualms about putting the lives and property of their hapless victims at risk. And what contributes to the problem is that there is always an unscrupulous scrap metal dealer who is willing to buy these ill-gotten gains.

Whole streets have been left with gaping holes that could cause serious damage to car tyres. Residents have been up in arms because of the slow pace at which this problem was being attended to.

Then in a matter of a few nights Richmond Hill was missing 28 manhole covers and warnings went out via our Facebook neighbourhood watch page to watch out for these new hazards in our roads. All sorts of impractical temporary solutions were suggested, like filling the holes with gravel - "Hello, what happens if there is a fire and you have to connect a hose to one of the fire hydrants?"

This was not problem for a creative soul like Suzie, who comes up with ideas and is prepared to carry them through.

"Let's plant trees in the holes," she suggested, "that will provide a good warning to motorists and get the attention of the municipality." No sooner were the words uttered and she had sourced a good supply of pine saplings and some willing helpers, took my bakkie (truck, ute) the next day and set about her mission with her usual verve.

The result was that by that afternoon every open hole in the streets of Richmond Hill had its own Christmas tree. Not to be out-done the local residents and shop owners captured the vision and started decorating the trees....and the neighbourhood  was looking very festive for a few hours.

By the next morning, much to our indignation, reports started coming in that many of the trees had gone missing,  but on closer inspection we found that the manholes were covered with new plastic covers. Within less than 48 hours there was not an open hole in any of the streets in our neighbourhood.

"How did you get it right so quickly?" residents from neighbouring suburbs wanted to know after passing through Richmond Hill.

"Easy," came the reply from all and sundry, "just plant a tree."

That is the power of a fun and creative protest. One person with a vision and the passion to carry it through and a bureaucrat who does not like the embarrassment of being shown up.

Urban Prison #3 - Hemming us in

There as a time when I would stroll over to the cliff above Albany Road to enjoy the sunset or to just look at the Bay. Those days are over. This area became a dumping ground for building rubble and garden refuse, it was an escape route for criminals and became a favourite hangout for drunks and druggies......................
The result, rather than tackling the root cause of the problems, the authorities decided to fence off the area and so one of my favourite viewpoints is gone, unless you enjoy looking through the wire.

Urban Prison - Razor Wire #1

I have started a series of pictures that I call the "Urban Prison" to reflect the changing face of the urban environment. When I was a child security was not an issue. We had no burglar bars on our windows, our doors were never locked, barbed wire was confined to farm fences and CCTV and burglar alarms were concepts for the future. That has all changed.

Today, in many cities, we create barriers around our homes and our businesses to keep the bad elements out and ourselves and our property safe. In so doing create our own "Urban Prison."

Reflections on crime - United we succeed

My last serious post on crime, It was a wet and misty morning, was written on 3 January 2009 and I feel the time has come to reflect on what has happened in Richmond Hill, since my first post Never give up on 8 September 2007.

If you want to read all the related posts just follow the Crime label in the side bar.

When you look around Richmond Hill you would be excused if you forgot that the suburb was like a war zone a few years back, because we have the lowest crime rate in the city today.

Richmond Hill has become very trendy with the many upgrades that have taken place. Stanley Street in particular, has many excellent new restaurants that attract patrons from all over the city. Sue and I often stroll down to Stanley Street for a meal. With the planned upgrades that are still in progress, Stanley Street promises to become the hub of the neighbourhood.

Stanley Street "cooking" this weekend

This weekend Alliance Française organised a music festival that flowed from the restaurants in Stanley Street, through to Vovo Telo in Raleigh Street, Alliance Française in Mackay Street and The Cafe Deli in Lutman Street. The vibe in the neighbourhood was fantastic, with visitors coming from all over the city. We even met some German soccer fans, who had come to watch the World Cup Soccer match between Germany and Uruguay and I am sure they will take back good memories of Richmond Hill.

The current mood can best be described in this morning’s report from the Crime Forum Chairman:

“From our point of view the world cup event has been a great success with very little to report in the line of criminal activities, only the one incident that I am aware of and those guys were taken care of. The feedback I have received from amongst the tourist has been very positive with a lot of pleasant comments flying around. Yesterdays music festival went off without any hitches and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves, maybe we could start something similar.”

Enjoying the vibe at the music festival

This is a far cry from where we were a few years back.

My September 2008 post was sparked by an article in the Port Elizabeth Express on the 29 August 2007, from which the headlines screamed, “Crime takes hold of Richmond Hill”. This was not a good advertisement for a suburb that is becoming quite trendy in the city, but it was not without justification.

At that point I was filled with a deep seated anger. My family had become victims of far too many crimes. We had thwarted a burglary in our complex in October 2006, in which Sue had been stabbed and were still waiting for the matter to come to trial. Our daughter’s car had been stolen; the radio had been stolen from Sue’s car; we had experienced a number of bad incidents at our business premises and the side window of my car had been smashed, to name a few.

See Crime, crime, crime for a chronicle of criminal incidents affecting my family.

Sue and I had reached a turning point a few months earlier, when we took a decision that we were not going to be victims any longer and resolved to become more involved in fighting crime and so became actively involved in the crime forum.

Our reasoning was simple. If as private citizens acting on our own, we had managed to get traffic calming measures installed in Richmond Park and security lighting installed around the Park, how much more could be achieved if we acted with the community.

The state of affairs in Richmond Hill at the time was bad:

The intersection of Callington Road and Richmond Park, became known as “Condom Corner”. It was where the guys who picked up the prostitutes came for a quickie. Anyone walking along that pathway had to pick their way through used condoms. The other hangout was the corner of Bingley and Newington Streets.

Mackay Street was a particularly bad area. Gangs walked up and down the street with impunity looking for opportunities. One would often come across the residents out in the street, late at night, in their pyjamas and dressing gowns, responding to alarms or calls from neighbours.

The corner of St Stephens and Mackay Streets was a hot spot for muggings and hi-jackings.

Campbell Street was also a hangout for the prostitutes, who after some persuasion eventually moved to Govan Mbeki Avenue and into Central.

Drug dealers openly peddled their wares in Campbell Street. Sue and I often spotted or interrupted drug deals going down in Raleigh Street (opposite the Russell Road College), Dollery Street, Bingley Street and in Newington Street, where the dealers from the Northern areas started competing for business with the local dealers.

Groups of youth would openly smoke marijuana in the park.

Sidewalk “parties” with loud music emanating from car speakers were not uncommon.

The streets were littered with smashed beer bottles left there by weekend revellers.

At night there was a continuous stream of cars speeding through the suburb ferrying drugs or prostitutes to “clients”.

Muggings were common practice and there had been rapes and even murder in the suburb.

Car theft was a regular event. On several occasions we stumbled across thieves photographing or recording details of cars they intended to steal. On one occasion it happened to be Sue’s Opel Kadett.

Faced with this situation the inclination could be to leave for safer pastures, but we became part of the new anti-crime initiatives and started participating in the weekend patrols in our own car from 2008. As a fifty something couple, the best we could do was observe and report.

We saw a lot while patrolling and often felt impotent and frustrated, especially when intercepting a drug deal or some other crimes and got no satisfaction from the 10111 call centre or from the police. But we hung in there and the community started to see their efforts bearing fruit.

From the information supplied by the teams, many drug dealers were identified and either left the neighbourhood or were arrested. We personally upset more than one drug dealer, by driving off their customers, especially the fellow who threw his stash over the wall of the Westbourne Oval.

Condom Corner and Bingley Street have were cleaned up. It is amazing how quickly a spotlight shining through a car window by a patroller put a guy off his stroke and soon they were no longer popular stopping off points.

Many of the prostitutes live in the area, but now pedal their wares elsewhere. Sue and I stopped patrolling in Govan Mbeki, when we realised that there was nothing we could do about the prostitution. It actually got to the point where the ladies of the night would cheerily wave and greet me with, “Hello uncle,” when we drove past. What could I do but smile and wave back.

Our attention was then turned to focussing on the common thieves wandering the streets and making life uncomfortable for them. Often it would be in response to a call from a resident that we would target these characters and we would follow them, until they left the area.

Musicians play where gangs once roamed freely

In about August 2008 the crime forum was delighted to be allocated one of eight i-Patrol vehicles donated by General Motors, for a year to assist in the fight against crime. What a generous gesture this was and a valuable resource. This was part of the i-Patrol anti-crime initiative launched by General Motors and Algoa FM.

The i-Patrol vehicle was immediately put to use and the crime forum moved to a different plane, under the leadership the of crime forum chairman Alan Mounter. He acquired two radios to improve communications and instead of one vehicle patrolling he arranged for two. He also improved contact with the neighbouring crime forums and the police.

Alan’s next step was to get a dedicated team together to do the patrolling. I felt left out to start with, but these guys are out at all hours of the day or night and have got to know who is who in the neighbourhood, both savoury and unsavoury. They also got to know the cars and will soon see when something is out of place or looks suspicious.

Now when they spring in to action it is like a well oiled machine and in cooperation with the police have had many successes and have “cleaned up” the neighbourhood. The rest of the community still operates as the eyes and ears of i-Patrol. We are just one cog in this machine.

I have had reason to call out i-Patrol on many occasions over the past year and all I can say is that the response has been excellent. A few of the many incidents that come to mind are thwarting the efforts of a metal thief; following up on the guys who, unwisely, decided to snort cocaine outside our front window; checking on suspicious cars at the park; dealing with the incident where a young woman was being beaten in the park; reprimanding the louts who were making obscene overtures to some young women in the park and intervening when two unsavoury characters were trying to break into our neighbours home.

Aside from the patrolling, i-Patrol is also involved in cleaning up the neighbourhood and projects with the neighbourhood children.

All in all the introduction of i-Patrol has been a great success and its availability to us has contributed to the community making Richmond Hill a better place to live.

We will probably never eliminate crime, but by being vigilant and working together we will certainly continue to make a difference. As local residents our thanks go out to Alan Mounter, for his vision energy and enthusiasm, in leading the team that has turned Richmond Hill from one of the worst crime ridden areas, into the safest suburb in the city.

Urban poleaxe

Whenever I take pictures in the city I try to avoid the lamp poles, even though they are very much a part of the urban landscape. However, after today I will look at lamp poles differently.

We get fairly regular updates from our neighbourhood watch, on what is happening on the crime front and I was really amused by part of this mornings report:

Three out of town wanderers broke into a car in Bain Street on Saturday eve but what they were unaware of was that the owners of the vehicle were braai-ing (barbaque) close by and heard the noise, and these Capetonians were not happy about their small back window being broken. One of these gremlins took off with great haste only to be stopped in his tracks when he ran straight into a pole and landed flat on his back. Way to go pole.

When these guys run away it is at a great speed, so this must have been quite a spectacular stop. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. Unfortunately the other two got away, but this fellow is firmly ensconced in the Humewood police cells.

It was a wet and misty morning

Our neighbourhood watch patrol was from 02h00 to 05h00 this morning. Generally the only people out at that time of the morning are the pimps, protitutes and pushers and party goers.

We were surprised at how quite the streets have become, at that time of the morning, remembering back to when the patrols started.

The occassional car prowling the neighbourhood, beats a hasty retreat as soon as it sees the patrol vehicle. By 04h00 the young women are returning up the hill, after a night of walking the pavements of Govan Mbeki avenue. We do record the registration numbers of their clientele, when we see them making a pickup.

Our job is to observe and record, which we do.

The flats where the human traffickers were arrested a few weeks ago are quiet. The regular drug runners are nowhere to be seen that could be because one on the kingpins had been arrested the day before. We suspect we have identified a few new ones tonight - maybe they have just changed their cars.

At about 04h30 the rain starts coming down and all movement stops. The revellers in Parliament Street and Rink street across the road in Centralcleave - they also leave the streets littered with empty beer bottles and other debris.

When our shift ends we decide to cross over into Central, to hopefully see the sunrise at the Donkin, but it is too misty. The view is not too bad though, looking out over the harbour from Belmont Terrace.

Innocence Lost

When I made my commitment to become involved in the fight against crime a while back I never in my wildest dreams knew what this would expose me to. In the last few months I have seen a seamy side of life that makes me wonder where it is all going to end and why do I live here and what is it all about.

This commitment also comes with a price. You give up your time - a good two to three hours of patrolling over weekends, you attend meetings, you fight with the police to get things done and you lose your innocence. Nothing is taken at face value anymore, you lose your trust and faith in mankind. This is not surprising when you see what goes on in the streets after dark.

Last weekend we were scheduled to patrol from 04h00 to 06h00 on Sunday morning. Better have an early night we think.

At 21h00 I walk out onto the front porch and see a car parked across the park. I am immediately suspicious, as I was told that drug dealers are active in the area.

I call the guys on patrol to take a look. Before they arrive the car leaves only to return shortly afterwards. It is not long before they arrive and drive past the car, turn and drive up to my front gate. I go out to greet them and they tell me it is just two guys sitting in their car. Before I can start to convince them to take another look, we see one guy climb out the car and walk to the perimeter fence and stoop down. We think he is making a drug pick up.

How fortuitous, a police patrol van comes past and we flag him down. The police quickly intercept the vehicle and search the suspects and their vehicle. They don't find anything and the both cars drive off. "They probably threw it out the window." I think to myself.

Just then a familiar car, belonging to a local pimp I exposed the week before, drives up. He parks next to the flats and walks down the path to the perimeter fence, bends down, picks something up and puts it in his pocket. How wrong we were. This guy was making the pickup. The other two were the runners. He walks back briskly to his car.

I phone 10111 to get a police van dispatched to the area, but the operator is unable to understand me. She hands the call over to another operator, who has no sense of urgency or understanding of the problem - she must go through the bureaucratic red tape. I see the lights of the car turn on as it starts up and watch him drive away.

In exasperation I call to Suzi-k to phone our neighbourhood watch leader, who is in direct contact with the drug squad. I then tell the operator not to bother and hang up.

The neighbourhood watch and drug unit spring into action to see if the suspect vehicles can be located at any of the local hot spots.

Our leader drives up to our home after a having done few circuits in the area and I accompany her to Govan Mbeki Avenue.

Most of the street lights are not working because of extensive road works, and the area is lit by the shop lights. People are wandering up and down the road. Pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. All ready to offer you their services at a price. We drive slowly down the street and but do not find any of the cars. We do a u-turn and drive up the other side of the road.

There is an atmosphere of brooding evil that makes one want to get out of the "rats nest" as quickly as one can. We carry on.

A big four wheel drive bakkie (truck, ute) with CW registration plates, is driving slowly in front of us. He quickly turns off the road, into some off street parking bays. As we pass him a tall, slim young woman, with blond hair, barefoot and wearing tight shots and a T shirt strolls along the pavement. Two other young girls wearing mini skirts and knee high boots are standing in the shadows propositioning passers by. I look at them with sadness and wonder what it was that brought them down to this level in life.

We decide to do another circuit and a car stops on the side of the road in front of us. The driver climbs out, steps onto the pavement and urinates against a shop window. As we drive past he walks back to his car doing up his fly.

Across the road we see the blond lass climbing into the vehicle with the CW registration places. "I wonder what his wife would say if she knew what he was up to?" I say.

I suggest that maybe we should try and see if we can get help for these young woman, with one of the local support groups, such as The Potter's House.

Cynicism, or is it a reality check, creeps in. It probably won't work I am told. The pimps make sure that their "charges" are so addicted to drugs that they will never leave. I am reminded that many of these young women never became prostitutes by choice, but are victims of human trafficking syndicates.

Our impromptu patrol yields no fruit and we head for home. It is going to be a long night.

The urban prison

Sitting out on our front porch - in what is essentially my urban prison - this afternoon, got me wondering about the where our society is headed (At least the bars are more picturesque than those of the real prisons).



Today one cannot leave security to chance. Crime has reached epidemic proportions in South Africa, with daily reports in the papers of armed house robberies, muggings, murders, rapes, hijackings, drug and human trafficking etc, etc, etc.


We have become very involved in the Richmond Hill Sector Crime Forum, which is taking a strong stand against crime. One area of involvement is the neighbourhood watch, where were patrol the area and observe what is happening. We have been propositioned by pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. We have seen prostitutes being picked up and drug deals going down. We have observed the drug runners making deliveries. We have come across parked cars with local citizens having it off with prostitutes (I wonder what their wives would say about that?).


We have also made these people very uncomfortable with our patrols and many speed off when they see our cars coming. But we are persistent and record their details, which in turn get passed on to the police for investigation.


Our attitude now is zero tolerance for crime. If we see it we report it, no matter how minor. In the past month I have phoned 10111 (South African equivalent of 911) about six times.

There are still daily reports of crime, but the good news is that that the crime statistics for our area have shown a decline. But then crime should not be viewed in terms of numbers. This is happpening to real people, it is their lives we are talking about, so even one crime is to much.

The neighbours bite back

I could not help but take a perverse delight in an incident that happened a few blocks from our home the other night.

Picture the scene. A young couple arrive home at about 7:30 pm last Thursday. As they get out of their car they are accosted by three thugs, who were said to be of Nigerian origin, with the clear intention of robbing the couple, or worse.

The young wife became quite hysterical. Husband on the other hand, had recently been robbed outside his home, with a gun held to his head. He was, to put it bluntly, "pissed off". He grabbed hold of the biggest of the three thugs and started calling for help.

Help, was not slow in coming, as the neighbours poured from their homes. Two of the characters left in a hurry - well not so much of a hurry, but at great speed. The third was not so lucky. Let's just say that most of these neighbours have also been victims of crime and were also "pissed off", so they were less than gentle in immobilising the thug.

According to one witness, he was laid out cold in the street and it was a while before he came too. When he did, he started bleating, "Oh lord, what did I do to deserve this?" The sad fact is that he probably thought it was his God given right to rob, steel and murder. Well if he did not get it, everyone else did and were totally unsympathetic.

Aside from a severe headache, I believe his knee caps may have been somewhat changed as well.

He was duly treated by paramedics and then questioned by the police. Apparently his story changed four times in the telling. To cut a long story short, they eventually got fed up wih him and he was loaded into the back of the police van and hauled off.

I hate what crime does to normally non-violent law abiding citizens. It turns you into someone you are not. When you have been a victim many crimes (click on crime labels to see more) the rational side of one's character does take a bit of a nose dive and is replaced with a deep seated anger. Incidents like seem like a major victory and you end up taking a perverse delight in another person's pain. That is not who I normally am.

The message though is clear. The residents of Richmond Hill have had enough and are willing ready and able to take back the their suburb.

That is not all. In the last two weeks we have had three young drug addicts removed from the park across the road and alerted the police to an obvious scrap metal thief. We might not change the situation overnight, but the tide is definitely turning.

Watch out we are rarin' to go - Wednesday ABC

I probably look like the Cheshire Cat at the moment.

Anyone who has read some of my earlier posts on crime will know that I have a very jaundiced view of the ability of our law enforcement and justice systems. This has not been without justification - just click on the link to "crime" on the side bar if you want to read more about our experiences.

Today is closure time on the foiled burglary attempt and a stabbing that happened in October 2006. ... v.......
Nice to know that this fellow will be languishing in the St Albans Prison for the next few years.

We read in today's paper that the thief that Suzi-k and I were instrumental in apprehending has finally been convicted:

Repeat offender guilty
A REPEAT offender was found guilty in
the Port Elizabeth magistrate‘s court yesterday on four counts, including
stabbing a couple with a screwdriver.
Ayanda Sheshega, 24, of Victoria Road,
Central, was found guilty of stabbing the husband and wife in a foiled
house-breaking at their Central home in 2006 and other offences. He was
sentenced to three years‘ imprisonment for housebreaking, 18 months for stabbing
the couple and an additional three years for theft. – Gareth Wilson (The Herald, 24 June 2008)

I am delighted with the outcome - the system can work. We have had to endure the trauma after the event; battle to get the police to take statements; spend time at court; listen to his lies and now finally after 20 months we have a conviction. All it requires is for the "victims" to stand up and be counted.

Footnote:
A few nights ago the motor to the gate into our complex was broken and the gate would not close. This of course is an open invitation to opportunistic thieves, especailly in the early hours of the morning. At 3 am Suzi-k woke me to say that she was sure she had heard noises at the garages. So up we leapt - obviously recovered from the previous trauma - and armed with Harry, pepper spray and handcuffs - we went off to investigate. We were so disappointed that there was no one there. The moral of the story - we are not intimidated by criminals and are raring to catch the next one.

For more Wednesday ABC's go to Mrs Nesbitts Place

Cruisin' the 'hood

I hate it when the telephone rings late at night or early in the morning. It usually means one of two things, either an emergency or the office alarm has been triggered. This morning at about 04h45 my cell phone rang. By the time I got to it, it had stopped ringing and I saw that there was a missed called from an unlisted number. That is usually the security company. A quick call to them confirmed that they had not phoned us.

"Let's go and check any way", said Suzi-k. So off we went, armed with "Harry" and a large cannister of pepper spray.

It was all quiet at the office, so being spontaneous people we decided to check out the neighbourhood. Off we went to Parliament Street. Usually a hive of activity with people overflowing from night clubs that never close and street parties, with music thumping from car sound systems, it was quiet - only a couple of Omega security guards patrolling the streets. We decided it must be the cold front and the rain that has kept the party goers in-doors. (12C might be a warm day in Canada, but it is cold for us).

Central was quiet for once. Ivy Street, Victoria Street, Donkin Street, Chapel Street, Western Road, Govan Mbeki Avenue - all quiet, except for two souls making their way down the Hill into the city centre. We stopped a the "Phoenix Hotel and Stage Door" and checked out the menu posted on the wall and decided to give it a try one day.

And then going up Military Road we spotted a truck, reversed up to a garage at Penelope Court. Penelope Court gained notoriety this week after a report in the Herald claimed that this was where a syndicate of metal and copper thieves operated from, but so far no action had been taken, despite numerous complaints. As we drove past we saw that the truck was in fact unloading scrap metal.

We continued on our way and then decided to go back and check it out again.


Western Road opposite the Edward Hotel was much livelier, than the rest of Central. At Trinder Square an overly enthusiatic fellow, probably of West African origin, tried valiantly to flag us down and ran after us as we turned the corner. I concluded that it had something to do with a black car, slowly cruising the neighbourhood that attracted his attention to us and the fact that this is a known hangout for drug dealers. Needless to say we did not stop.


On the way down Military Road we stopped in front of the truck. The engine was idling and the driver was behind the wheel and there was a clatter of metal being unloaded. I noted the number plate and Suzi-k attemped a photo with her cell phone.

We had no joy in trying to report the incident to the police on any of the emergency numbers. The Omega security patrol assured us that there was a legitimate transport business there. They were quite correct, but this was clearly not one of their trucks.

"Oh well, we have at least tried", muttered Suzi-k as we drove off to see what was happening in Dollery Street - another crime "hot spot".

As luck would have it we saw a police van patroling the street and quickly flagged it down and reported our suspicions. Without any hesitation the van pulled off with a squeal of tires in the direction of Military Road. I suspect that by now the truck was long gone. "Oh well at least we tried".

Dollery Street was all quiet. We noticed that the front windows of the cottage Suzi-k restored a few years ago had three layers of burglar bars on the front windows. We had heard that thieves had broken in and gutted the place of all fittings and copper pipes, after the last tenant had moved out.

As we drove on we saw that the passenger side front window of a car parked in the street had been smashed, the owner peacefully sleeping and bissfully unaware of the damage done to his/ her car and the hassle and expense they would have to get it repaired.

All in all it is interesting "cruisin' the 'hood" at the witching hour.

Rats in the park - tail piece

In a number of my recent posts I have ranted on about the crime rate and the government wanting to take away our rights as citizens from carrying any form of self defence weapons, like pepper spray.

It seems like I am not the only one who has a problem with criminals and the Government's approach to crime.

Our Deputy Safety and Security Minister, Susan Shabangu created quite a stir with her statements at an anti crime forum in Pretoria West this week.

What she said, as reported in the Star newspaper of 10 April:

You must not worry about the regulations. That is my responsibility. Your responsibility is to serve and protect.

I want to assure the police station commissioners and policemen and women from these areas that they have permission to kill these criminals.

I want no warning shots. I want one shot and it must be a kill shot. If you miss, the criminals will go for the kill. They don’t miss. We can’t take this chance.
The Constitution says that the criminals must be kept safe, but I say No!

I say we must protect the law-abiding people and not the criminals. I say that the criminals must be made to pay for their crimes.

Wow! No wonder her comments have created a stir – they run in the face of the Constitution, legal precedent and the usual bleeding heart approach to these issues. Well if she pulls this one off, she has my vote.

Having said that, I don’t want to go to her extremes, all I want is to be able to legally, “Pepper spray the bastards”, if the need arises.

Rats in the park #2

A follow up

Suzi-k and I like walking around the neighbourhood. We enjoy each others company and are never without our cameras. Unfortunately, it is a sad reality of life in this country that some opportunistic criminal will, if given half a chance, try and part you with your possessions. The only reason that we do take our walks, is because we are able to carry some form of protection with us – like pepper spray or my trusty walking stick. Without that we would not feel safe.


Grandpa's walking stick. A genuine Zimbabwean piece of craftsmanship bought at Mbare Market in Harare, which I believe is still going strong, despite Mugabe's best efforts to shut it down.

Our concern is that the Government now wants to a pass law that will outlaw the carrying of pepper spray and other non lethal weapons. As it is our rights to self defence are extremely limited – where will the removal of that one leave us?..

Grandpa's walking stick unsheathed and ready for "action". Suddenly the intended victim will not be so attractive.

I do not go out looking for trouble, but if it happens to come my way, then I want to be able to respond accordingly.

Since writing “Rats in the Park” last week I have an answer to some of my queries regarding self defence. In an article, “When is it legal to shoot a criminal”, in the Algoa Sun of 3 April 2008 a local firearms dealer said there are circumstances when this is possible.

Our courts have apparently established stringent guidelines in this regard. What they apparently look at is the question of legal justification. That is whether the individual acted in self defence or private defence.

Self defence is when you protect yourself, whereas private defence, “allows you to defend and protect someone in whom you have a legal interest, such as your child or your spouse, or any other person you choose to place under your protection.”
The article goes to say that, “You may only use lethal force if there is an attack against either you, or a third party whom you are trying to protect from such attack, and that attack is unlawful, which means simply not allowed by law. The attack must be against the person, a threat to human life and NOT to the removal or destruction of property. The attack must be imminent (about to happen or immediate (already have started).”
Interesting! I may have to research this one some more. It begs the question, if some knife wielding thug demands my wallet and cell phone, is this “an attack” on me or just “the removal” of my property? Given the fact that more than one person has been murdered for a cell phone I will take it as an “immediate attack” on my person and react accordingly.

This is where it starts to get tricky.

“In acting to defend such person’s life, your defence must be absolutely necessary to prevent or stop the attack”. Oh dear, so that means an elderly gentleman beating a retreating burglar with a broom, according to our law is not acting in self defence. I must admit it gave me a perverse sense of pleasure. The burglar of course will never lay a charge, because according to him, he was never there. See here, here and here for previous posts on the burglary.




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This weekend I decided to beat the ban and stock up on pepper spray, which is seen here with "Harry", my pepper gun and a selection of ammo (see Pepper Ammo.com): the hancuffs, which I acquired over 30 years ago during the Zimbabwe bush war: a collection of pocket knives (I have carried one all my life).
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But that is not all……..“There must be no other way of avoiding the attack, if you can avoid the use of force, you have a legal obligation to do so. The force used to repel or stop the attack must be reasonable under the circumstances”. To my way of thinking a burst of pepper spray in the attackers face is more than “reasonable”. I saw the effect of that on our burglar. It was like he had been pole axed, by the guy from the armed response company.
This is now the best part, “The law requires that if you can avoid a confrontation, you must take reasonable steps to do so – for example, by leaving the scene, if escape is possible.
If you do not try to escape, when it is possible, it may be argued that you contributed towards the confrontation and therefore your actions in using force were not legally justifiable.” Yeah right. If we turn tail and run we will likely have a knife in stuck in our back in no time at all. Yes, we can take evasive action, like we demonstrated last week. But what if we can’t?

Realistically, what chance does an unarmed couple in their fifty’s have against several armed twenty-something thugs, intent on doing grievous bodily harm. I would rather have the right to defend myself with a non lethal weapon like pepper spray, than with a firearm.

I have dealt with this subject simplistically, from the point of view of someone who just wants to go out and enjoy life in a crime riddled environment. If the police are not able to protect me and my family, then at least don’t take that right away from me.

Rats in the Park

Taking a stand

It was another beautiful day in the Bay on Sunday and after a pleasant lunch; Sue and I decided to take a walk through St Georges Park. It is a really beautiful park and well worth a visit, but because of frequent muggings many people don’t go there any more. When we do, we take precautions – like taking pepper spray with us. As luck would have it, K left hers in the car, so Suzi-k and I were both armed and ready for our walk.

There were a number of families picnicking and having fun in the park and it was nice to know that we were not alone.

We came across a pair of rats at the fish pod, which were scavenging bread that had been left behind by a family that had been feeding the fish. They did not wait around long enough to be photographed so there were not any really worthwhile photos.

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It was not long before we noticed that there were rats, of the two legged variety, wandering around as well. Young guys, eyeing people out; looking for easy pickings; walking up and down the paths with a purpose. They could have been innocent people out for a stroll, but when two of them, coming from opposite directions, started a pincer movement towards us, it confirmed our suspicions. We formed a laager kept a beady eye on them and took a different path. They then changed direction to intercept us, from different sides, where the paths converged ahead. It was then that we noticed another group waiting at the end of our path, so we did a quick about turn and headed up the main path, with our pepper spray visible.

As a couple in their mid fifties we could have been an easy target, if we had not been alert and armed with pepper spray.

This brings me to the question of why the Department of Justice is now proposing laws to make life easier for the criminals. They now want to make it illegal for citizens to carry non lethal weapons, like pepper spray, on their person.

I can see the need to place restrictions on the carrying of weapons, but then at least do it in a way that ensures that it is done in a controlled and responsible manner. Don’t turn law abiding citizens into criminals, when all they want to do is live a normal life without the fear of being robbed or attacked, and to be able to protect themselves in a crime ridden country. Does this mean that all our politicians are also going to get their bevy of body guards to ditch their side arms – I think not?

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I decided to see what the Constitution had to say about my right to protect myself and my family. Alas there is nothing. Constitutionally we have the right “to be free from all forms of violence”, but there is no right for us to protect ourselves from any form of violence.

When our complex was burgled in October 2006, the police said I should never have admitted to the fact that I had hit the burglar with a broom, because he could now lay a charge of assault against me. Hmmmmmmm, even though he had attempted to stab me, and would have done so, had I not beat a strategic withdrawal. Oops, let’s not forget that he has the right “to be free from all forms of violence”, so even though he would have had no compunction in killing his victim, the victim must not retaliate? Not this victim.

What about other incidents in our neighbourhood, which show the utter lack of conscience of these criminals? The woman who was beaten senseless with a plank and then raped on the sidewalk; or the woman who was shot is her driveway, because the robbers thought she was in possession of a large sum of cash; or the patrons who were robbed at gunpoint, while having a drink at a local watering hole; or the women who were robbed by a rifle wielding thug outside their home in broad day light……the list is endless.

What must we do? Sit back and wait for the police to arrive? The last time I called them when I saw a crime being committed, they never arrived.

Incidentally by far the longest section in the Bill of Rights is section 35 “Arrested, detained and accused persons” - the one dealing with the rights of criminals. Pity there is not a similar clause dealing with the rights of the victims, because there are a lot more victims then there are criminals.

I have no intention of relinquishing my pepper spray, until such time as the justice system can guarantee my right, “to be free from all forms of violence”. So "rats" beware.

Crime, crime, crime

Today was just another day in South Africa and despite all the assurances form the politicians crime is alive and well in our country and our city.

Headlines in today’s Herald read:

• Crime wave puts marine sanctuary in jeopardy
• Youth shot dead
• Fake guard alarm
• Bungy firm burgled
• Woman beaten and raped in Richmond Hill attack (quite openly in a street around the corner from where we live)
• Plan to improve parks problems (drugs, littering, urinating in public etc)
• Street patrol initiative in Zwide will help protect community
• Fast tracking transport, tackling commuter crime (crime is rife on our passenger trains)
• Web exchange website set to reduce illegal dumping
• Durban cops probing insurance firm fraud
• Child rapist 71, given 20 years behind bars

And let me not forget, we have again been victims of crime. Yesterday the wing mirrors were stolen from Sue’s car, while she was setting up for an art exhibition.

If I say I hate criminals - rather strong words - they have earned it. You see this is just another crime in an already long list experienced by my family, employees and friends.

When I tell people that there was a time when we did not lock our home, they look at me in disbelief. But it is true. Today, you keep your home locked, even if you are at home - even then it is not a guarantee of safety.. The headlines of this week’s PE Express yell out, “Robbers want you at home”. This makes life easier, as they just ask what they want, including your ATM pin. As most homes have high security wals, no one will even know what is happening.

I remember the days when a violent crime or a murder made headline news for several days or weeks. Today, there are not enough pages in the newspapers to report all the violent crimes. Now, unless it is a high profile person or a particularly horrific case, they seldom receive more than a sentence.

This has been some of my family’s experience with crime:

The past two years
1. Unscrupulous letting agent stole R8,500 from us and the state refuses to prosecute.
2. Security lock forced at offices. Two cell phones and a wallet stolen while my colleague and her friend were on the premises. Took the police 1.5 hours to arrive. Cost to secure the security gate: R2,200.
3. Intruder’s trying doors of flats in complex using keys stolen in a mugging. Still waiting for the police to arrive. All the access codes had to be reset.
4. Garages broken into in our complex where we live. We caught the sod, at a cost. Sue’s arms were badly lacerated and she was stabbed, it took over two weeks to get the police to come around and take a statement. And lo and behold, I should not have beaten him with a broom, even though he tried to stab me, because I can now be held up for assault. Medical bill – over R1000. Additional security measures R4,400. R200 bail for him.
5. Unsavory characters confronted while photographing Sue’s car with a cell phone camera. They do this as they are commissioned to fulfill orders. They beat a hasty retreat when we openly started photographing them.
6. Jewelry stolen from sister by worker she hired. This was left to her by our mother. It means nothing to this sod, but a lot to us.
7. Sister fights back and foils attempted mugging. She moved to a small country town to escape this and becomes the towns first mugging victim.
8. Sue confronted two unsavory intruders – young black males – in the office, trying to convince her that the security gate had been open and that they wanted décor advice while checking out the offices. They refused to leave until she got tough with them.
9. Car thieves observed outside our home checking out Sue’s car and making arrangements for its theft on a cell phone.
10. Tools stolen by assorted contractors from building we renovated.
11. Intruder evicted from offices by staff after he managed to open the security gate. We have tried to secure the lock with a metal plate. He has been back several times ands is quite brazen about trying to open it. I have bought all our female staff a pepper spray canister. Cost R260.
12. Washing stolen from washing line at daughter and son-in-laws home.
13. Colleague who lives near office followed home by two unsavory characters with bad motives. When they were about to accost her a passing motorist stopped and they fled. They sped off even faster when her boy friend went after them with a hockey stick.
14. Morris chair stolen from verandah. Subsequently recovered quite by chance, when Sue drove past a furniture restorer around the corner and saw it being restored.
15. Outside light stolen from daughter and son-in-laws home.
16. Daughter's car stolen several weeks after returning to SA from Zimbabwe. It was never recovered.
17. Complex broken into and car’s window smashed. Nothing taken, but it cost R250 to replace the window. Police made it clear that nothing will be done.
18. Backdoor of new business premises kicked in. The break-in was foiled by the neighbours.
19. Nephew’s cell phone stolen in smash and grab at a traffic light.
20. Nephew foiled attempted hijacking, while entering his town house complex.
21. Niece foiled attempted hijacking.
22. Attempted break-in at shop in Westbourne Road foiled by armed response.
Last two to five years
23. Three cell phones stolen from our shop.
24. Locks trashed when criminals attempted break into our two garages. Cost R240.
25. Two bicycles stolen fro garage. Value R5,000.
26. Expensive beadwork throw stolen from shop. Value R1,300.
27. CD shuttle stolen from Sue’s car, as well as my wind cheater.
28. Several unsavory characters foiled in shop. Usually arriving as a team they and distract you while their colleagues do the stealing.
29. Garden fork stolen.
30. Garden spray stolen.
Last five to 15 years
31. Radio tape stolen from Karen’s Opel Kadet.
32. Ian’s wallet stolen from suite at cricket match,
33. Radio trashed in Karen’s VW beetle, as it was secured in a way that it could not be removed.
34. Battery cables cut when thieves attempted to steel VW beetle battery, but could not as it had been chained down, to prevent it being stolen.
35. Sound system stolen from Karen’s VW Beetle.
36. Ian’s class mate and friend sexually molested by his teacher. Teacher eventually got house arrest and community service.
37. Brother-in-laws car stolen. (Never recovered)
38. Radio/ tape stolen from Sue's car
39. Battery stolen from Karen’s VW beetle.
40. Radio stolen from my car.
41. Bicycle stolen by builders.
Last 15 to 25 years
42. Reported suspected child molester. The case was not taken seriously until 18 moth’s later when the child went to preprimary school. The father got six years for doing unspeakable things to his two children.
43. Numerous chickens stolen from small holding over period of ten years
44. Fostered two sisters for as year, one of whom had been sexually molested.
45. Ian, confronted by a knife wielding child who demanded his bicycle. He received a hiding from his father for his efforts.
46. Harbored a battered wife for several months.
47. Clive our gardener was stabbed in the corner of his eye. Fortunately he did not lose his sight.
48. Tools stolen by labourers.
49. A gang of youth’s attempted to accost Sue while she was out riding her horse. Fortunately she was able to outrun them on the horse.
50. Sister’s handbag snatched when she was shopping.
51. Arrested a rapist, who attempted to rape a 10 years old child.
Last 25 to 30 years
52. Car stolen, but recovered the next day.
53. Attempted car break-in foiled in Johannesburg.
54. Brother-in-law murdered by poachers.
55. Step father murdered on farm.
56. Burglary in flat while we were sleeping. My wallet and Sues id card and passport were stolen.
Last 30 years plus
57. Poaching on farm.
58. Fishing rods stolen from pump house on farm.
59. Petty theft at boarding school.
60. Enduring school bullies. Yes they are not a new phenomenon. Many of the people I went to school with were rotten to the core. I wonder how they turned out as adults.

The list is probably not complete. I can go on and on ……………. some petty some serious. Each crime adds to the next and contributes further to my anger. An anger that is aimed at the criminals and the authorities, who do not seem to have the will or the ability to deal with the problem of crime.

As a matter of interest, other than where specifically stated, only one of these criminals has been brought to justice. Case number 4 – Sue and I spent an unproductive morning at court giving testimony, 18 months after the event. Haven’t heard of the outcome yet.

Is crime decreasing? I think not. If it is then my family is getting more than their fair share. It is no wonder communities are taking the law into their own hands.

The result of all this? I am angry at having to constantly be looking over my shoulder and worrying about the safety of my family. I am disillusioned and am rapidly losing faith in the ability of the justice system to protect its citizens. And I worry about the person this is turning me into.

Guess what – I am not going to be a victim. I will fight back that is a promise.

PS: I have not included the five murders of people we knew, two armed robberies , a severe assault and numerous car thefts of friends and acquaintances

Which one is the prison?

So which of these two is the prison?

This one?


Or this one?


Well, actually they both are - one for real the other is symbolic of the levels of security that we have resort to to protect ourselves and our property from criminals.

The first one is the SA Red Cross Society, near our home and the second one is the St Albans Prison, out in the country.



As you can see nothing is sacred. It is a sad indictment on our society that certain unscupulous elements force us resort to such measures for our own safety. We end up living like prisoners in our own homes.

Let's hope that the promises of our leaders start to bear fruit and that the scourge of criminals is removed from our streets.

Never give up

The Port Elizabeth Express front page headline on the 29 August 2009 screams out, “Crime takes hold of Richmond Hill”. Not a good advertisement for a suburb that is becoming quite trendy in the city.

And then a front page article in the Weekend Post, on Saturday 1 September 2007 states: “The wave of crime which has made South Africa one of the most dangerous countries outside a war zone in which to live is now rapidly spreading through the once peaceful suburbs of Nelson Mandela Bay.” Is this journalist licence or is it fact.

Several weeks ago when Sue had her knee operation I went walk about in Central, to photograph some of the old churches. This was to kill time, while waiting to collect her after the op. I am not a nervous person, but it was one of the most unsettling experiences I have had for a long time. Not exactly in the prime of my life and walking about in a crime ridden area, with the camera around my neck made me a prime target.

When I picked Sue up from the hospital, I told her that the last time I had that feeling was when we lived in a war zone where I was working. That was in the 1970’s in Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it was then called. It was not a conscious action on my part, it just happened. I was like a tightly wound spring, ready to leap into action in a split second. I found myself constantly on the lookout, carefully checking every person coming in my direction, looking over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure that no one came up from behind, checking to see that no one was getting ready to ambush me.

The pictures I took were disappointing because I was not able to fully concentrate on what I was doing. Check shoot, check … wait while this group of youth go by and so on. Despite my best efforts, people still managed to come by me - fortunately without malicious intent - without me being aware of their approach. I eventually gave up and went home.

After dropping Sue at home I went to the pharmacy to get her pain killers. While there I met a young mother who was in quite a state of shock, who had just been robbed at knife point in that very area, where I had been taking photographs. She was there to get tranquilizers.

Two weeks ago on Saturday, Sue and I took an early morning walk around Richmond Hill, after which I did the posts Reflections of the Hill and Signs.

Last week on Saturday morning at 8:30 am in that same area, Lisbet Calitz was shot and killed in her car, while in her driveway in Hartman Street. Another senseless killing in South Africa – another tragedy and another family traumatized and in mourning. Why........ what for?

Yes, that was the very area Sue and I had been in the week before. (Picture alongside is the sunrise over the Bay from Hartman Street)

When we go on our walks we take all the security precautions we can, like carrying a can of mace, or taking Harry with us. I refuse to be a victim and lock myself away, but I also resent the fact that no law abiding person can feel safe in their neighbourhood or home any more. Are we exposing ourselves to unnecessary risks – we probably are. Will I stop the walks? Absolutely not. I will rather go down fighting than back down to a bunch of thugs.

We have had more than our fair share of crime. Sue did a few posts on one experience last year Justice South African Style and Wheels of Justice Grind Slowly (so slowly that the case has still not seen the light of day). Sue took a light hearted look at the the incident, but we were both thoroughly traumatized for many months afterwards.

But on a positive note we are members of a community forum that intends to stand up for what is right and take an active role in fighting crime in our area. We will not be victims and we do not intend living on our nerves for the rest of our days.

Beauty and the Beast

Sue and I have not been for an early morning stroll since before her knee op and this morning it was great to get back on the beat. There is so much to see and so many moods in the neighbourhoood.

The sunrise over Algoa Bay seen from Callington Street

The simple beauty of the sunlight catching the leaves of a coral tree

Reality check - the ever present reminder of crime in the country - a novel way to secure one's car

......... and people living like prisoners in their own homes

Then coming across this cheerful fellow. A throw back to the hippie era.......or a novel way to prevent car theft ...... it just wont blend in with the crowd................. or a just a cheerful owner.

A lovely view of historical homes at the end of Irvine Street

.. and then an in you face approach to the anti dumping sign.

But in all of this the beauty of nature is there for our pleasure, a flower from a coral tree.

Me Scared............?

When I told a couple of black colleagues (separately) that I had visited the Red Location Museum, they both responded with surprise that I had gone there. They both wanted to know if I was not afraid to go into a “black township”.

My response was, “Should I have been?”

At the time neither of them responded to my question, but later on I pushed for an answer and got one.
According to my colleague there were a lot of young black people who felt that whites have no business going into “their” areas and will attack white people if given an opportunity. He said that as they were not aware that I was “ok”, as I had taken a stand against apartheid, I was at risk.

When I said I had not felt threatened, his reply was that as long as I stayed within the precincts of the museum I would be fine.

I find it hard to believe that can still be so much hatred and bitterness about and I wonder how widespread these sentiments are. Township tours have become big business in the South African tourism industry and are well received by the foreign tourists – so are these sentiments real or perceived.

Let me put the background to this situation into context.

The Red Location is a “black suburb” that was established under British colonial rule in 1903 and maintained under the old apartheid regime, which sought to separate the race groups through legislation. Living conditions there were appalling – many of the buildings were constructed of wood and corrugated iron dating back almost 100 years and had fallen into disrepair. During the 1970’s and 80’s the area, as with other black areas, became a hot bed of resistance against the old regime.

The residents fought for the ideals of equality and justice. Unfortunately as with most conflicts, there were unspeakable atrocities on both sides, which left the protagonists with deep seated bitterness and many unresolved issues. Generally the atrocities of those who come out on top are the ones that are overlooked at the end of the conflicts.

The reality is that the hatred can live on long after the conflict is over and if allowed it can fester and breed and create other problems.

I guess it is possible that that there can still be deep seated resentments. But then there are also the criminal elements who will try and mask their activities under a guise of “respectability”, like taking their revenge on whites for the injustices of the past. However, the elements I believe my colleagues were talking about are criminals who will kill a young woman for her mobile phone or a policeman for his firearm. Crime is one issue nation building is another.
This is why reconciling the opposing sides in any nation that has fought a civil war is so important. In this regard I do not think that the role of our Truth and Reconciliation Commission in bringing the truth to light and building bridges will ever be fully appreciated.

My visit to the Red Location Museum showed me that we still have a long way to go in building a truly united nation. However, one cannot build a nation by continuously looking backwards you can only do so by looking ahead and moving forward.

I will be return to the Red Location there is still a lot to see.