Random Acts of Violence

There haven't been too many that I've seen. Threats and such, people resorting to a bit of 'tough love' to swing domestic disputes in one's favour (not so much in terms of spousal abuse, but more when children and or 45-year-old siblings that you are caring for come home drunk and won't leave stop pestering you).

When I was in Manzini (Swaziland) waiting for my taxi to leave for Durban, there was an instant when the main bus station (which is just basically a giant open dirt parking lot on a hill with walk-in cafes and restaurants around) there was suddenly a commotion and a whole bunch of people ran round the building I was in grabbing some food. After I emerged, a gigantic crowd was moving slowly from behind the building. One guy in about his twenties was being restrained as he bled from his head and chest and was looking a bit dazed and confused, while across the ring of people that was formed was a woman who was hurling insults at him. The crowd cheered as he offered little resistance to being dragged off to a police station. I can only assume that this was some sort of domestic dispute and that public reprisals to solve such disputes were seen as normal and perhaps even encouraged.

The other few times have been during my stay in Elsiesriver. On one occasion, me and the rest of the people at my temporary abode were on the front stoop chatting about various things as the evening drew to a close and the alcohol was slowly filtering from our bodies. Then someone came across the street to ask for helping with an individual slumped over on the opposite curb. He was a guy who lived nearby and was known amongst the various 'colourful individuals' in the neighbourhood. He was bleeding from the back of his head, his chest, and his knees. He explained (in Afrikaans) that he had been attacked in the street. Likely by someone he knew. He was sat down in the stoop and towels applied to stem the bleeding while various people spoke to him, sometimes seeming to be accosting him (including his mother who came over for a brief period to get her two scents in). He was constantly moaning about the pain, an ambulance was called and about 60 minutes later finally arrived to take him in. I/we saw him walk by in the street a few days later with a heavily swollen face.

In another instance, whilst sitting in the house, a call came to me from the front 'come out here. You said you wanted to see some action?' In front of the house on the road was a guy shouting insults at someone down the road that I couldn't quite make out. He had two knives, one in each hand. Every so often there would be the crunching of pavement as a piece of the road would crash to the ground near him as he danced out of the way. I craned my neck around and saw another guy taking a few large pieces of pavement and smashing against the curb to make more manageable (i.e. throwable) pieces, and then throwing them at the guy with the knives. Eventually the guy with the knives made a sudden rush, but was pegged back and left with a flurry of insults. The other guy, seemingly with nothing better to do, went to pursue the issue, being backed by the self-same individual who was bleeding on the stoop not a few weeks before.

There have been a few others. In one instance I was walking down the street looking around me. My eyes fell on a cyclist riding along the street and a few seconds later when my eyes were scanning something else, I heard a crash and saw the cyclist somersaulting down the road, the bicycle a crumpled piece of metal. I guess a passing truck hadn't been overly wary.

For the most part, I think it goes to show that although one must be wary, one doesn't need to go insane about violence, at least in Cape Town. Before I left Canada, I would joke that Canada was too boring and was looking forward to seeing 'dead bodies on the side of the road' and 'carjacking where people are dragged out of their cars while waiting for a stoplight'. Maybe these occur, but not nearly as much as one might be led to believe. And for the most part, if you stay out of areas where you stick out like a sore thumb (e.g. a white person in a black township) and mind your own business, your unlikely to have too many problems. Ive heard plenty of stories and many South Africans that I have talked to have spoken about being mugged or attacked at least once in their lives, but these instances seem much more sporadic than I originally led myself to believe after hearing all the horror stories back home.

The Lay of the Land

Thus far I've been in South Africa for about 12 weeks. I arrived in July to begin my studies, but for various reasons (the main one being the manner in which my Philosophy MA has stalled), I left for India at the beginning of September and only arrived back in Cape Town in the middle of December after 10 weeks in India, a week and a half in Chamanculo (Maputo), a week in Swaziland, and a couple days in Durban. So to start now means there are a few 'back issues' waiting in the wings. Hopefully that means that I won't run out of material any time soon.

Like many large metropolises, Cape Town itself is quite small. London, for example is only a few blocks, whereas Greater London is a massive sprawl. If you say 'I live in London', people who know anything about the place will push you for details since (as far as know) 'London' itself consists of a handful of gated properties and rich shops. Cape Town proper is the downtown, often called the City Bowl because it is basically flanked on one side by Table Mountain and on the other by the Atlantic Ocean. UCT, for example, is actually in Rondebosch, not Cape Town.

But the main point of interest is that the greater Cape Town is the way it is because of the fallout from apartheid and the egregious racism and segregation that resulted from it. During the apartheid years, people were told where they could and could not live, and hence most communities fall into one of three broad categories, which reflect the three races: 'white', 'coloured', and 'black'. Since the fall of apartheid, and the fall of some of the red tape that prevented 'mixing', the situation has changed somewhat, but for the most part history and the family ties that come with it have dictated the present with respect to this (maybe historical materialism isn't so far-fetched?). In most cases, the 'look' and 'feel' reflect the economic status of the corresponding race. Most 'white' neighbourhoods are fairly upmarket, and a lot have large estates surrounded by high walls and/or electric fences. Many of the 'black' neighbourhoods are simply a massive sprawl of shanties and huts built from whatever materials are available: many 'houses' consist largely of corrugated metal and cement blocks. From what I know, the government struck on a novel idea when trying to deal with the shortage of proper houses: give people shipping containers to live in, and so I have seen some of those as well. 'Coloured' neighbourhoods, depending on the one in question, usually fall somewhere in between: 'normal' houses and apartments, but less upkeep and infrastructure; maybe a bit like Harlem or Brooklyn (though I've never been).

But the main problem is, of course, crime and conflict: there is a general feel that the whites blame the blacks because their desperate situation causes them to take desperate measures; such as purse-snatching, car-jacking, burglaries, muggings, etc. In contrast to this, the black blame the whites because their situation has come about through colonization, economic inequality, and segregation. And then the coloureds are again somewhere in the middle: blaming both sides for various things and never really trusting either.

During the first phase of my time in Cape Town, I believed most of the stories about how dangerous Cape Town was, and so I lived in Rondebosch (a 'white' community next to the university) and seldom strayed too far away. But since then, my time in Johannesburg (where I just said 'fuck it' and spent most of my days trolling around Hillbrow in the inner city), and my time living in Chamanculo have emboldened me to the idea that, to a large extent, surviving in South Africa is not much different than surviving anywhere else: you mind your own business and try not to take too many risks like walking alone at night. The main difference is the consequences are often more drastic than in other places, and there is always the threat of random violence if you are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But my point is that since I arrived back in Cape Town, various events led to me winding up in Elsiesriver for these past six weeks (I'm moving to Observatory, which is basically 'student central' at the beginning of February, which is in a few days). Elsies is a coloured neighbourhood, and definitely one of the more notorious coloured neighbourhoods in Cape Town. That is, the fact that it is a coloured neighbourhood doesn't make it dangerous, the fact that it is Elsiesriver makes it dangerous. People I have met have told me that I must 'be careful' in Cape Town, then when I tell them I've been staying in Elsiesriver with no problems, oftentimes a look of shock registers on their face and they say something to the effect of "if you can survive in Elsies, you can survive anywhere."

Welcome to South Africa

I have actually taken it upon myself to start two blogs. One for general thoughts on the world and all things in it (philosophyisfashionable.blogspot.com) and this one, which is about all things South Africa. Hopefully they won't deport me for my opinions.

I have been asked by many questions to the effect of 'why oh why did you decide to study in South Africa, especially since your costs are coming out of pocket?' So here it is:

From what I know, there are two ways to live (legally) in a foreign country (i.e. one that you do not have any citizenship or residence ties to): study visa or work visa (this is, of course, not counting refugees, etc). I'm too young and too obstinate to work, so studying gives me that opportunity. Why South Africa? Well, I don't have a second language (I have a bit of Portuguese and Spanish, and figure my year here will give me the opportunity to learn Afrikaans and/or one of the many Bantu languages that abound locally and from the many foreigners who live here, so I'm working on it) so I have to choose somewhere where the education is in English. In South Africa, I get a good exchange on the dollar (so everything is relatively cheap), but more importantly, South Africa is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating socio-political scapes in the world. Ever since I read Fanon's 'The Wretched of the Earth', I wanted to see the situation in Africa for myself.

And here in South Africa, it is especially interesting because from an objective point of view, they are in the midst of decolonization and the problems that come with it predicted nearly 50 years ago by Fanon (see the chapter 'Pitfalls of National Consciousness'). I will elaborate in due time, but let's just say that the next year should provide its fair share of interest just in terms of day-to-day life.