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.
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.
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