Toh Unplugged

The Role of Bribery in South African Driver’s Licensing South African currency “THIS is a nightmare,” I remember saying to myself as a small handwritten sign pinned at the door, screamed: “... No bookings will be made today. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.” I had woken up at 4am that Friday because my driving instructor had told us we needed to be on the road by 5am or 6am, the latest. We were a group of four learner drivers going to Somerset East, about 180km outside Port Elizabeth, to make bookings for our driver’s licence tests. We went to Somerset East because the “nearest” dates we could get from both Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage traffic department offices, were in March 2010. The instructor, driving his idolised, left-hand-drive imported Jeep, came to pick me up at 5.30am; eventually leaving Port Elizabeth at about 6am. Those familiar with the R63 road leading to Somerset East - serene small town, nestled at the foot of the Boschberg Mountains - would agree that the h...

Reflections on South African Police Service Support for Crime Victims I BECAME a victim of crime the other night (March17, 2010) when a group of about seven low life oxgen thieves, stopped me in my tracks, took my cellphone, wristwatch and the bangle I was wearing. One of the thugs dipped his hands in all my pockets hoping to retrieve whatever possession he could pillage. Another stood “guard” with a very big knife that spotted a shiny blade, while the “boss” commanded them to: “Take off his watch, take his phone, search all the pockets.” I stood there hopeless, knowing very well I could not fight such a big group and in all possibilities the “guard” thug was perhaps waiting for me to “perform” so as to feel justified by stabbing me or slitting my throat or even worse. This incident occurred in the CBD’s Evatt Street at the back of Mercator Chambers, which is situated next to the Terminus taxi rank. I was walking to my Richmond Hill residence after a workout at Humerail’s Virgin Active...