Big brother is in full effect in this room, and the results have been fascinating. Crime rates within two blocks of the cameras drop through the floor once the criminals are aware of them. There overall crime rate, however, has not been affected. If there were enough money, every block would be under surveillance. The people in charge of this project believe it to be a panacea. Time will tell.

 

The cameras are tremendously powerful and can zoom in on license plate numbers from hundreds of yards away. We are shown a video of the beginning of the fire in Joe Slovo, the one that put all those people into tents. It was frightening to see how quickly it spread. No firemen responded to the scene. People attepmted to put out the flames with buckets of water.

 

We are then shown a video of the following day. The man who is believed to have started the blaze is attacked by a mob. A man with an axe in his hand is seen striking the alleged fire starter, and then running off. Once again, there is no police response.

 

Now that the grim footage has begun to roll out, we are shown a dramatic series of videos of horrible and amazing things. A man is killed instantly by a van he does not see. His shoes come off and land in the spot he stood upon.  His friend runs and sits down by his body which has been thrown almost 80 feet.

 

Young men perform "smash-and-grab" thefts at stoplights. They hold a sparkplug in one hand and walk along the cars stopped at the red light. If they see a bag or purse on a seat, they throw the sparkplug at the window. The ceramic on the sparkplug cuts through any window, shattering it instantly, and the bag is grabbed. The men then run off into the townships and are quickly lost amongst the shantys. We see this occur numerous times.

 

Eventually we are shown some videos that resulted in arrests, including a hilarious one involving a purse thief and an amorous couple. The thief, unaware that he is being tracked, sneaks up on a couple making out in a park. He takes the woman's handbag without either of them noticing. He runs off and makes it about 6 blocks before slowing down. As he is calmly walking down the street, police cars pull up and he is arrested without a struggle.

 

Meanwhile, another police van pulls up by the still kissing couple. They are surprised. The officer asks if he can look in the young woman's handbag, but of course, she can not find it. Moments later the first van arrives, with the handbag and thief. All ends well. It is the center's favorite video, and an example of the cameras working exactly as they were intended to.

 

We were not allowed to take pictures on this tour, so my meager descriptions will have to suffice.

 

More on this day will follow, but for now, here is a picture of Shish and Hiram at a radio station that interviewed Curtis. Shish did a pretty good job staying out of pictures, perhaps because of the racoon tan he is sporting.

 

There are people that have marveled over the belief in certain parts of Africa that sex with a virgin cures AIDS. Other rumors about AIDS include that it can be killed with garlic (this one came from the surgeon general of SA), that HIV is not connected to AIDS (from the president of SA), that sex with an animal will cure it, that multivitamins knock it out, and so on. Much of this relates to the reliance on tribal elders and medicine men. In the old days these men were the most learned and trustworthy in Africa. Nowadays many of them have been corrupted.

 

The medicine men or "Sangomas" in SA are responsible for many of these medical myths. They are also prone to prescribing sex to cure ills. Sex, that is, with them. Womwn are told that the Sangoma can not fully undersatnd or cure the ailment without first having sex with them. Because of the lack of education, the inability of the government to lead responsibly, and because there is no one to reach out to, they often submit. SA law does define this action as rape, but the legal system is such that criminals control the country. I will go in to this in more detail during the Robben Island tour, as that island is infamously connected in many ways to the past and present of Capetown crime.

 

One thing that South Africans do not always trust is condoms. They are available free in nearly every bathroom. And they are used, just not as you might think. It turns out that the lubrication on these condoms is a damn fine shoe polish. Men and women across Capetown are aware of and use this free polish liberally. They don't find it strange at all. And, of course, the next morning Bull comes out of his room with the shiniest shoes in the group.

 

"I had to try it, man," he said to me.

 

The police accompany these guys on every patrol. The route they take is a bit predictable, and most of the serious criminals just take a walk around the block during patrol time. However, it is a great show of community unity, and it is a lot more than the average citizen is willing to do. We rousted a few homeless people who were, frankly, minding their own business and sleeping, and got an sorry looking addict put away for the night. We saw a great deal that could be done, but those things were beyond the scope of this neighborhood group.

 

The Guardian Angels patrol, on its own, is a much different animal. It is highly unlikely that we would bother homeless guys, unless something else was up. We spend our time with the criminals, all of our time.  We will follow them all night if we have to, relentlessly. If we see a crime being committed, we make a citizens arrest on the spot. We change our routes and routines on a nightly basis, both for surpise and safety. Within a month, the criminals are typically gone. They just won't make any money while we are around. That's the bottom line. We do what needs to be done for our communities.

 

I'll close this day, one with very few pictures, with a couple peaceful scenes. The next day would take us to the top of a very foggy Table Mountain, and bring us face to face with the dreaded "Dassies".