London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

Murder in Gugulethu

IT’S ONE OF those things where you just think to yourself: “Why? Why on earth did they do it?” Why on earth would a tourist couple finish a lovely dinner in smart Somerset West and think “Oh, I know, let’s head to a poverty-ridden township alone in the middle of the night”. Apparently some ninny of a television chef recommended a place in Gugulethu as a hip-happening nightspot. Sometimes you’re just astounded. And why didn’t the driver say no? Wasn’t he a local? Shouldn’t he have just refused?

Supposedly the poor victim was moved by a desire to see “the real Africa”. As Seraphic points out, I was in South Africa for most of last year and I didn’t go wandering around looking for “the real Africa”. The reason is because it was all around me. The vineyards, the oak-lined streets, the white-washed houses, and the mouth-watering restaurants — this is real Africa. The culture of the Cape has been around for four-hundred years; how long before it’s considered “real”?

Those who feel disappointed if they don’t see the depraved horrors of poverty are peddling a false stereotype that if it isn’t poor, black, and filthy, it isn’t African. From Agulhas to Algiers, there are thousands of places and legions of people that don’t fit the Western stereotype, and they are none the less real or none the less African for it.

The recent murder is particularly astounding when you realise how easy it is enjoy the Cape immensely. Use your common sense, follow local advice given by trustworthy people, and at all costs avoid places like Gugulethu and Khayelitsha. As Fritha, a Saffer who comments on Seraphic’s blog, writes “Know about potential dangers, know where you’re going, and and trust your instincts.” This was easy enough for me. If I was walking somewhere, and a street seemed dodgy, I used a different route. I had plenty of South African friends to ask questions to and get advice from on the best ways to do something or get somewhere. You’d be surprised how quickly these sorts of considerations become second nature, become automatic parts of your daily thought process.

Reassuringly, the authorities in the Western Cape have reacted swiftly and decisively. They’ve already got one suspect in custody and are pursuing another. The fact that this murder is considered a headline-worthy story is even an improvement on previous years, and crime has fallen in the Western Cape more than in any other part of the country.

If anyone is reconsidering their plans to travel to the Western Cape because of this sad and tragic incident, I would advise them to stick to their plans and enjoy the astounding and varied beauty of the province — just use your head while doing so.

Published at 9:38 pm on Wednesday 17 November 2010. Categories: Cape Town South Africa Tags: , .
Comments

Andrew …

I reckon you are talking about the Dewani case.

Your analysis of South Africa and visiting it and your advice is excellent. I always have a frank talk to anyone asking me about visiting South Africa, and when I took my Dutch friends (who had not been out of Europe ever) to visit, I had to “neuk” them over a couple of times to say “you don’t do that” or “listen to me, and watch my body language”.

I must admit though I got myself sequestered in Khayelitsha once myself … I thought you could drive all along the coast to Somerset West from Kalk Bay … (as a South African and in probably typical masculine behaviour: I thought I didn’t need a map) … I had been coming to Cape Town all my life. But at the time you could travel all the way along the bay, so I was obliged to cross over Khayelitsha to get to the N2. Everything was OK, but I should not have taken stupid risks like that.

Otherwise I have never had problems with crime in SA in all the time I lived there or all the times I have since returned to visit. The only crime I ever witnessed was in 1957 outside of Johannesburg Central Station … tsotsi boys in a street robbery. We came down from Northern Rhodesia for a holiday, and to me as a young lad, crime in the Big City was like something out of Hollywood.

Remuunj
LIMBURGIA

— Dave Cooper 20 Nov 2010 1:51 pm

Andrew et al …

An update on the Dewani case appears on today’s BBCi:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-11937170

If the prosecution is found to be correct this would explain a lot; as well as make this crime an “import”.

Groetjes uit Remuunj, Limburgia.

— Dave Cooper 7 Dec 2010 6:31 am

Andrew et al …

Two years later, and:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19176517

Groete …

— Dave Cooper 8 Aug 2012 6:46 pm

Andrew et al …

The final verdict is in today (19 November, 2012):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20395320

Groete …

— Dave Cooper 19 Nov 2012 1:15 pm
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