Missing Children in South Africa

Whilst in the queue for tickets at the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria a small black child, aged about 3, joined us. We knew he didn't belong to the people in front of us and assumed he must be with the party of school children on our left. We were wrong, the woman in front of us tried to hand him over to the teacher who said 'he's not one of ours' concerned now that no one appeared to be looking for him, I handed him over to one of the Zoo staff who said it is common practice for parents to do one of two things.

He is either sent to the front of the queue to wander in without being checked and then parents will follow claiming they need to get in to find their child without paying the entry fee or he's just been abandoned for the day.

She then went on to tell me that most days they find children wandering around the zoo, alone, with no parent having reported them missing. They take these 'lost' children to the local police station on a daily basis.


According to statistics from the South African Missing Police Bureau, approximately 1460 children so missing every year, that's 1 child every 6 hours.

The reasons children are reported missing are as follows:

Getting lost                            36%
Runaways                              25%
Unknown                               21%
Kidnapping by strangers         9%
Found deceased                       3%
Parental abductions                 3%
Human Trafficking                  2%

These are figures for missing children that have been reported missing without a trace. Other statistics suggest up to 2000 children are murdered by family every year also.

When does an assumption become racism?

As a visitor in South Africa, despite being in my 4^th year of living here, there are many things I still do not understand.

I understand racism; I spent 2 years working for The FA in Child Welfare and on the RESPECT campaign. I dealt with issues of racism on a professional level.

I’ve been at the receiving end of racist abuse; I ended up with a cut forehead as a result. I was British, he was an Afrikaner. He objected to me being in his country, because I was British. We were both white, we both lived in the same estate.

But what is racism? Is it an assumption? Is it the use of the word ALL? Is it when you call someone black/white/coloured/foreign/immigrant? Or is it when those words and many more are used to describe something negative?

If anyone wants to challenge me on this blog post, please feel free to do so, but nicely. I can reference this if you want, but it’s a blog post NOT an essay.

There are many assumptions I’ve heard since I’ve been in SA, let me list you a few, but please understand, these are not my views. These are assumptions I’ve heard from South Africans white and black, South Africans living in the UK and people from other countries.

All black people will rob/rape/hijack/murder you

All black people are uneducated

All black people live in poverty

All black people work in the service industry.

All black people live in shacks

All black government officials are corrupt

All white people live in security estates

All white people are rich

All white people live in fear of being robbed/raped/hijacked/murdered

All white people if they own a dog will set it on a black person

All Afrikaners hate the English

It makes me sad to hear these things being said, it makes me sad that people have such a view of South Africa.

Maybe some of these assumptions are correct in the minds of some people through personal experiences, from experiences of family and friends. But if you are hijacked by a black person, what right do you have to say ‘ALL BLACK’ if you are unable to express a want to a black person because the language you speak isn’t understood, what right do you have to assume all black people are thick and therefore uneducated.

We live in a security estate. The house at the bottom of the garden, to the left is owned by a black family. Two years ago he was murdered in a hijacking.

The house a few doors down was robbed at gunpoint by a white man.

A black man at a place I volunteer at held a gun to the head of another black man during an armed robbery.

We had a white maid when we first moved here; the cost of a cleaner was included in the rent.

There are white people serving in restaurants, white people begging on the sides of the roads, white people living in areas I volunteer in, in townships.

Today I visited Maropeng at The Cradle of Humankind. I asked at the security, a black man, if I could bring my dog in with me I just wanted to have a coffee and use the toilet. I was told it was OK to go in. As I walked into the open space with Bob on a short lead, black people scattered, quite literally. I tied Bob to a pole and ordered coffee; people were looking at him and me. As I drank my coffee a white woman, who was visiting, petted Bob a white child said ‘look doggy’ After a few minutes a black man who introduced himself as Head of Operations told me there was some concern over my dog being there and I would have to leave. I told him that I’d already checked with security and that when I finished my coffee I would leave. I was watched the entire time, Bob sat quietly, no visitor complained, no visitor looked at me any differently. I was openly watched the entire time and made to feel very uncomfortable.

As I left with Bob on a short lead, close I passed near a black woman who was at least 10ft from me and not in the direction I was walking, swung her legs round to the other side of the bench and said ‘you won’t let your dog bite me will you?’ the car park attendant ran back into his hut and I returned to my car, very upset that people could have these thoughts about me and my dog, think that’d a) I’d take a dangerous dog out in public and b) think I’d let him lose on them and order him to attack.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had this reaction, it occurs almost every time I walk Bob around the estate especially in the mornings or going home time for the maids and the gardeners.

So can I make the assumption that ALL black people are afraid of dogs? Or is it that ALL black people assume that ALL white people will set their dogs on black people?

Our gardener is black; he isn’t frightened of the dog. Our ironing guy is black; he walks the dog and feeds him if we are away overnight. The Gardener is from Zambia; the ironing guy is from Malawi. The black woman on the campsite with her caravan and Toyota Fortuner said ‘your baby came looking for you, I gave him a biscuit, while you were in the toilet, such a lovely dog’

My friends here are black/white/English/Afrikaners. We are friends because we share common interests/experiences/views/beliefs. Not because of where they come from, not because the colour of their skin.

What do you think? Do you have experience of racism, based on the previous actions of others that now put you in a category where you must be feared?

Oscar Pistorius and gun crime in South Africa

One of the main items the South African journalists are talking about in the Oscar Pistorius case is understanding the fear of crime that South Africans live with, the fear of having a gun pulled on you in the street, at lights whilst driving, in malls, the work place and in your own home. The reality is you don't have to live in a bad area, you don't have to be involved with drugs or crime, you don't even have to be rich to face a realistic risk of having a gun pulled on you at anytime.

The average daily salary here is R170, just under £10 so if someone can steal your phone/laptop/car easily, because you'll assume they have a gun even if they haven't pulled it already, then they will. A friend had his laptop stolen, they caught the guy, he'd sold it for R50.

There are plenty of view points on whether he is guilty of murder or self defence and he has never denied actually pulling the trigger and killing Reeva Steencamp. He has to live with that either way for the rest of his life but the difference in the judges ruling is 25+ years for murder or max 15 years in prison or no custodial sentance if self defence.

There is no 'trial by jury' here in South Africa. A judge hears the state prosecutors evidence, the defence, witnesses and Oscar himself and she will make the decision as to whether he faces a custodial sentence or not and how long for.

As a British expat, I arrived over 3 years ago in South Africa and I was scared. I lived in fear of a gun being pulled on me and/or my family, but like I said I live with it, we all do, it's a reality, not an unfounded fear.
I stopped being scared and fearful and became cautious. I heard the stories, nearly ever one has one to tell about violent robbery, guns, but I'm scared again when an armed robbery took place in a building I was in whilst volunteering for a charity a few weeks ago and I saw first hand the effects it has had on the staff and residents.

Even family and friends who have visited us here do not understand the fear, they come here on holiday we act as tour guides, keep them safe. We issue instructions on their personal safety yet they still leave the window down at the lights and junctions, open their purse prior to reaching the counter, leave their bag by their feet at a cafe and even sleep with the door open because they feel safe living in a security estate, despite us telling them how easy it is to get in and about the armed robberies a few years ago.

I volunteer with several charities, I was at one last month when 2 gunmen held the staff up, it involves me visiting townships and in fact I camped over in one last year and due to the same the weekend after next. I shop, I drive at night, I go out with friends, everything I did in the UK, but here I'm scanning the mirrors, reading situations, turning road if their is a road block ahead, wear my handbag over my shoulder, carry my cell in my jeans pocket, keep my handbag under my feet when driving, leave a hijack distance between me and the stationary vehicle in front of me.

I'm NEVER relaxed, I'm always on full alert and aware of people around me, if something doesn't look/feel right.....I'm out of there.

I've posted many blogs about safety, personal experiences, fear of crime, when I've felt safe, the wonderful opportunities living in South Africa offers us. It's not all bad, in fact life here is very good, but like I say, you need to be cautious 24/7.

How safe is South Africa?

Well it all depends on where you go and what you do.

We live in a security estate set around a 18 hole golf course, when I look out my window I see houses, when I walk down the street I see grass, lakes and a river.

When I drive out of the estate I see security fences, barbed wire, electric fences, armed guards and have to pass through finger print checking and CCTV to access the outside. I hear gun shots/cars backfiring, you never know and rarely hear about it on local news.

But I don't notice the security anymore, I just live with it. I don't feel unsafe and have never felt in danger, but I do feel scared sometimes, I worry about car jacking, shootings, mine and my families safety, but I don't live in fear, I don't let these feelings/thoughts control or restrict my life.

I tell you I live in South Africa. It shocks most people that we would chose to come here, where crime is rife, murder is high, to what a lot of people perceive as one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

I volunteer, I visit townships, I drive alone, I drive at night. My 18 year old drives, goes to parties, bars. We go on holiday, we food shop, we pay the bills, we do everything that we did before, just in South Africa.

I haven't changed how I feel about living here, I've changed the way I live. Every day outside the estate is like being on holiday, except I'm not. I stop the car at the lights or a 4 way stop. I'm like a learner driver on the day of their test. I check the mirrors, big obvious looks in the mirrors. I'm making sure no one is approaching my car. But when they do they're usually trying to sell you car chargers, sponge bob square pants and hello kitty stuff. I keep my handbag under my seat, my phone in my pocket. I park in security car parks, centrally, not alone on the top floor, or the unlit corner. I put my shopping in the boot. Left it once on the front seat when I popped into another shop and some guy tried smashing my window for milk and bread. I put the food shop in the boot and another guy opened the passenger door, took the sat nav and camera out the glove box. I don't leave anything of value in the car. I only take out what I need.

I carry a handbag, a nice leather one. I'll use my laptop in a cafe. I will walk from the Mall out of the security area to another Mall and back to my car. I've observed others, I've asked locals if things are safe for me to do. They understand my questioning.

I go places many locals have never been, they've grown up in a different world to me, many are scared to leave their houses, many have left the country after violent crimes to themselves, family or friends, many leave due to the fear of violent crime, many can't understand why we came here.

But to me living here is no different from living in the UK, we lived in a nice, low crime area, we drove many miles to football matches, to visit family and friends, for day to day activities, we've been caught up on 2 occasions in violence at football matches, I've driven alone at night with my job in areas around Birmingham where I've felt scared, intimidated, I've had my car broken into, my hand bag snatched, a knife pulled on me many years ago by a 14yo in a youth club. But I accepted that as the norm, for what I did for a living, that was my life. I did my best to minimise the risks and that's just what I do here and now.