The end of my 4th day
here sees Beverley, Julie, Alan and Wendy flying out this morning to a nearby
country for talks with the Vice President and other ministers. They will be
also visiting schools and clinics to assess their needs before hopefully
getting the go-ahead to start the work. There will be a celebration this Saturday when they all come back, I hope!
We had our first taste of ‘real’
Jozi today when we were stopped at a random police roadblock. Six armed police,
just doing their job. What could go wrong? Everything really! Firstly they
asked Alex for his driving licence! No, he had left it at home. That cost a 750
Rand fine! Second they asked for any form of ID! No, no other form available,
another 500 Rand fine! They also showed him a chart, which said they could now
not only fine him, but also arrest him! Rowan and I were pleading his case but,
as he was the driver, they were only interested in him. Further panic set in
when Alex started fumbling with the Sat Nav in the driver’s door, which is
where we keep it as it won’t stick to the window. They now thought he was going
for a gun!! They yelled “Have you got a gun!” With a look of disbelief he said
“No, of course not”. The officer said, “What language are you speaking?”
“English” Alex replied, but they were very suspicious, I don’t think they’d
heard a cockney accent before! They told him to get out of the car but before
he could get out they shouted for him to get back in again. They explained, “You
are in a very bad situation but we can help you, if you can help us”. They
looked at us all with a knowing look so that we could have time to realise that
this translated as, “Bribe us please”. So very discreetly Alex handed over 1000
Rands (£60) with no paperwork
involved. They thanked us for our understanding, we thanked them, then we were told we could go! Phew!
The rest of the day was marked by
a massive and spectacular thunderstorm with lightning bouncing like ping-pongs
from cloud to ground and cloud to cloud. I was lucky, I had just bought a mop
bucket and wore this on my head as we ran for shelter, wondering if there was
some byelaw that could see me bribing my second officer of the day. It’s summer
and very warm but also the ‘rainy season’. You don’t see much of it but when it
comes you know, and then it’s gone within a few hours and back to clear blue
skies.
Missing Beverley tonight, she’s
lovely to have around, always with a big smile and so much fun. Having said
that, with the 3 girls out of the house it’s blissfully quiet and we are just
enjoying the silence, it’s deafening. (I’ll get trouble for that!)
I need to look around for a car,
nothing too big or too posh, they get ‘carjacked’! Also we need to rent a house
before long, hopefully in Melville. Julie and Alan have been great but it’s not
fair on them either as we all need our own space.
I’m hoping my brothers or one of
my girls might Sype this week. Between 3 and 4 UK time is good because that’s 5
to 6pm here and I’m usually back from being out for the day and ready to eat
out. I’m usually back in after dinner at 8pm UK time, 10pm here, so that’s also
good. We never eat in; it’s just not economical :-)
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