Open Writing

It was about 8.15 am yesterday, June 25th. A cold wintry sky peeped through a slit in my pink curtains. Lying under several layers of blankets I was trying to make the decision to rise and face a new day.

The phone rang and I was instantly on my feet. Clutching a warm dressing gown, I hurried into the hallway and scooped up the phone before it switched over to the answering machine.

My son Jon was on the line. ‘Come and have breakfast with us,' he said. ‘I’m going out to get a few things, but Sunette will be here to let you in.'

Delighted that someone would be cooking for me I hurriedly showered, fed Scottie and retrieved the car from its resting place. Jon and Sunette live two kilometres up the road from me in a quiet complex just behind the family Pic n Pay supermarket.

The entrance gate is very close to the road and a white car was waiting to enter. When it didn’t move after a minute or two, I got out and asked the attractive man driving if there was a problem.

He smiled. I’m waiting for someone to answer the buzzer’.'

‘Oh well,' I replied, ‘let’s try my son’s number.' After a few seconds the gate slid open. We both entered and the man, in his mid thirties, pulled into the side to let me pass. I thought it strange that he didn’t seem to be going to a particular house.

Sunette opened the door for me, and I watched the tall well dressed man turn his car around and point it towards the exit gate. Then he stopped the car and waited. I had the feeling he was waiting for the gate to open again so that he could go out.

‘Isn’t that odd,’ I mentioned to Sunette, and when I looked out several minutes later the car had gone. Later in the day I was to consider whether this incident was connected to a sinister happening, which occurred near by.

Jon arrived about twenty minutes later, and there was the hustle and bustle of making breakfast, catching up on all the news and feeding their two new puppies. Then I decided to take my leave and go shopping at Rand Ridge mall just up the road.

The shopping expedition was uneventful and I arrived home about 12.30. I gave the garden a good watering, and settled down with the Sunday paper. About an hour later my daughter was on the line. She had been away for a couple of weeks, but didn’t want to talk about the holiday.

‘Where have you been?' she asked anxiously. ‘I’ve left five messages on your cell phone.'

Joanne should know by now I never answer the cell phone, because I don’t know how to, and besides I never hear it ring.

Her voice was concerned. ’Jon and I have been trying to contact you, to tell you not to go to Pic n Pay. There was a robbery at the Family supemarket behind his complex. Boksburg supermarket was also hit, and we thought Rand Ridge Mall might be next.’

‘What happened?’ I asked,

‘There were about 20 robbers who entered the store mid morning. Forced people to lie on the floor. Then robbed them of everything they had,'

It transpired that Jon’s nextdoor neighbour had been there with his wife and mother in law. One of the thugs had kicked the older woman in the head as she lay on the floor, and they were all seriously traumatised by this savage act.

Jon phoned me later to see if I was ok, and it seemed that he must have left Pic n Pay about half an hour before the robbery occurred. It is a very popular Pic n Pay centre and being month end would have been full of customers. Apparently one of the robbers put a gun to a child’s head, and said he would shoot if anyone failed to comply with their demands.

It was after this that I wondered about the man in the white car, who just happened to be across the road from the robbery site shortly before it happened. Then again perhaps this was just my imagination running riot.

On the seven o clock news it showed scenes of the crime. An eight hour chase of the criminals across Johannesburg, ended with a shoot out and a blood bath. Four of the policemen were dead, and four robbers also. Several of the suspects were in the process of giving themselves up.

I read in our Sunday Times yesterday that former Mayor Rudulph Giuliani of New York City has been asked to help turn around Johannesburg in time for the world cup in 2010. He has done a sterling job in New York, greatly reducing crime and turning that city into a prosperous and pleasant environment.

I think Mayor Amos Masondo of Johannesburg has shown considerable good sense in requesting help from a man of Guiliani’s stature.

South Africa is a wonderful country, if only we could solve the problem of crime.