So I am back in the country. In Cape Town shooting a commercial. Yes, Cape Town. And yes, I know I wrote an article slagging off the place. But that’s life. Full of irony. It has been a great trip. The weather has treated us fairly well (if you can ignore the wind). Our crew has been fantastic. The local production people have gone out of their way to make us welcome. I have eaten my body weight in good fish, meat and Niknaks. Anne Stevens really has no clue about restaurants. Cape Town restaurants are good. World-class in fact. And as a long-standing 5-star twat, I feel I can make that claim.
But there is one thing that has come back to hit me slap-bang in the face. Something I had forgotten about. South Africa’s hate affair with the pedestrian. SA drivers really don’t like the pavement dweller. Given the chance they will kill every person on foot within a hundred yards of the street. And I say this from first-hand experience. While I have been in Cape Town, to try and help with the enormous consumption of food, I have been running every second day. Now the thing with running in the inner city is that you need to cross roads. You have to kind of work with the traffic. Run along, wait for your gap and then take it. But the drivers in SA seem to want to hit you. They will speed up as you begin to cross the road. Just so they can get the opportunity to scare you or hoot at you or on the most beautiful of occasions, actually run you down. It gives them an enormous sense of well-being to know they are capable of taking your life. WTF is that all about? Why do they do that?
I could maybe understand if there was some sort of intricate challenge in being nasty to the pedestrian. A harking back to a primitive skill. A modern version of hunting. No longer can we hunt the boar so we must kill the walking pig. Use our cunning and our superior speed to sneak up on him before ramming him down and crushing him beneath our metal fenders. Smearing his blood across the walkway like the ancients did with the buffalo. But hunting is about skill and there is no skill in killing pedestrians. Take me for instance. As far as prey goes, I am rather lame. I am not a fast runner. More like one of those seals down at Kalkbaai, the big fat ones that beg for fish rather than catch their own. Just add a pair of legs and you got me. So if you want to kill me on the road, it would be fairly easy. There will be no glory in wiping me out. No sense of achievement.
To understand the real reason for this motorised depravity, you have to look at the people who normally populate the pavement. It is the workman, the hawker, the beggar and the hooker. The “bottom rung” of the social ladder. There to be stood on. Yes, there is the occasional jogger or weirdo who likes to walk but the majority of people on our streets are the poor. And the crux of the matter is that the driving classes of this country look down on their footed friends. They have a feeling of superiority. They view them as no better than road kill waiting to happen. Like a cat with a gecko. You could call it: carpartheid. A country segregated by preformed metal sheets and fuel-injected engines.
Over the last week I have had a driver in Cape Town. A lady who takes us from one location to the next. She feels nothing for the less fortunate souls who have to work and walk on the streets of our great country. She will drive so close to them that I’m sure her wing mirror gives them a little clip around the ear as she roars by. She will speed up as they try their best to cross roads that have no pedestrian crossing for miles. Now, she doesn’t tell me she is doing it on purpose. But I watch her and I can almost see the glee in her eyes. The smallest of satisfied smiles on her face. I can only imagine what is going through her mind … Ja, that made you kak, little man, now go back to your hole, you carless vermin… Now the image you have probably got in your mind of this woman is probably of some ruthless killer. But she is actually the loveliest person you will ever want to meet. Sweet, caring and always laughing. I suppose that’s life. Full of irony.
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33 Responses to “Why do South Africans hate pedestrians?”
Hhmmm clearly you have forgotten the SA pedestrians who purposely saunter at their slowest pace across the road, ignoring the pedestrian crossing just a few metres away; or cross at the robot (red for them - green for you) all the while sneering at you defiantly, just ASKING to be run over???
In my experience if you take on a car by foot, you are going to lose, big time!
I agree though author…most European countires seem to have laws where the pedestrian has right of way, unless you are slap bang in the middle of the M5 motorway, like some pedestrians in SA tend to be, or the equivalent therefore N1,2,3 etc.
[…] Thought Leader » David J Smith » Why do South Africans hate pedestrians? www.thoughtleader.co.za/davidjsmith/2009/11/19/why-do-south-africans-hate-pedestrians – view page – cached So I am back in the country. In Cape Town shooting a commercial. Yes, Cape Town. And yes, I know I wrote an article slagging off the place. But that’s life. Full of irony. It has been a great trip…. Read moreSo I am back in the country. In Cape Town shooting a commercial. Yes, Cape Town. And yes, I know I wrote an article slagging off the place. But that’s life. Full of irony. It has been a great trip. The weather has treated us fairly well (if you can ignore the wind). Our crew has been fantastic. The local production people have gone out of their way to make us welcome. I have eaten my body weight in good fish, meat and Niknaks. Anne Stevens really has no clue about restaurants. Cape Town restaurants are good. Read less […]
So true - friends from the UK are gobsmacked when they come here - even at the pitifully few zebra crossings, where in the UK drivers would politely slow down and wait for pedestrians to cross - SA drivers floor it and swerve TOWARDS the terrified crossers …It makes no sense at all and seems to be a result of our ‘wild west’ mentality.
it’s funny, cape town has more sidewalks than most other cities. it’s annoying; people try to run you over to show that they have money and you don’t. except, they tend to forget, if you are walking around cape town cbd, you might actually have a car parked somewhere else.
i get aggro when people don’t stop at the white lines. “hit me, i need the money.”
Now isn’t that ironical.
I know of a really sweet old grandma, an ex-teacher, who curses like a drunken sailor when she drives. The most amazing thing is that when I sitting in the car next to her, she alternates mid-stream in our conversation between the most vile curses to other drivers and pedestrians alike and then returns back to our conversation telling me all about her grandkids. The most bizarre kind of personality disorder I ever encountered.
You know there’s a rule that says that when you turn into a road (particularly applicable to turning left as you’re not getting stranded in the middle of anything), pedestrians have right of way?
Well, every morning I turn left into Buitengracht St from Somerset Rd (irrelevant detail? well, since it’s absolutely The Main Route for pedestrians to the new stadium, not really). Every morning I stop to let a couple of schoolkids or stadium workers finish crossing a road WHERE THEY HAVE RIGHT OF WAY. And every morning without fail, some wet wipe in a flash car/SUV starts hooting and cursing and gesticulating during this three-second interval. Three seconds to obey a simple safety rule and show some courtesy instead of trying to kill a couple of eight-year-olds.
And it costs absolutely nothing, nada, zip, zilch - because the next traffic light on Buitengracht St is timed so that you have to stop there. I usually end up waiting next to them twiddling my thumbs and awaiting the road rage. The Big Issue vendors and newspaper guys know me pretty well though so I trust them to help me out and keep letting the schoolkids cross…
I’m sorry, but you have obviously never driven down our main road Claremont. People just cross wherever the hell they like, stopping in the middle of the road, edging past the taxis parked in the left lane, and every other incredibly retarded walking move that exists. If they just used the f-ing crossings it would be fine.
The drivers of today leave me frozen in fear. Even my 73 year old friend dices with death - jusslike !
This lot would never have survived in my days of driving.
They would be bulldozed by a diesel belching monster without a blink.
We/us - obeyed the rules of the road, as the number of slow moving, pulling into lanes in front of you, too numerous busses - were a terrifying hazard. You did not argue right of way with a huge double decker, nor a tram. Those drivers knew their strength of tonnage and exerted it.
Nor taunt a traffic COP patrolling next to you - super fit jocks on a super fast motor bike. Ja nee - they were always in your rear view mirror. “Did you got a licence hey ?”
A diminishing obese species of today; so drivers, not cops, are the cowboys.
[Imagine a fat butt overflowing a narrow seat - zoom. zooming past you, with a wobble or two in disdain.]
Them was the days before “highways” so everyone stayed in the straight and narrow portion - or a sudden bend, could send you careening to where you do not want to be.
It is ironic that the ‘driving class’ would look down on pedestrians. After all, who is contributing to climate change, road kill and air pollution, the drivers or the pedestrians? I feel very aggrieved that my tax money goes to fixing the roads so that the twit drivers of this country and drive to the corner cafe for bread instead of walking.
Here’s another irony. Why do pedestrians, as least south africans, insist on walking on the street? even when they do not have right of way? This thing happens all the time, and you the driver’s supposed to wait for them when the traffic lights are clearly red for them and green for you? This happens all the time, and it really is irritating. particularly when my bank account is on negative and i’m two weeks away from payday.
Oh dear! What a pity you didn’t do a little research and find that in Cape Town 60% of pedestrians run over and killed was three times over the legal limit(on AVERAGE)? The way Capetonians drive is a Darwinian thing. The sober ones get out the road… the drunk ones don’t… See the CA number plate. Culling Alcoholics.
It happens everywhere in SA.These drivers forget that they will be joining other pedestrians immediately they park they cars. Will they like the same treatment?
To make things clear, this is not a Cape Town thing. It happens in every city across the country!
SA drivers hate pedestrians.
Even the way they park on the pavement so that people have to walk on the road to get round their cars. They really don’t care for their fellow citizens.
I don’t think that “well the pedestrians are worse” is much of a defence. South Africa’s drivers are rude, impatient and either don’t know or couldn’t give a toss about the rules of the road. Every week day I drive past a local primary school where even the parents drive like idiots, stopping on the pedestrian crossing to drop off children, or blocking the crossing while waiting for the traffic lights to change. Then I get to the top of Louis Botha Ave and witness taxi drivers aiming straight at poor pedestrians – mostly kids - trying to cross that impossibly busy road, while the other motorists do everything in their power not to let taxis through and buses change lanes across solid white lines without indicating. And not a traffic cop in sight.
I think SouthEaster has hit the nail on the head.
As a pedestrian targeter in CT, my sights are locked and loaded the next time you intend gracing us with your presence…sorry mate, this is not an underclass thing, nice try to curry some favour…come down Adderley street peak hour and watch how pedestrians take over the roads, meander across the zebra crossing with snails overtaking them against a red man…the problem with pedestrians is their notion of invulnerability which they need to be reminded of…how about those who stand into the first lane to look for an opportunity to cross against a red man forcing traffic into a single middle lane to avoid damaging their paintwork…i am both a pedestrian and a driver, i know the rules on both ends…when i cross against a red i do not impede traffic, if i see an oncoming car i pick up my pace i dont crawl across just to ensure that the driver has to slow down…i dont aim for pedestrians because they’re from the pc underclass that you need to highlight i aim for those imbeciles who believe that pedestrians own the road and forego the pavement!
The reason I hate the vast majority of pedestrians is because they are so arrogant, they never wait for the “green man” to cross, they dont look to see if cars are coming, they saunter across the road no sign of being in a rush, they cross where ever their hearts desire even if the is a bridge, in other words they are a flippen nuisance
The answer is very simple: South Africans generally DON’T WALK. Ever gone for a stroll in Johannesburg? Well, you probably wouldn’t be around to tell the tale…
David you said it all: “You have to kind of work with the traffic”, but they don’t. They are arrogant and act entitled to walk right infront of the vehicle, they don’t even look to see if a car is coming and all the other things Mark mentioned (if you do hit them it is your fault) … “so we must kill the walking pig”, “now go back to your hole, you carless vermin…”
Pieter Pretorius on November 20th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I just like to mention an interesting little fact for dear old p - The majority of South African pedestrians have seldom been in a car or driven a car. In fact I think unless you are driving yourself on a regular basis you would actually be a very bad judge of how fast vehicles are travelling. So yes, there are some who seem to dice with death on purpose (especially those running across a highway!) but I think the fast majority of pedestrians are simply misjudging the speed of your vehicle and their ability to cross the road in time. So be on the look out for slow-moving pedestrians!
I find Italian drivers in Rome even more terrifying. You actually have to look them in the eye sternly while crossing a green pedestrian crossing or hold up a finger to indicate that yes you are indeed crossing! I think if you’d take your eyes off them for a second they would just drive over you!
I do not know whether traffic mores in CT have evolved with time, but many decades ago, before pedestrian robots were introduced, motorists in the city would roar away from a robot and turn left at full bore without a thought for the pedestrians that wanted to cross on green. The latter learned the hard way that self-preservation dictated that they cross against red! The Northern cities beyond the Vaal were much better in this one small respect - there pedestrians could generally cross at robots according to the law, except that they had to be wary of.motorists entering a crossing long after the lights had turned against them.
It’s those chaps that cross the freeways; they certainly give us a run for our money!
I have always believed the road safety nuts should teach that the roads belong to cars and the pavements to pedestrians, but they tell me that most townships have no pavements, so the message would be lost!
In Durban, you’d drive a long way to find a single fellow driver who actually knows what a four-way stop is and how to treat it. Since our traffic lights hardly ever work (thanks, Mike) you can imagine how hard the pedestrians find crossing at intersections here.
We’ve just had a huge campaign of stripping and repainting robot poles. They all look so pretty. Pity the lights at the top don’t twinkle…at least we know the municipality is doing its bit to save electricity.
The arrogance of some pedestrians is tempting, which is exactly what they mean it to be!
Oh, and BTW, dear Thought Leader editors, today you posted quite a few good blogs. They were enjoyable reading, none too hysterical and neatly varied. Do it again sometime. Do it again often Please…There are times when the tripe on these pages is utter rubbish. It gets everyone’s backs up and makes us all hate each other. Especially bad if our blood pressure is up or we’ve just arrived home and are filled with road rage. Today is what life should be about…a good substitute for the public library, without the queues.
Culling Alcoholics, oh capetonians. Yap also the Gipsy n the lots of dutbin too don’t care for pedestrians.
It comes from the ‘better-than’ mentality; if its not r*ci-nonsense its xeno-nonsense.
South Africans, just have too much pride thats all. Proving a point to each other. I think liberalisation sucks.
Only in SA, go west or even east of Africa where majority walks or ride in motrocycles than driving cars and notice the difference.
True to irony, but its only at Mzanzi, and we are 4sho!
Mate - you got it all wrong. It isn’t pedestrians that motorists want to kill - it’s joggers!
But seriously - one of my favourites is showing visitors from the States the 5l bokswyne with “Dont drink and walk in the road - you may be killed” on them.
Pedestrian Comment on November 25th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Jeez, you lucky you didn’t try cycling! Coupled with the need to hunt pedestrians, SA drivers are also locked into a relentless genocide pact against cyclists. They run them down and crush them like little squishy grapes.
Look, road cyclists look like dorks of the first degree and vaguely resemble those ‘vokken prawns’ off the bike…but to wipe them out completely? I had to take up mountain biking to stay alive. Says a lot when hurling down a mountain completely out of control is safer than riding down to the shop on a flat city street.
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Hhmmm clearly you have forgotten the SA pedestrians who purposely saunter at their slowest pace across the road, ignoring the pedestrian crossing just a few metres away; or cross at the robot (red for them - green for you) all the while sneering at you defiantly, just ASKING to be run over???
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