The Saturday morning a client phoned and asked to meet with him in town at the Gautrain station in Pretoria Central. Not knowing Pretoria, I went with him and I am glad that I did. The arrangement with the client was to meet at the McDonalds. Well from the moment that we arrived and parked in the station parking we were harassed by beggers and vagrants, so much so that we were actually followed. One beggar told us that he was hungry and asked for some food and Matthew said that he would buy him something from McDonalds as we were meeting someone there. Imagine our absolute shock and horror when this chap responded with 'I don't eat McDonalds'. This is totally in conflict with the way I was brought up, when my parents would say to us that if we were hungry enough we would eat what we were given or if we were thirsty enough then water would do. Times have obviously changed where beggars feel they have the right to dictate to passersby as to what kind of food they are hungry for, like choosing from a menu. We met with the client and parted ways but before Matthew and I left I asked him if we could look around as the station building is beautiful. With my late dad having been an architect, I have an appreciation for good solid and sound structures with attention to detail. Not having ever been to the train station before, I thought it would be a great opportunity to have a look around. My bad....we were continually followed by the same vagrants that had latched on to us in the parking area. The hungry chap stayed hungry because he didn't eat McDonalds but he and the rest of them made R70 out of us that morning. I never did get to have a good look, nor have an opportunity to take any photo's because of the uncomfortable feeling I had of eyes on me the whole time as we were not left alone. Getting back to the car, I gave the 'car guard' R10 too and I was gobsmacked by his audacity to say to Matthew that he wanted another R20. What could he do with R10 was what he said to us. By this stage I was furious and told Matthew to ignore him and drive away. Well we couldn't just drive away because the 'car guard' grabbed hold of the car door...Matthew ended up giving him an extra R20....
Fast forward to yesterday evening and both Johan and Matthew had tickets for the bus to take them back to Pietermaritzburg. On discussion in the car, it was decided that to avoid all the vagrants, Johan would stop outside the station in the roadway, just as the taxi's do. This would be to just give them time to get their bags out of the bakkie and then NiQi and I could drive off and be safe. Well Johan stopped the bakkie and as quickly as it took us all to hop out and Matthew to start grabbing all their bags, we were approached by first two and then ten vagrants. It all happened so fast and as NiQi jumped into the driving seat of the bakkie, Johan moved around the front of the bakkie and told them to move on and get away. They became aggressive in their manner with him and one or two moved around to the side of the bakkie where I was holding tightly onto Matthew's laptop bag while he got the rest of their bags out. By this time Johan was also at the side of the bakkie still telling them to go away and leave us alone. Johan then told me to get inside and instructed NiQi to drive off. We didn't even have time to say 'goodbye' to each other and as NiQi pulled into the road to drive off she looked back in the rear view mirror and saw these people trying to take Matthew and Johan's belongings from them. I wanted to phone and find out if they were okay but NiQi said no, I should wait because if they hear the phone ringing then they may hurt them by trying to take it by force.
A few minutes later Matthew phoned me, out of breath and concerned for us both. He wanted to know if we got away safely...I assured him we were fine and asked him how they were. He told me they put up a fight as the ten surrounded them and tried to grab their things away from them, including trying to reach for their cell phones and wallets. NiQi felt sick, she wanted to vomit from the stress and anxiety. On the way home, we stopped off with my niece and her fiance so that NiQi could collect herself and calm down. Last night they picked on the wrong two men to attack and they got away with nothing. Matthew may be short but he is strong...having played rugby in his younger days and now managing to pick up 120kg dead weight in the gym, he is no one to mess with. Johan has the reach and at his age is an 'oldie' who is fit and fast. The two of them got away with minimal damage...one of Johan's fingers was bitten and a nail ripped up, but nothing else. This morning they are both stiff and achy...praise the Lord they are alright.
We could not be moving away from Pretoria and surrounding areas at a better time. The centre of town is rife with vagrants and beggars. It is dirty and unsafe. There are some wonderful places of interest for locals and tourists to look at but who wants to even try when you are harassed and intimidated by these people. Needless to say, the bus companies will be all the poorer now as we none of us will ever travel by bus again...and Mr Minister of Transport you better do something about our roads and e-tolls as from now on we will be another vehicle on the roads - this all because it is unsafe to go to catch a bus at the bus station.
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Photo's courtesy of the web
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