Police, arrest this boy!

I probably wouldn’t have been able to type this a few hours ago, but luckily I am able to share my days events with you. Hell, I even managed to take a few pics!

So around 12-ish this afternoon, I met Sean and Maire and the three of us made our way to town. We were first going to Checkers, and then we were going to have lunch somewhere. It was Dulces vs Juice Bar.

After spending about 15 minutes in Checkers, the three of us walked out of the centre as we tried to make up our mind where to go for lunch. Juice Bar (which is only ten feet away) or Dulces (across the road).

So, Juice Bar it was. But Maire decided to go home, so it was just Sean and I. As I was looking for a place to sit, I noticed a young man trying to get my attention. I thought he was telling me that I need to order the food at the counter before sitting down!

Well, I soon realized that wasn’t the case.

He came to tell me that someone had taken my purse out of my bag and had run away. For a few seconds, I didn’t take him seriously. But when I checked my bag and noticed that my purse was gone, I became frantic. I yelled at the guy to run after the little sh*t who got away. The guy came back to me saying that my money was already being distributed amongst a group of guys.

I ran down to where these guys were and yelled at a few guards who were lingering about to catch the guys who were just a few meters away from me. Meanwhile, the guy who had come to tell me about this, ran after the group, but someone had kicked him and ran away – with my purse.

However, the guard caught a 15-year-old boy, and I was told that he was the one who had actually taken my purse. As the guard held him, I could see money in his hands.

I could not believe how frantic I became. I was shaking….this had never happened to me before. As the guard held him by his arm, I yelled at him demanding my purse and money back. He swore he didn’t have it. Obviously he was lying and I grabbed the money from him. (I had over R300 in my purse, but got back about R180)

The guard took him into the store and said I should call the police. Meanwhile, I wanted the little sh*t to be kept under a watchful eye – I was so convinced he was going to run away. After much yelling and strange stares from shoppers in the store - who had no idea what was going on, believe it or not – the guard actually locked the boy away somewhere in the stock room until the police came.

While waiting for the police, I was in contact with my mum. At times I was just so angry that I couldn’t speak. Thank God that Sean was with me and he was updating my mum on what was going on.

I wasn't in the right frame of mind when I called the police and said that my purse had been stolen out of my wallet!

So the police finally came and they locked the little sh*t up in a police van. Before they put him in I yelled at him again and warned him to go with the police to where ever his friends were to get my damn purse back. As the little pocket picker sat in the back of the police van, he asked to speak to me. He said he'd promise to get my purse back.

How do I believe him? Oh...and while he was speaking to me from the back of the police van, I made sure not to get too close to him - just in case he spat in my face or something (You never know...I've seen these things happen in the movies!)

Anyway, the police opened a case and I gave a statement. I don't have much confidence that anything drastic will be done, but I still went through the necessary procedures.

Meanwhile, the honest and helpful person who came to tell me about this all was a 19-year old Grahamstown resident, Craig. I was so appreciative...not only for him coming to tell me about this, but for actually running after the guys. Many people would be too scared to get involved in a 'crime scene' as they're putting their own lives at risk.

I feel like I’ve been made a fool out of.

My heart always aches as I walk down High Street and see these street children begging for money or food. Often, while walking by I’ll give them a fruit or a yoghurt that I was keeping as a snack.

And I also feel like I’ve been made a fool out of because I try to be so positive about this country.

I know that we live in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. A country where our newspapers bleed with headlines of rape, murder, hijacks and robbery. It’s never-ending.

But still…when I hear people complain about South Africa, it grates my nerves. I always think – "if you hate the place so much, get out of here!" I’m always defending this country, despite all the nastiness that surrounds me everyday.

Another incident that happened last week which dampened my spirit beyond words is something that happened to relatives of someone very close to me. His uncle and aunt were attacked in their home at 19:30 by several men. They were robbed, beaten and told in no uncertain way that they would be back.

This angers me. It angers me to the point where I want to just scream.

Isn’t it enough that we have natural disasters killing us already? Tsunamis…..forest fires…..floods…..dammit, even the cold weather is killing people. Do we really have to fear another human being?

I know we don’t live in a perfect world. Trust me, I’m in the Journalism field - I know this fact already.

But holy crap - today blew my mind away. I still can't believe something like this happened to me, but as my friend, Himesh said - I'm lucky...it could have been a lot worse!

Sean - thanks...you really have got my back :)