A while back, walking along the Muizenberg-St James catwalk with my son, he said: “Look, a brick.”
And indeed, there was half a brick lying among the plant life that flourishes between the walkway and the railway line.
It turned out he has a theory: that you can’t walk around anywhere in South Africa without seeing a random, lonely brick lying somewhere it shouldn’t.
And ever since, I have seen bricks everywhere I go – on pavements, in parking lots, on the beach. Even our own garden.
I don’t know why there should be so many bricks lying around, but there they are. Once I started looking out for bricks, I started to notice other things. It is now apparent to me that you can’t be out and about in South Africa for any length of time before you will see one or more of these things:
A Checkers 60/60 scooter with a driver in a hurry (or a scooter, much less often, from one of the other retailers).
A bakkie in an advanced stage of disrepair, out providing services of all kinds: plumbing, electrical, gardening.
A KFC serviette, occasionally accompanied by very bare chicken bones.
A minibus taxi.
A rusted satellite dish on a house that looks like no one living there could possibly afford satellite television.
An electric fence round a suburban garden.
An empty beer (or other kind of alcohol) bottle.
A garden with an assortment of creative potplants (famously, in our road, plants flourishing in an abandoned toilet).
A hawker enthusiastically making a living on a shabby corner.
A cheerful petrol station attendant.
A smiling face.
These are of course urban or suburban things, and might not be so evident in rural areas. I’m willing to bet, though, that the bricks are ubiquitous – keep an eye out, won’t you?
Own picture: The Muizenberg-St James walkway
OTHER THINGS I’VE WRITTEN
Growing a jungle garden: Lessons from chaos – I live in a suburban house in Cape Town – and have small, inexpertly cultivated vegetable patches. How can this be jungle gardening?
The ten circles of South African hell – Being South African has its ups and downs. And a host of everyday irritations and annoyances. This is my list…
What I saw on my walk – A quiet walk on a suburban street leads to reflections about life in South Africa in 2021. Things are not pretty.
End of year greetings: Ke Dezemba boss! – South Africans celebrate the end of each long year in their own special way. Let’s get into the spirit of Dezemba!
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