Ja nee, even the traffic lights were dictating the end of civilisation.

Because that’s how small towns/minds think. In circular arguments that are maintained by a handful of  ambiguous fear words which no-one will admit to not fully understanding.

But enough history and on to  present day. 2009… where modernity, democracy and a free market economy exists  on every street corner and around every traffic light.

Green means Go…to the other side  of the road, pull over and i will run over to complete our exchange of money for goods

Yellow means Slow…down or you won’t be able to window shop my eclectic collection of sunglasses,globes, handbags, car chargers

and Red means STOP…. pretending you don’t covet my giant tennis balls and solar calculators. i see ithrough your imitation Oakleys (hey did you buy those from me last week? looks like my circa 2008 model) my friend.

Joburg streets are like a drive thru Dubai, but with more chance of cultural and political exchanges.

Juts these past few days, on my usual 45-minute roundtrip route (14 traffic lights in total),  I …

• had a conversation (shook my head and lamented “hay’ibo” ) with the newspaper seller over a scandalous headline
• sat guiltily through a a few “jobless, homeless, penniless”  boards while my shopping gathered debt beside me
• bought a car phone charger for R50 (it still works )
• nodded away offers of free flowers, discount sunglasses and
• gave some spare change
• bought a bag of naartjies (local Clementines) and then had to point to and explain away my bag of naartjies to the disappointed hawker at the next traffic light)
• received a life changing piece of literature… apparently a Sheik Kasiim, “hailed as Herbalist of the year in 2006 and 2007″ (by whom??) can, along with 12 other things, “remove black spots in your hand that keeps taking your money away” and ” bring back lost lover, even if lost for a long time”. Not a waste of printing and distributing at all…especially in the notoriusly cynical/snobbish/educated northern suburbs.

I feel sorry for my fellow commuters who have to take the highways... because highways  really bypass a slice of SA life and the opportunities  that exist to shop/philosophise/ practice Zulu/ French Congolese./talk politics with a refugee professor… and  all before the lights turn green or, as is more often the case in our electricity crisis, the pointsman waves you through.

I must say, I like how Africa is able to take a perfectly simple Western invention, with a very set intention, and turn it into an economic opportunity.

Amandla eyethu! (power to the people)