another protest on crime...

So it seems there is yet another strike happening in our CBD. Don’t know for what this time. It’s by members of SATAWU (transport union). We’ve all been warned to avoid the area and fear for our lives. Just another day in sunny Johannesburg. Sigh.

In other news, we’ve been advised to always ask for a cash slip when filling up petrol. (Even if you intend on throwing the slip away)

Because the pump attendants take these unclaimed cash slips from the cash register attendant and sell these same cash slips to taxi drivers. The taxi drivers then add these cash slips to their own and so claim a bigger subsidy amount from government, thereby not feeling the pinch of the fuel increases.
Don’t know how true this is, didn't even know that fuel for taxis is subsidized. The attendant can reprint the slip anyway. Aren’t the licence numbers supposed to be printed on the receipt? If the government accepts any old cash slip as proof of purchase then they are more screwed up than we thought. Sigh.

Latest email: There is a new number plate hijacking trend brewing around. These hijackers will follow you to a parking lot or mall, after parking your vehicle; they remove your number plate and wait for you to drive off. They then follow you and display your number plate at their window as if you had lost it and they want to give it back to you. Shocked that your number plate has fallen off your car, you bring your vehicle to a halt to get it from them. This is all they want you to do and by the time you realized what happened it is too late, your car was hi-jacked or you could have been raped/killed.

Please don’t just stop for anything; a number plate is valueless compared to your life. Think what is happening before you react to it. Criminals are clever and cunning but are ruthless in getting what they want. Sigh.

Thanks to a new signal-jamming tactic being used by thieves, you may be unwittingly leaving your car unlocked, allowing them to help themselves to your valuables seconds after your departure. It is thought that a certain device when activated by a thief, at precisely the same moment a car owner presses the lock button on his remote, interferes with the signal and prevents the car from locking. Since there will be no signs of the car being broke into, you cant claim anything from insurance. They’ll just accuse you of being negligent. Most manufacturers of car and gate remotes use a fixed frequency of 433MHz issued by Icasa, which regulates the South African communications sector. So pay close attention when you use your remote to lock your car.

Also, don’t know how true this is. It’d probably make more sense to believe that this happened when the technology was still in its infancy. But it apparently happened to some car owners last week. Sigh.

Don’t open your door for anyone who says they are there to make a delivery, read your meter, or fix your telephone line. Even if they know your name, your father’s name and your entire life story. They are criminals in disguise, willing you to open and then robbing your home. Trust no one. Always be afraid. Sigh.

According to this widely circulated warning message, criminals are user ether disguised as perfume as a means of debilitating and robbing victims. By handing you a business card or a perfume sample. When you sniff it, you'll pass out. They'll take your wallet, your valuables and heaven knows what else. This one has been going around since 2000 so could be a hoax. Either way you shouldn’t go sniffing something a stranger offers you in the first place. In fact if someone approaches you when you’re alone in a parking lot, scream bloody murder. You may just be overreacting but it’s okay. This is South Africa after all. Sigh.

Never stop if a Metro cop signals you to pull over. Drive to the nearest police station and let them follow you if they must. Chances are they are not genuine cops or they are corrupted ones and they will hijack/rob/rape you. Sigh.

I’ve been warned not to drive with my window open. Someone might mug or hijack me.

I’ve been advised to leave my window open a little gap so if someone attempts to throw a spark plug at it, it wont shatter.

I’ve been cautioned to ensure that my window is fully closed because if it’s open even a few centimetres someone will squirt acid in my eyes and hijack me.

Sigh.

Sigh.

Sigh.

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