A couple of things about South Africa so far: first is that there are many, many people on the roads, in the roads, standing or sitting beside the roads. Some are walking, some are standing there holding out a 10 or 20 rand note to try and get a ride, some are just sitting. Very few of the poor folks have cars, and must rely on bakkies (a van usually, or truck), or hitchhiking to get around. Bakkies are very inexpensive transport and are often seen crammed full of people, hurtling down the road. They serve specific routes and are often seen stopped wherever they please, letting people get on in a jiffy, before slamming the door and speeding off to the next stop. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so dangerous.
Black African, Colored, White and Asian or Indian folks here. Terms used by the government in their census which shows Black Africans at 79%, Colored and Whites at 9% each, and Asian or Indian at 2.5%. Almost all of the service industry and menial jobs are done by blacks. Wages are very low here, some as low as 80 cents an hour. That is .80 Rand. 15 Rand is a US dollar. Yikes!
Speaking of service… In a restaurant or cafe, it can often take a bit of time to get served, get your food, or your bill. Even when there are very few customers. And we aren’t in any particular hurry to get served or to leave. Some times one has to go looking for the staff to pay up. You might find them all standing together talking, or looking at their phones. Or just standing there. At first it seemed like the idea of customer service was a very new concept that hadn’t been around more than a week or two. Now, we see that that is how it is for the large majority of places we have been. And it is not that they are rude or dismissive (like some French waiters!), but I think they just don’t give a crap. But in a polite way. And that’s okay too.
And so it goes...
Peace my friends!
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