On patrol

After seven great years living and working in China, I returned to South Africa in July 2024. And, being in South Africa, one must do one’s civic duty.

In my case, this meant I was on street patrol duty every Wednesday night. My wife Kathy and I cruise the streets of the small town where we live in Northern Cape. Sitting uneasily in our car, we are the eyes and ears of the other residents as they call an end to the day.

I joined the street patrols to argue a point. In 2019, before the plague thrashed the world, the family stayed in an upmarket Air BnB in Morningside, Durban. We returned home one afternoon to discover we had been cleaned out by thieves. Not careful thieves, mind you, as one had left a lot of their blood on the wall in several places. That would surely help the South African Police Service (SAPS). You know, blood and DNA.

Berea Detectives

We returned to China to work and live in safety. Frankly, we could not wait to get back to China. And we heard nothing from the police for five years. Nothing. Then, on Friday July 19 2024, hours after getting back, we got a message from the SAPS in Berea, Durban, to say of CAS 123/7/2019: “All leads followed up – case closed. Docket will be re-opened upon new leads.” Might I say to the Berea police that their detective skills are pathetic. Simply pathetic. Blood on the wall was testimony to how useless the Berea detectives have proved to be. It is unlikely the burglar committed just this one crime. No, criminals continue until they are caught and was surely active in the past five years. So, either the thief remained undetected for five years, or was caught and the police were unable to link them to the crime at our abode. So, what the police could not solve, best I be on the streets to try prevent in the first place.

Chinese Civil Servants

This non-experience with the Berea (un)detectives contrasted so starkly with a matter back in China. I got a note from the Xi’an tax bureau in May 2024 to say I had a RMB2 000 tax refund due. About R4 400. Well, I encountered one of the most helpful public servants imaginable who helped me acquire the refund. His behaviour was exemplary and patient. He went out of his way for a foreigner. You can imagine that the Xi’an tax people needed a lot of convincing before releasing the money. Thanks to the help I got from the public servant I praise; I got my refund. Berea detectives probably did nothing for a tax payer of 49 years standing.

No wonder I was on patrol on my darkened streets. 

Experiences of Safety

Being on patrol watching out for bad people intent on breaking into other peoples was not something I was used to. Rather, I was used to the great safety of Ningbo, Xi’an and Hangzhou, in China. That safety is preferable to sitting in a car being vigilant but hopefully not a vigilante. I reflected on my different experience at the hands of officials; South African and Chinese. One part of life in China that bored me to tears was the endless bickering between China and America.  

I reflected on the life and thoughts of hopefully the next vice president of the United States of America, Tim Walz, as I kept an eye out for baddies.

Like me, Walz was a social science school teacher in his day, as was I; namely a history teacher in Welkom, South Africa. Like me, Walz was a football coach. I even had a touch of success as a football coach myself; South African style. And like me, Walz taught in China, in Guangdong in 1989. That was a monumental year in China’s history. Look it up. To date, there has not been a single American presidential candidate for whom I would bother to vote. The choices have been astoundingly poor. But Walz has changed that. I would vote for him. Hope I never regret saying this and there are people who remember in 2009 I said Jacob Zuma would make a great president.

Walz stands by gay people, supports the right of women to have an abortion, free school meals and free college tuition for low-income families. I like that. That’s me.  He is of German extraction, and so is Kathy.

Walz said of his time in China: “I was treated exceptionally well.” And so was I. Teaching in China was one of the best things he has ever done, he said. Me too. He has been to China about 30 times but was no expert, he insisted, as China was a complex country, and anybody who said they were an expert on China was probably lying. Walz said the people he met were kind generous, capable people.  He said he had empathy for the people and an appreciation of China’s non-political aspects.

Most importantly, he does not believe there needs to be an adversarial relationship with China and America. On that, he is absolutely correct, even though he has come in for attack at home for that wise remark, such is the banal nature of some American voters. So, there I was, patrolling the streets and thinking of China past and future. I really wish there was less of an adversarial relationship between China and America. To repeat, their constat sniping at each is, frankly, rather tiresome and exceptionally boring.

My journey is not done

One way I may have changed trough living in China was that I may have become more tolerant of people. One of the few friends I have in Port Nolloth asked me what I thought of South Africa. I answered: “People are doing their best here to live their lives. Let me not say anything untoward, because people are trying to make a go of things. So, apart from the Berea (un)detectives, let me say I am happy to be back and contribute, even if only by driving the empty streets at night. I just cannot promise to say here for too long. I still have years in my life to live and work in one more country. Watch this space.