My ambitions in Gauteng have turned sour rather quickly. I knew that there were risks involved with shooting next to roads and in open fields, but it was a risk I was willing to take. As the saying goes 'you won't know unless you try'. Well I've been trying a lot and last night I got to know about the crime statistics and stories that haunt South Africa's economic powerhouse.
Myself and fellow photographer Martin Harvey were out shooting at Kensington Hill, a spot in Joburg that offers a great vista of the Joburg skyline. A stormcell was brewing as we set up our cameras ( 2x 5D3's and 2x D800's all on Carbon Fibre tripods). The sunset progressed very well, the sky was lit in brilliant colour and there was lightning striking the city.
Just after the sun dipped below the horizon, three guys walked towards us and we grabbed our pepper spray. They walked past, we greeted and we continued shooting because we wanted to do timelapse until twilight. About 5 minutes later they came running down, this time with a gun in hand. They told us to lie down, gave me a kick to the head, took off our shoes and tied our hands and feet with our shoe laces. They searched us for cellphones and car keys and then started gathering our gear. I heard one camera fall of a tripod and after about a minute of shuffling they were gone.
Luckily they had no interest in our car keys so we could get away. We are obviously grateful to be alive, but it's sad that that's the tagline for crime victims in South Africa. I'm out about R200000 in gear, of which almost all is fortunately insured. South Africa is an absolutely amazing country and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but it's tragic that we have to live in fear of this every day. The same people who do these things are the ones who keep the incompetent government in place with their votes. A filthily corrupt government more concerned with self-enrichment than doing something about unemployment or crime.
I've photographed for seven years all over the country and never had an experience remotely like this. Four months in Gauteng and I run into an armed robbery. Don't let it deter you from visiting South Africa as the risk of such crimes is much much higher in Gauteng and Johannesburg than elsewhere in the country.
