History: Suzy and I had spent a long day exploring Cape Town's Muslim quarter. To wait for her uncle to pick us up we decided to meet at "our spot" The Golden Acre mall. The mall was closing and we usually go to Nando's restaurant but weren't feeling all that hungry. Instead we ended up at McDonald's (I know that is sick, but I'm just being honest) for a snack. (A McFlurry which interestingly is very small and only comes in 1 size - of course!)
The reason we go into the restaurants is to avoid the street kids. They are aggressive beggars. (Reaching into clothing at times, asking for any food left over, etc.) They do not let you just stand near them and not bug you. So when we saw two guys around our age just standing there taking pictures of them from 4 feet away we knew something was up. The two guys had the kids pose, pretend to huff ether or alcohol, drink and fight.
Pic 1 - The two camera men ran across the street and got into the car you see. The 5 kids immediately chased them. It appeared like the two guys were going to take off on them. (They probably promised them food or money if they let them take the pictures) The drivers door is open and the kids are talking loudly and gesturing grandly.
Pic 2 - You may be able to tell that more kids are in this pic now. Due to the noise the kids were making they attracted more. Now some of them are reaching into the car. They are trying to grab the kid in the front and are pulling at him and his seatbelt. There were probably about 10 kids there now. (These 2 punks fucked with the wrong streetkids.
Pic 3 - At every ABM I saw downtown there are security guards. ABSA bank had a terminal about 10 feet away from all of this. The guards quickly ran over after watching for a few minutes.
On the left of the pic you see a white guy wearing a baseball hat. That was one of the photographers. I never saw why he got out of the backseat but watched him get back in. On his immediate right you can see a streetkid huffing on a brown paper bag. That is reality. (The car door on the driver side is still open at this point)
Pic 4 - The security guards ended up seeming like they were giving a lecture to the guys in the car as well as the streetkids. Notice that 2 of the kids are now standing directly in front of the car. The driver door is still open and a kid is still leaning in. I never saw but he leaned in the whole time as if he was holding the steering wheel or the guy or his seatbelt.
About 10 seconds after we snapped this photo the guys in the car took off VERY fast. The almost ran the 2 kids in front of the car down and dragged the kid who was in the driver side for about 15 feet before he let go. They then took a quick right hand turn and blasted down the street. The guards gave chase but ended up coming back soon after.
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Note: We were told that at times the streetkids are picked up for begging but are only kept for one day before they return to the street.
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