Today three of us set out early morning before 6 am on a 15 or 16 km run in Khayelithsa, Cape Town from Aliam Drive in Site B.
The air was cold, but not too cold. About 10 degree Celcius is a good temperature for winter. The morning was crisp with no sign of the rain of the previous day or so. The first 800 meters was pure bliss as the new streetlights were paving a way for our fresh legs. We could see properly! No pothole or obstacle in the road would deter us from reaching our objective which was to get in a longish run and to still feel fresh for another run at 7.45 am.
Then there was a bad patch. The new streetlights did not extend much further than the 800 meters and we hasd to run a portion guided by the concentration type lights that was erected by the previous government - huge lights up there in the sky! The ANC government and the DA led local government did not change much in terms of the lighting. So some long shadows forced us to run in the middle of the road. It was managable.
We encountered some better light a bit further on. This part of the town was coming alive with taxis slowly finding their way to look for possible commuters. We saw quite a number of people walking to get transport to their jobs. You have to leave early to be on time.
Three kilometers of "light" running followed until we hit the portion that I want to call hell. It was dark, almost pitch dark. Some dogs next to the side of the road barked at us passing, but they could not chase us as it was dark. There was almost no way of seeing them either. We could all hear them, though. Instinctively I started running with lifting my legs almost to knee height to make sure that I do not stumble over anything. The other danger was the potholes. I did put my foot in one and this jarred the body and my back. From time to time we were fortunate to get the light of a lonely passing taxi for a few seconds to get the lay of the land. We managed to find some water in this area as I planned to stop here for half a minute for something refreshing.
I could not believe that people could move here at night. No working streetlights, no concentration camp lights, no moonlight (this morning). This is hell. You cannot see a possible attacker and you cannot see properly to run away if you are threatened. About ten minutes later (it felt much longer) we reached a section with some streetlights again. I was happy. I went from heaven to paradise.
The rest of the road was fairly de'light'ful as there was adequate lighting all around.
In one run I moved from excitement to caution to frustration and almost anxiety to relief. i do not want to live here. This is truly part of 'dark Africa'.
South African politicians and community leaders ... you should spend one night in hell here. If you do that you will make a change and an improvement. Unless of course .... you work for or with the devil. Then you would want to keep it like this!
We ran 15.33 km in just under 90 minutes in spite of the man created hell. Thank you, Lord!
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