Tales of a City

Just after returning from a trip to South Africa, Andre told me a story of an extraordinary and shocking event he witnessed during his travels, or was it?

He had stopped at a petrol station in Jo’burg to fill up when there was some sort of a commotion. Andre looked up to find a young Black man running in a panic and screaming for help because there had been an accident and his arms were engulfed in flames. Initially there was some reluctance by those present to help in case the whole scenario had been set up as an ambush since this was a common occurrence in Jo’burg. However, the police and the ambulance arrived at just the moment everyone realised this was a real emergency and there was no time to waste. The man in flames now looked in agony and was running around in a mad panic as the crowd that had now gathered alerted the police to the scene. As soon as the police saw the victim, they drew out their guns and shot the poor man dead. For a moment everyone stood still in shock, and when the crowd that had gathered angrily demanded an explanation, the police replied “I’m sorry but we cannot have firearms here”!

Of course, it was another joke and you laughed like a drain when you realised that I realised I’d been had, and I laughed like a drain because it was actually a good joke for you. I shared this joke with my younger brother who lives in Nigeria and he enjoyed it so much that although he never met Andre, he would always ask “How is your friend with the jokes?”