On Sharks & Taxi's....

Events of August 2014... still relevant today!

Over the last week or so there were 2 events that really got my attention and got me thinking about how strangely 'fcuked up' our society has become.

The 1st incident: The recent shark attack at Muizenberg and the subsequent investigation into the attack.

It seems that everyone and their cousin (even non surfers!) had something to say about the incident. They wanted to blame someone - the sharkspotters & the city of Cape Town took the brunt of it. It was in all the local newspapers, facebook and twitter. A full investigation was launched, some minister apparently said that 'they wont rest until the shark is tracked down'....... Thankfully the surfer involved survived. (Wishing you a speedy recovery bru!)

The stats for Shark attacks in Cape Town reads as follows:
1960 - 2014: 30 shark attacks. On average 1 every 2nd year.
The last shark attack at Muizenberg was in 2004 and the last shark attack in Cape Town was in April 2012.

The 2nd incident: 3 people died in Hout Bay on Tuesday 05/0/2014. The taxi that they were driving in collided with the pavement, went thru the steel barriers and plunged into the Disa River. Eyewitnesses said that there were 2 taxi's involved, the one swerved out for the other - speed was involved. The backdrop to this is the fact that it was raining heavily that day, poor visibility and wet roads - not a day to be speeding! There was outrage in the community, a few pics on facebook etc. No full investigation was launched. It was just another accident involving a taxi.

I googled some stats for road deaths in Cape Town and flabbergasted by the numbers, it appears that on average 100 odd people die EVERY MONTH on our roads. Thus a conservative figure for a year would be around 1200 - those are people with families, friends that will never see them again...just gone!

We all know that the majority of taxi's on the road are not road worthy, the drivers have no licence (or the licence is fake, bought over the counter etc) and they have no clue re the rules of the road. They are literary death on wheels, yet the authorities seem to be unable to launch a sustained campaign to ensure that all taxi's are monitored.

As a surfer / ocean user I know and accept the risk involved when it comes to sharks. I am in their territory, they are wild animals and they are predators. Look at the stats- given the ratio of surfers / sharks you can safely say that we are not being targeted by sharks as easy meals. I've been surfing, sup'ing, diving, snorkeling and swimming in our oceans for years. From the wild waters in Namibia, the rugged West Coast..Elands Bay down to Cape Town, up to beautiful Mossel Bay, the Garden Route and beyond - think I saw 3 sharks at most.

Can we say the same thing about taxi's? Even if you don't use them the chance of you being affected by their reckless driving is far more likely than being attacked by a shark!

Why not demand a full investigation on that?   

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