I am not talking about the financial woes we are experiencing, that put a damper on the art of purchasing, but rather about the fact that shopping has become more dangerous than being tackled by Bakkies Botha.
Gone are the days when you grabbed your wallet and car keys before embarking on a weekend shopping spree.
Now, you had better arm yourselves with pepper spray (make sure you know how to use it first), grab hold of a weapon that preferably uses large bullets and, of course, a bulletproof vest might just come in handy.
After all, gunman are now targeting well-frequented shops in broad daylight, apparently without fear of the law.
Just look at what happened at the Bedford Mall when armed gunmen stormed in an apparent well-organised attack the place in broad daylight, injuring shoppers. Things are getting out of hand.
So, there you are on a Sunday outing, just having returned (maybe) from Church, thinking about a pot roast for lunch, buying some or other gadget, when your sacred day is rudely interrupted by gun-wielding madmen who thinks distribution of wealth means playing Robin Hood with automatic weapons.
Really? Our country has turned into a war zone where shoppers are the targets. And then we are not talking about shops in dodgy locations – it is at well-known shopping centres buzzing with customers.
So dismiss the idea of being able to casually stroll around the aisles hoping to catch a special deal (petrol price has gone down but not food), now we are faced with days of nervously peering over your shoulder every few seconds to make sure gunmen have not stormed the till points.
Most of us have seen footage of the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
Frightening indeed, but the reality of terror has struck home as well. How else to describe gangs of armed men attacking shoppers as being a terror attack?
It seems the time has arrived for shoppers to be prepared and ready to defend themselves. So hire a couple of Chuck Norris movies, rent Terminator (again), endure the agony of learning a couple of movies from professional wrestlers (or is that actors) while considering attending some or other freaky self-defence class.
It is not going to help to place your safety in the hands of the security guards at shopping centres – facing a gang of heavily armed men is no laughing matter.
This was proven when a gang of somewhat 20 men overpowered about 10 guards at the Afrisam mines recently.
It is not just shoppers that are under target, but even motorists are facing a reign of terror at the hands of arrogant criminals and bogus officers.
Smash and grabs along with hijackings are taking place not only in broad daylight, but even during peak traffic hours.
To aid these criminals in ushering in this reign of lawlessness is by donning police uniforms.
Our instinct remains to stop when indicated to do by a uniform policeman, but it seems safer now to put the pedal to the metal and hope bullets don’t fly through the window.
In what crazed country are we thus waking up to? Shoppers feel unsafe, motorists cannot trust anybody in uniform, while hijackers clearly mock the long (or is that short) arm of the law.
Welcome to our ever growing land of anarchy, where daytime looting, as what happened in Soweto, is a sport of choice while no truck better overturn because the ‘vultures’ on two legs will swoop and devour.
Just ask the poor cattle that were slaughtered the other day for being on the wrong truck at the wrong time.
Yes, a crowd of people tried to hack meat off cattle after a trailer in which they were being transported overturned on the N1 in Gauteng.
With knives and buckets, the mob was chasing cattle that had managed to release themselves from the vehicleSome of the animals had injuries, including broken legs. Barbaric to say the least.
Let us also avoid lamenting the growing drug trade in town, with ”sophisticated” drug labs popping up all over the place. Can you just imagine the amount of drugs 70 marijuana plants will produce and the damage it can afflict?
Law and order, along with load shedding, sadly for 2015, remains of great concern and needs to be addressed, even though it makes us depressed.
In the meantime, the corruption conviction against former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, who recently passed away, hangs over the effectiveness and integrity of our police force, at a time when National Police Week is celebrated.
Gauteng Police Commissioner Perumal Naidoo said, during the launch of this programme, that it marks the excellent work done by SAPS members in fighting crime.
I don’t think the family from Pretoria who had a run-in with the Tswhane Metro Police will quite agree with this sentiment. This is after a three-year-old girl was left traumatised after the officer allegedly threatened to shoot her, following an altercation with her mother.
Ah well, such are the times where trust in our police force wanes by the day, just as Eskom’s ability to keep the lights on.
Unfortunately Bob Dylan was wrong, the times are not changing.
