My Mind Speaks....WAR

 

In recent events, sixteen girls were rescued from a human trafficking syndicate in Kempton Park. The youngest being only 15 years old. Some of these girls were kidnapped and some lured with the promise of getting jobs. First and foremost, there should be a special place in hell for people that use jobs to lure girls into traps. And what kind of human being sells another human being? To exploit people in their most vulnerable and desperate point is just another level of vile. This story just reminded me of two of my friends who also had a similar story that, luckily did not end as bad as how it ended for these 16 girls. Both ladies are currently in the market for a job. The one friend sent me an email from a company that almost seemed legit. Well that's only until you take a closer look that you will see the cracks. I guess she had her own doubts and luckily her guard was up, mostly because she had not applied for the job is was called for. So she sent me the email to vet the company. I won't lie the email was quite convincing. The fictional company part of the story was quite closely align to a legitimate company around South Africa. But something did not seem right. Though they had made contact with her on LinkedIn (where you'd assume that everyone is legit) the name and email address of the recruiter was offish. The email was not personalized to her, it seemed like a generic email sent to bulk recipients. The company email address was also not personalized to the recruiter. They specifically mentioned that they are not able to take calls but only emails. It was small details about the whole email that gave away the scam. See email below;

Email from a Recruiter

Above story happened just last month. Fast forward to Wednesday this week (just two days ago) a friend and colleague of mine sent me a WhatsApp, excited about an interview at a well-known security company. We were so excited, even though the job was in Roodeport and we both live in Pretoria. For those who might not know that would be a 1 hour 30 drive. But the job market is so tough that any opportunity is still a good opportunity. I must have been clouded by the excitement to ask the right questions so I helped her prepare for her interview and then started praying. The only thing I asked her to show me was the job spec so I could see what the expectations were and how to help with the preps. The interview was the following day (which was yesterday) so in the morning I sent her well wishes and got on with my day. The interview was supposed to be at 1pm. It was only at around 6 or 7pm that I heard back from her. It turns out she went to the said company and no one in the company knew anything about this job interview. So she was sent from pillar to post with company employees trying to get to the bottom of who called for this interview. Eventually they asked to see the phone number used to call her and it turned out that wasn’t a number linked to the company. They then advise her to sit and wait for the interview time to come and see if she will hear back from the person who called. Maybe that person will follow up with her to find out where she is. This was after numerous calls to the number to no avail. To this point the person never answered the calls or called back. My friend had driven an hour and thirty minutes for nothing. We can only wonder what the purpose was of creating this fake interview.

I guess a combination of all these stories triggered an old memory of my own near death experience (if you may call it that). I must have been 8 years old at the time. In hindsight, I realise that I have always been so guarded, ever so suspicious of people's intentions. I no longer remember the story quite well. My mind tends to block details of traumatic events to help me live a happier life. I really appreciate that about my mind. But nonetheless I will try and jot down the sketchy details that I still remember. I was in grade 3 at Hilmary Primary School. We had gone to a school trip at Ben Lavin Nature Reserve. The school policy was that the parents would have to indicate where they would pick up their kids. So my Dad had indicated that he would pick me up from the bus stop close to my hood. I guess he didn't want to drive all the way to the school which was the final pick up point. I guess his decision made sense as the school bus was going to pass by our hood and the school was on the outskirts of the town. Anyways the problem came when we got to the bus stop and my Dad wasn't there. The school policy was that the parent needs to be present for me to be dropped off. But I really didn't want to go back to school, I guess again that my intuition was already that sharp at that age. Cell phones were not very popular at the time so I don't remember if my dad had one. I knew if I went back to school then I would be sitting there for long and alone. My dad was always on time. If he isn't there it meant that he forgot about you. I later learnt this lesson from my occasions of being forgotten (bless his soul). Back to this particular instance, so I convinced the teachers that another child whose parent was there stays close to my house so I would go with them. Quite frankly I don't even remember if I knew them but the lady agreed and said it was safe. Little did I know that they stayed just around the corner so I had to finish the journey alone? As I was walking past this tavern a sedan was parked on the side of the road with 3 men inside. One of them called me and told me to come get sweets. During that time kids were raped by older men and were said to be lured using sweets. I guess that was a trigger. So I said No, I am fine. They ask me where I was going I said home. They offered to give me a lift I said No and told them my dad would be fetching me. So I kept walking then I saw them start the car and car driving at my walking pace and kept talking to me. I don't remember what they said but I just kept walking until we got to a busy street. This story is set in Shayandima, the busy street being Ha Freddy. So I guess they then got on with their business. I remember being scared so I started walking faster. It was getting dark. Later got shouted at by my dad for coming back alone. He said he went and waited for the bus at the bus stop and then went to school to find me (but you were late my guy, rolling my eyes).

I actually never got the chance to tell the story about the car that followed me desperately offering me a lift and sweets. As you can imagine it would've made things worse. I was already on the verge of a beating for walking back alone. To think many years later the same problem exists and in an even more sophisticated way makes me feel sick to my stomach. It’s disgusting. Shameful.

On the other hand, some other girls aren't so lucky to get rescued by the police. Some ladies disappear and are never found. While some are picked up in body bags. To think after all these terrible stories of abductions some ladies still have bad habits of putting their lives at risk. Being so reckless at parties by leaving with men unknown to them. Going to clubs and running alcohol bills they cannot afford waiting for men to pay for them. Knowing very well the bill comes with a price and they insist on paying that price. It is quite sad. I think of my varsity days at UJ and just feel sad. These varsity cultures gas lit by the social media trends and yearning to be liked has done more harm than good to the self-esteem of some ladies. Young girls are toxic toward themselves. Heart shuttering really!!

I wouldn't do this article justice if I don't plead with women to stay vigilant when applying for jobs and going for interviews. When going on a night out. Get yourself a pepper stray, personal alarm, go for self-defence classes. Travel in groups. Normalise not doing things at will pit your life at risk. We are at war. Humanity is at war against itself. 

My Mind Speaks....

Normalise keeping these on you

 

Keep yourself safe