How Soccer Explains...The Crooked Cop

Driving in Downtown Jozi can be hectic: people running red lights, minibus taxis swerving if front of you, goats peppering the road (in Alexandra, at least…). In all this chaos, which I can manage at times, there also exists the most frustrating and sometimes costly thing: police road blocks.

There seems to be two types of road blocks- the real ones and the fake ones. The legal ones, usually demarcated by traffic cones and 5 or 6 cops, are legitimate set-ups done in order to see if drivers actually have their licenses, etc.—these are fine by me and ensure safe driving.

The illegal ones, set up by a couple cops trying to get bribes out of people, can be pretty frustrating.

The other day on my way to work I was at a red light—all was normal. The light turned green, I turned left, and found myself on the next street only to be staring down a cop who was pointing right at my car and giving me that “pull over” look.

I obliged, thinking I’d show my passport and be on my way. Turns out this isn’t the case. “You went through that red light back there”, he said in a cheeky manner. In my head I think my brain exploded, you kidding me?

I try to explain to him that I didn’t but he wouldn’t budge, in the end telling me that I’d have to pay him a R1000 find ($120 USD). I began to realize that this wasn’t a real road block but rather just a cop looking for a big bribe.

Just as I was about to begin to talk my way out of a ticket, a helping hand reached in to assist me: soccer.

“Is that a red card?” The cop asked curiously, pointing at the Red Card for HIV-risk in the window near my rear-view mirror. “Are you a referee? I love soccer.”

“Why yes it is and I am, kinda…” I said, gleaming that the cop got sidetracked from his original mission. “It’s a risky behavior red card—I work and play soccer with kids in Alexandra. It’s pretty cool”. I showed him the GRS t-shirt I was wearing as proof.

The cop was pretty interested, seemingly about the soccer more than anything else. He continued to tell me that he was a fan of the Kaizer Chiefs—I told him I was a Pirates supporter and we had a quick laugh.

“ I will give you a verbal warning for today,” he said in the end.

Just another example that soccer is universal and you can use it as a tool in any scenario- whether teaching HIV prevention or getting out of a phony ticket.