There was a shooting (cops 1 and robbers 0) on Rivonia Road by Morningside this afternoon. As a result this main arterial that crosses Sandton from South to North was closed until well into the evening.
As the company I work for is situated on the busiest intersection on Rivonia Road, it took me 30 minutes to travel less than 500m. Traffic backed up into level 2 of the parking garage.
The intersection with Rivonia was gridlocked as cars kept on moving even after the red light came on, effectively blocking those of us trying to get across.
I must say that surprisingly, there was very little hooting and road rage.
Traffic police were nowhere to be seen. No surprise there! No gesticulating traffic cops shouting at motorists this time. No slapstick in the afternoon.
We’ve become desensitized in this city – listening to the news on the radio about the shooting and being caught in the resultant traffic chaos – all could think of was that I needed to get across the intersection to fill up with petrol so that I didn’t have to leave home earlier in the morning to do so.
