running to, from and about...3 incidents, briefly told

 RUNNING TO...

He was 17 1/2 and had completed the struggle he had with his sexual identity. He knew he was gay. Over time he built around himself a string support system in the centre of the city to which he went over weekends on whatever other pretense he put out officially to the Homes authorities.

One weekend, on his way out, he said, "Goodbye Mr Lodge".

He never returned. Phoned after a while to say that he was safe and well looked after in the city . He was never searched for.  The Department just legally released him from the Act.


 RUNNING FROM....

It was one of those"informant" incidents. Bongani had marijuana in his bedroom cupboard.

Every incoming young person signed a contract with the Home. In this contract, one of the understandings in this contract was permission for random searches. On the Homes side it was contracted to give help and support to any young person who used drugs. And this included Marijuana which is illegal in South Africa. The conditions for search were that the young person must be present.... no "secret" searches"

The male child care worker undertook a random search of the full house in order not to "pick out" an individual. When it came to Bongani he quickly grabbed the packet of marijuana from his cupboard and also a fairly log knife. He then told the child care worker to stand back, stabbed at his stomach but the knife entered the child care workers hand just below the thumb.

I was called to find Bongani threatening both the male and the female workers who wanted to block the door and keep him in the bedroom until I came. I told them to back right off and leave him be.

He ran out of the room. out of the house and into the streets of the city centre .

Too scared to come back he had lived off his wits in the centre of Johannesburg for two weeks before we found hi.


RUNNING ABOUT....

These two boys made a habit of running about. They always did it together. A bigger boy who was always regarded as the "influence" on the smaller one. But this may not have been completely true.

Sometimes they set themselves a target.... a destination and ran with the destination in mind "let's got to ....."

Another run about plan was to set themselves a place where the would see for how long they could survive without getting caught. They would often first, either agree on a suburb, or first find themselves a place to sleep, like a vacant house, a building site, large cement pipes, the caves in the koppies (rocky hills).

The third adventure and perhaps by far the most exciting was to run about in the vicinity of the Home itself and live off the Home by breaking in at night to steal and/or to get accomplices to feed them and support their survival.

On one of these escapades they tried to get to an eastern town about 30 kilometers away. They jumped a train but got caught and thrown off. There they were in farmland, so they decided to hide and sleep in the middle of a field of dried mielies (corn),  ready for the farmer to 'plough back,. To keep warm they made a fire. he whole field caught fire with them in the middle of it. Fire authorities were called rescued them, and they were brought back

Anyone for a run about... ?????