Traveling In Style

In November of 1986 I was sent by my company to Johannesburg. The first Saturday I was in South Africa, wanting to see something of the city, the hotel guidebook directed me to the Market area that Scott Kraft talks about (“Street Scenes,” Traveling in Style magazine). Within the first 15 minutes out of the car, one man grabbed one arm, another man grabbed the other and a third held his knife to my neck. Although the street was quite crowded, there was no question but that they were completely in control; that there was no danger of their being stopped or apprehended. Fortunately, they caused me no harm but they could easily have and probably with no consequence. They got my camera and about $300.

Your article talks about the area being “shared by blacks and white alike.” I do not recall seeing a white face in my few minutes in the area. I know things have changed in South Africa but I doubt it has been as much as your article and my experience would imply.

ROBERT EARLE

Torrance

Scott Kraft replies: Had the letter writer been to the area more recently than five years ago and been able to spend more than a few minutes in the area or any time in the Market Theater itself, I’m sure he would have seen ample evidence of the racial melting pot that has characterized the Market for the past decade.