Some Metro-odes courtesy of Metrorail

THE Cape Argus would venture further with the argument and suggest that our society can be far more engaging and accommodating of this significant cultural practice. Very recently, a suggestion by the ANC Youth League to have a space on Table Mountain for initiations was laughed off.

But because the practice is now being spoken about in hushed tones rather than celebrated, as it was in Diko’s case, it almost drives it underground and makes it a fertile breeding ground for life-threatening situations.

Initiation should not be an alien concept and it should reclaim its space as an important rite of passage that is as indigenous as the fynbos on the slopes of Table Mountain. Only then, when the culture is embraced, will initiation deaths only occur under exceptional circumstances. It would be a great day when people can use the train and no longer worry about their safety. It would be a great day no need for police and the so-called security industry never mind politicians, too. It would be a great day albeit at the expense of a student commuter killed

(and countless others, too). It would have been a great day had my train not arrived late (no announcement as one expects) and a fellow traveller almost smoking. It would be a great day perhaps tomorrow will bring it

Waiting on the Eerste River station for the 1.39pm Muldersvlei cattle-truck, I complete a reading of “Victory for commuters” (People’s Post, Tuesday June 23, 2009), the story of a couple’s eight-year fight for justice for their murdered son Juan, and other commuters who put their lives on the line using its cattletrucks.

The words, “It would be a great day” are Leslie van Minnen’s, Juan’s father.

The said cattle-truck arrived just after 2pm, if my memory serves me correctly, with none of the usual “we apologise for any inconvenience caused”.