Experiencing much anger and sadness

In the seventh instalment of our Through the Lens series, Nathan Adams shares the experiences of African News Agency photographers

WITH hindsight often comes wisdom but for a photographer, this kind of reflection can help sharpen one’s craft.

For Henk Kruger, Covid-19 and appreciation for life before lockdown has given him a fresh perspective. Working for African News Agency, Kruger has been on the frontline since the beginning and he had mixed emotions.

“It was a weird feeling... (but) as a photographer, I think we live for these kinds of situations, this is what we do and then when it happens, you kick into work mode,” he said.

“At the same time I was anxious and scared because I have two toddlers at home, and a very sick father-in-law.

“(I would get) home and make sure I didn’t touch anything and that I cleaned everything.

“It was very important for me to try and keep my family safe.”

Kruger covered several protests which made him aware of the desperation among the poor and the vulnerable across the city.

“It was kind of expected but we saw more and more protests and people getting angry.

“I remember this one big protest on the R300, it was quite volatile... people threw stones at the police and at us and I could (hear) them screaming ‘We’re hungry’, ‘We’re fed up’ and you could hear people were desperate.”

Land occupation in the northern suburbs also resonated with him:

“I went to Kraaifontein to see the land invasion and from there I drove to Delft but all along that route, people were busy building – you see an open piece of land, you see people building.

“(But) it wasn’t men, it was women and kids marking out land.”

As winter’s cold fronts moved across the peninsula, Kruger was sadden as he documented those who lost their homes and belongings in floods.

“We had that big storm moving in and I went to Dunoon and I saw all these homes underwater.

“It was such a sad sight, especially seeing the women and the kids walking with their belongings in the water and trying to get their stuff.”

The reaction to the opening of GrandWest Casino was also unexpected. “I drove out and it was a few minutes before the opening, and I saw this massive queue of people waiting to come in.

“So I made a U-turn and drove back and made a video of the queue of cars lining-up.”

The most memorable aspect of the lockdown for Kruger was “driving on the N1 highway and it was just after 9am and there weren’t any cars on the road and it was like a ghost town”.

“That was quite something; wherever I drove it was just quiet and at the big intersections you saw the army and the police... it was quite an experience seeing the roads so quiet and all the businesses closed.”

PANIC buyers queue in Brackenfell at the start of the lockdown.

| HENK KRUGER African News Agency (ANA) SAPS and Law Enforcement had their hands full with looters along the R300 near Mitchells Plain.

ANTI-Land Invasion units demolished illegal, informal structures next to the N7 near Dunoon. Inset: Henk Kruger.

A BOY knocks poles into the ground as hundreds of residents mark plots for potential housing in Delft.

A MAN sewing masks outside his home in the informal settlement of Wallacedene, Kraaifontein.

GRADE 1 pupils at Durbanville Preparatory School have their hands sanitised as learners begun returning to school acroos the country.