Joburg’s buskers usually hang out in mall underground parking lots . You know that song you always hear when you’re trying to get your R2 coin to stay inside the parking ticket machine at The Zone in Rosebank? No, it’s not Tracy Chapman, it’s M. Witches. His years of smiling, playing guitar and singing popular tunes has finally paid off and his first cd – completely self financed – has been pressed. For only R50 you can take his smooth voice away with you and enjoy his covers as well as his own compositions like the title track “Let’s Show The World”.

Clearly recognizable by their  luminous yellow bibs, car guards are generally there to help. After smash and grab incidents took place in parking lots in the nineties, these fine gentlemen have been filling this gap in the security industry ever since. General rule is if your parked anywhere longer than an hour, you should try give the guy something. Acceptable tip is anything between 2 and 5 Rand. And a little word of advice; give the guy the tip after he’s helped you get out of your tight parking. If he’s busy, he’s might just pocket the change and leave you stranded.

Greet the man with a smile when you arrive, and he will no doubt do the same. After coming back from a trip overseas, a random conversation with a car guard had me realise for the first time how South Africa remains to be one of the friendliest nations. These guys don’t earn alot. What they receive from any kind of centre management, is usually just an official bib, the rest of the bread needs to be won by them.