Hideousness from the 80s

This is the Mount Road Police Station. It is hideous on many levels, the most apparent being the austere looking architecture which is typical of many apartheid era government buildings. There is a sort of repressive nazi look about them before you even know what went on inside. This building has a nasty history.

It was previously called Louis Le Grange Square, named after the then Minister of Law and Order, who was responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses that went on at the time. The notorious Security Branch had their offices on the fifth floor, and there were many deaths in detention which were put down as "the detainee committed suicide by jumping from the unbarred window to escape detention".... If you want to know more and are in the mood for some depressing reading, the TRC commission findings shed light on how the Security Police operated, and saw themselves as completely above the law. A dark period in South African History.

On a more positive note, you can see workers in the foreground, digging up the pavements. This is actually good news! Our previously state run Telecomunications supplier was "privatized" many years go, but has enjoyed a monopoly all this time, thus giving it freedom to overcharge and provide really shabby service. (Telkom also owns major shares in Vodacom, and regulate cell phone rates, so ours are very expensive.) Finally, a competitor has been licenced, and Neotel is busy digging up our streets at the moment to lay fibre-optic cable. Most of us are delighted to endure a bit of inconvenience if it means we might soon be getting a decent telephone service at competitive prices.