Speculation from some quarters is that by throwing a pair of tackies onto electrical power lines, gangs mark their territory, while others are of the opinion that it signifies that there is a drug pedlar in the vicinity. Yet another theory is that bullies use it as a tactic to belittle their victims.
Evil omen or mischievous fun? Sue du Toit, director of George Child Welfare said that to the best of her knowledge there has not been an increase in gang activity and squashed the gang notion. Andri Nepgen, a social worker, has a lot of contact with children with behavioural and emotional problems and says a common underlying contributor is bullying, but says the kids she works with have not raised the tackie issue. Nepgen is researching bullying for her PhD in social work.
In Parkdene, in an isolated section of Bossiesgif, pairs of shoes thrown over the overhead electrical power lines dangle like sleeping bats. People in the neighbourhood assured the George Herald that it was the children in the area having fun, although none of them had actually seen anyone throwing the shoes. An eight-year-old girl said that someone dumped a black refuse bag full of shoes on the playground a while ago.
Henry Figeland, who was born in the area says when he was a young child the area was known as Sodom and Gomorrah. "It was the rough part of Parkdene. Later it became known as Bossiesgif, which is also offensive. Now we call the area Tekkietown and this could be the welcome sign!"
But, the George Municipality's electrical department does not see this latest phenomenon as anything to laugh about. They regularly have to clear the shoes from the electrical cables as wet cotton shoelaces have the ability to conduct electricity. A strong gust of wind can result in a power outage as the laces touch the different strands of electrical cable and cause the electricity to trip.
Petrus and Lily de Klerk of Noord Street, Pacaltsdorp have appealed to the youth to stop and think before hurling tackies or other shoes over the electric cables. The De Klerks recall Christmas Eve 2006 when the electricity in the area tripped and was only restored midmorning the next day. "Our Christmas meal was a disaster as the food was ruined, the ice cream melted and the trifle could not set due to the power cut. A Councillor advised us to claim for our losses from Council's insurance. The insurance investigation revealed that the pair of tackies was thrown over the electric cables during a family quarrel and the claim was repudiated. We lost everything."
The throwing of shoes over electric wires was first seen in the 1996 movie Space Jam which starred Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player from the Chicago Bulls who acted as himself.
Lily de Klerk points to the place where the tackies landed on the overhead electrical wires that caused the Christmas Day blackout in 2006 in Noord Street Pacaltsdorp. With her is her husband, Petrus.
ARTICLE: MYRON RABINOWITZ
