Court 1

Oh dear, a season of my life is finally over and a new one begins in Court 1 of the Benoni Regional Court.

I had to be at Court 1 at 08h30 this morning but my mom is up in Pretoria to go see a vascular surgeon and had a gift for my son, so began my dilemma of how to stop in Pretoria without being late for my court appearance.

The choice became obvious, although I was still not 100% well, I would need to use the Vespa to beat the rush hour traffic that I would find myself in by making a detour via Pretoria on my way to Benoni.

So I departed after a cup of coffee at 4am in the dark, dressed warm to keep the chills at bay. I arrived at Diep in die Berg, where my mom was staying, just after 5am. I had some coffee and a chat with my mom, brother and sister-in-law before setting out into the rush hour traffic at 6am. But first I had to fill up fuel for the big push south then back to work without missing too much of my working day.

I reached Benoni at 7am, and decided that because I am early, I better drop off Matthew’s gift before getting a small breakfast before heading to Court 1. Here at the Benoni Regional Court, life in all its ugliness is everywhere. In your face, oozing out of every pore. Oh well nice and early, I sat on a bench and watched life go by when was interrupted by a person whom I assumed was a lady dressed in a full burka asking who I was. Ah she must be the Clerk of the Court. I answered her, she looked at the wad of files she was carrying with a paper on top. She must have found my name, nodded, scribbled something, and moved onto the next person. Life carries on around me regardless. A fully pregnant lady walked in with two snotty nosed and barefeet ankle biters in tow, about 6 and 8 years old. Life, why? Eish, why are there more men here than women?

The court proceedings started at 9am and my case was third on the roll. Half an hour later, it was all over. The new season in my life has begun.

I was back at work an hour later at 10:30am. Wow from Pretoria to Benoni then to Krugersdorp which is 141km took 4.7 litres of fuel. I did not count the Home to Pretoria part as I only filled up in Pretoria. My speed was between 80km/h on normal roads and 130km/h on the highway so bite me. Anyways this works out to 30km/litre or 3.3litres/100km. Not bad for a 2010 year old scooter as Vespa states the fuel economy for the GTS300ie Super is 29km/litre or 3.5litres/100km.