We are used to sitting at the back: Caged woman This picture of a woman sitting in a cage in the back of a bakkie, sparked outrage on social media yesterday
This picture of a woman sitting in a cage in the back of a bakkie, sparked outrage on social media yesterday

This picture of a woman sitting in a cage in the back of a bakkie, sparked outrage on social media yesterday

Johannesburg. — A woman seen in a photo sitting in a cage on the back of a bakkie in the Eastern Cape says she was not forced into the cage but sat in it because it was “hot and we are used to sitting at the back”. The woman, whose name is given as Linda Stenekamp, sat in the cage after she asked for a lift, she says in a video posted on Eblockwatch’s Facebook account.

Linda is asked, in Afrikaans, to look into the camera and tell her version of the story. Eblockwatch, a community crime fighting project, said on Thursday afternoon that they had tracked her down.

Wearing what appears to be the same headscarf as the woman in the photo, Linda explains how she asked for a lift from the bakkie’s owner, Johan Erasmus, who is believed to be a farmer in the Cradock area.

“Ek het die hike by baas gevra tot hier in die dorp. Toe laai hy my af daar by die garage (I asked the boss for a lift to town and he dropped me off at the garage),” she explains.

Asked if this was how far she wanted to go, she replies softly: “Yes”.

The woman questioning her then asks: “So meneer het vir jou die geleentheid gegee? Jy wou nie voor in klim, want julle is mos gewoond om agter op te klim, want julle like mos die wind en goed (The gentleman gave you the lift? But you didn’t want to be in the front, because you people are used to sitting in the back because you people like the wind and stuff?)”

The woman replies: “Meneer het gevra wil ek voor sit, toe sê ek nee, dis warm, ons is gewoond agter te sit (Mister asked me if I wanted to sit in front, but I said no, it is hot and we are used to sitting at the back).”

The woman maintained that she got into the cage herself.

“Die meneer help mos altyd mense wat geleenthede van daar af dorp toe soek (The mister always helps people with lifts to town),” her interviewer says.

“Ons dink ons doen ‘n goeie werkie. Nou sien ons dis verkeerd en ander mense vryf dit verkeerd om op. So sê net jy waardeer dit elke keer as iemand jou help want julle is baie ver uit die dorp. Dis nie maklik om ‘n geleentheid te kry uit die dorp nie (We think we are doing a good job, but now we see people are taking this the wrong way. Just tell the people you appreciate getting a lift, because you stay far from town. It’s not easy getting a lift to town)”

“Yes,” the woman replies before the video ends.

Eblockwatch founder Andre Snyman said on Facebook the video was intended to show there were still good people in the world.

“She jumped on the back and climbed into the cage. He then dropped her off in town. She waved thank you to him and he drove off.”

Erasmus told Netwerk24 the police paid him a visit on Wednesday morning and he had to show them that the cage was removable and not fixed to the back of the bakkie.

He said by 12:00 on Wednesday he had received 10 threatening phone calls from people telling him he had acted inhumanely.

According to the local police, no charge has been laid yet. — News24.

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