Paul De Sousa

How many times a day do you encounter a car guard? At the gym? Outside the Spar? At the movies? At a sports function?

Do they really serve a purpose? Are car guards a preventative solution or a counter productive scam?

I don’t pay car guards. End of story.

I not only do not pay them, but I also believe that the practice should be outlawed or regulated by an authoritative body.

It’s not about lack of compassion or a racist issue because I don’t pay any car guards regardless of their race or creed.

The reason why I take such a strong stance in this is because every single day we are bound to run into a car guard at any place that we go to. At the gym, when you go out for lunch, when you return to your car after shopping, when you go to the movies or a sport function.

If you had to pay even just R5 to each car guard you encounter during your normal day, you could be spending up to R450 a month to pay car guards. Surely this is why we pay for car insurance? Now your monthly R1 000 that you pay for insurance has just turned into R1450 a month.

Insurance is supposed to be an insurance against fire, theft or a 3rd party claim. So what happens if your car gets stolen while under the care of a self appointed car guard? Does the car guard pay you out?

Not in this lifetime.

And what about the number of times people have claimed that their vehicles had been broken into while under the supposed care of a car guard? How many people believe that car guards are responsible for many of the thefts and damage to cars?

I particularly remember the story of a gentleman who came out of a popular Johannesburg shopping centre and was followed to his car by a car guard who told him on the way that everything was fine with his car, hoping for a nice tip.

Only when they arrived at the where the car had been parked, the car was gone. Was it the car guard’s fault? Not really no, but this just strengthens my argument that they are not really there to watch your car as much as they are to watch their own pockets.

What about the car guard who gets back at a person who didn’t pay him by damaging their car the next time they encounter it?

South Africans are forced into actually paying the fees to avoid a backlash.

And it is with this reason that I find that the self made profession of guarding cars is nothing more than extortion and a scourge.

Shopping centres and other places where car theft might be a problem should employ car guards and pay them themselves and not force the public to pay a car guard to do a half job.

Those that prowl public streets should be paid for by the municipality, properly appointed, registered and with the proper attire.

This extortion has to stop.

How soon until you back out of your driveway only to be accosted by someone who tells you “Hey, I’ll watch your house for you…”