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Andrew Blair holding up his shirt outside his hotel |
Theft turns tourist into a crimefighter
Campaign aims to reassure visitors to South Africa
A RETIRED journalist who had his luggage stolen during a trip to South Africa is coming out of retirement to fight crime in the country he loves.
Andrew Blair, 76, of Reddington Road, Hampstead, was left with just the shirt on his back when he and his wife Jocelyn discovered their car had been raided.
Now, Mr Blair, a former financial journalist, is campaigning for better protection for tourists in South Africa.
The Blairs were philosophical when they discovered their clothes, jewellery and important business papers were gone. Mr Blair said: “It was a hell of a shock when we opened the boot and not a stitch was left. We’re not particularly religious or spiritual but when it happened we looked at each other and said it must be a sign.
“With so many people suffering and nobody doing anything to help them, we shouldn’t be sorry about losing material belongings. I’ve always felt we had too many clothes anyway.”
Mr Blair wants to use his experience to help tourists feel safe when visiting South Africa, particularly for the 2010 World Cup.
He said: “I was brought up in South Africa and have a great love of the country. There’s great concern that crimes reported in the press are affecting the tourist trade. As we go towards 2010 there’s a feverish excitement. I don’t want to put people off any more. I want to reverse the pattern.”
He hopes to form a group called Tourists Against Crime. “We got such good feedback that we delayed leaving,” Mr Blair said. “People were delighted someone wanted to do something about it. We need to set up tourist contact points in every resort. The police can’t cope, they haven’t got the resources.
“I want to start with Britain. I am ringing every organisation with South African links in the UK. I had been planning on enjoying my retirement – not starting anything new.”
Mr Blair was robbed five days before his 76th birthday, but staff at his hotel in Umhlanga clubbed together and invited locals and dignitaries to share his day.
He said: “The hotel was very kind. They held a party for me and lots of people came. As a result of an article in a South African paper lots of people offered me accommodation but I didn’t need it because I still had my credit card.” |
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