South Africa's Car Guard Song becomes internet hit

A spoof song celebrating South Africa's ubiquitous, fluorescent-jacketed car guards and highlighting their chagrin at poor tips from motorists has become an internet sensation.

Accompanied by a video, the Car Guard Song is based on the Rihanna/Eminem collaboration, Love the Way You Lie, and is the work of Capetonian comedy duo Nic Smal and Gareth Allison.
It focuses on the lives of the mostly black, informal workers who have become a common sight on South Africa's crime-ridden streets, watching motorists' cars and helping them park when they arrive and pull out safely when they leave in return for small change.

Self-appointed, unarmed and equipped only with a cheap fluorescent jacket to set them apart, little formal research has been done into how much of a deterrent to serious criminals the car guard is. As a result, they are seen as little more than an annoyance by many South Africans, who will often plead a lack of change or simply ignore their outstretched hands when they return to their car.

But their fortunes may have changed with the arrival of the Car Guard Song, which looks at the trade from their perspective. The lyrics include lines such as: "It is my duty to keep danger at arm's length. Come rain or shine, I will protect using my own strength. When I put on this vest, I'm like a superhero fighting crime.


Telegraph