Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu,Showbiz Correspondent
IN the world of football, when a footballer retires, they call that hanging the boots.
In our neighbourhoods, a different hanging of boots on telephone poles has emerged and with it, many, different meanings have been attached.
This modern way of shoe disposal has sketchy origins attached to it with some circles attributing it to the American hip hop culture.
Saturday Leisure took to the streets of Bulawayo to ascertain why people hang their worn out and torn shoes on telephone poles.
In Gwabalanda, one lad who preferred anonymity confided that the hanging of shoes on ropes has a nefarious meaning.
“Usually, this serves as a sign as to where marijuana is sold. You see the shoes hanging, you then automatically know that dagga is sold,” said the young man.
In Iminyela, the general consensus was it was an act of just being naughty and doing it for fun, but no one would own up to doing it.
Street vendors are a rich source of information when one needs answers on what happens in the precinct. When quizzed on how the shoes can hang up so high, one vendor Abel Ziga professed ignorance but was of the mind that it’s nocturnal behaviour.
“I don’t know how they do it, but I think that it’s done at night. It must be a cumbersome endeavour to hang a pair of shoes that high.
This has become a part of society for as long as I can remember,” explained Ziga.
Aviat Nkomo from Emakhandeni suburb confirmed to seeing this but professed ignorance as to why it is done.
“In my neighbourhood, it’s not there, but I’ve seen it somewhere in our suburb.
I don’t have any idea on why this is done,” said Aviat.
This kind of behaviour has been here for quite a while now and it poses a threat to residents since, the more shoes are thrown on cables, the more the chances of the cables breaking and someone getting hurt in the process.
If these “shoe hangers” literally climb up gumpoles, then this kind of daredevilry throws acrophobia out the window and the results can be injurious if not fatal.
There is one distinct thing about neighbourhoods that have shoes hung up on telephone and electric poles, gangs canvassing the place. Whether it is the neighbourhood watch or something else is a mystery, but a battalion of guys always sit or stand around the area.
Notably, this trend is mostly seen in Bulawayo’s oldest locations and besides it being an eyesore, it promotes a culture of crime.
If the idea is to dispose of unwanted footwear, why then go through that trouble of hanging them on dizzy heights?
Do they hang worn out and torn shoes on telephone lines in your neighbourhood? If so, why do you think they do it?
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