Around 100 kilometres before Polokwane, at a mountain pass of sorts in the subtropical region of Limpopo, we are pulled over by the police.

By Jan Roelfs, Polokwane

I am in the car with Corne van Dongen, who has lived in the vicinity of Hoedspruit since 2004 and is working part-time as a volunteer for Dutch public broadcaster NOS during the football World Cup. He parks at the side of the road. We watch as a black policewoman approaches.

 
Corne winds down his window and the policewoman fixes us with a steely glare. She accuses us of ignoring an unbroken line in the road while overtaking. "That's a 1500 rand fine and because you are not residents, you have to pay it immediately!" The policewoman smiles sweetly as she states the amount, the rough equivalent of 150 euros no less. The conspicuous FIFA accreditation badges on our chests clearly make no impression whatsoever in this no man's land.
 
Uneasy
I glance at my watch. Three hours to go until the match between France and Mexico kicks off, a match I am supposed to be covering for the NOS. And I do not have 1500 rand in cash on me. I shift uneasily in my seat. Corne calmly gets out of the car and politely asks the policewoman if she can write an official ticket. As he does so, he presents his papers showing that he is a citizen of South Africa and not a tourist. The woman's attitude changes instantly. All of a sudden a broad smile appears: "I was only kidding about the fine. I'm letting you off with a warning. Have a good trip..." Corne gets back into the car and, somewhat surprised, I wave at the policewoman as our small landrover pulls back onto the road.
 
Once we have left the police safely behind us, Corne explains that corrupt police officers have turned their attention to tourists during the World Cup. South Africans are familiar with official police procedures, but tourists are more inclined to part with their money, shaken by the sight of a couple of police cars and their flashing blue lights. The money disappears directly into the pockets of the police officers who pulled them over.
 
Same story
Our patience is tried once again when we are stopped once more 15 kilometres outside of Polokwane. As we turn left at the traffic lights, a policeman takes one look at our car and virtually throws himself in front of it. He too reckons he has nabbed himself a couple of tourists... It's the same story. This time we have to pay 1000, since according to him we have jumped a red light. Except this time our FIFA accreditations cause a flicker of doubt in our South African copper. In the end he too decides to play it safe and segues hurriedly into some friendly banter about Bafana Bafana. I give a polite analysis of the shortcomings of the host nation's team. Our boy in blue nods in agreement and it's not long before we are back on the road. Thirty minutes late we finally park the car outside the stadium.
 
On Father's Day we drive from my base camp in Kuname in the opposite direction towards Nelspruit for the duel between Italy and New Zealand.

It is Sunday and the roads are busy. Father's Day is a holiday that black families in this area are keen to celebrate with their loved ones and many families with heavily laden cars are on their way to visit grandma and grandpa or vice versa.

"No meat?"
Within 30 minutes we see signs announcing our first roadblock. It is a checkpoint set up by the South African food inspectorate. In this farming area, it is their job to prevent the spread of diseases such as foot and mouth disease. Transporting dead meat - a lamb or waterbuck for example - is strictly forbidden.

Corne patiently winds down his window once again. The inspector checks his papers and though he is quick to realise that we are not hiding an impala in the boot, the check still takes another 15 minutes. One hour further on, the ritual begins all over again.

"No meat?" "No meat" says Corne. And once again we pull in at the Mbombela stadium car park 30 minutes late. Travelling in the provinces is an adventure. Taking your time comes naturally to South Africans but it's a valuable lesson for us uptight Europeans. Welcome to South Africa!