If you live in Glass Houses…

Yesterday I had the (mis) fortune of meeting, after many months since he left me standing at an impoptru press conference immediately after his release, convicted lion-feeder Mark Scott-Crossley. I must admit this time he was less-stressed and looked well-groomed in his shirt and denim shorts, we sat in the base of a Correctional Services bakkies and actually chatted like old buddies. I told him he looked good and he thanked me from the bottom of his (white???) heart.

I started believing Dr Chris Barnad had been reincarnated for this one transplant since it didn’t feel like the heart that threw a man into a lion’s enclosure or the one I met fresh out of jail at the correctional facility. He was… (go read Kasiekulture)

Apparently Mark was in Bushbuckridge to do his community service by taking part in the cleaning of a primary school together with tens of other former inmates. The kids at the school loved his presence. The man’s self esteem is surprising, when other parolees had difficulty expressing themselves during the induction and vote of thanks he volunteered to speak on their behalf. I won’t tell you what he said here because I still have to write it for a newspaper but he was pretty humble. (oops, go check what he said on Kasiekulture)

I spent a good four hours with him, chatted, interviewed, took his pictures and even brokered a truce between him and Sowetan’s controversial writer Riot Hlatswayo. You see when you are a journalist who has made a habit of lying you end up running away from your sources as Riot was doing on the day until Mark spotted him and offered him a truce in exchange for two litres of coke since it was bloody hot.

Hours later they were shaking hands and me, you know, I was there to capture the biggest sell-out moment of the 21st century. However Riot should stop thumbsucking since he was making life akward for the lion feeding son-of-a-bitch. But take it from me, the man is reformed.

More on Mark Scott Crossley on Kasiekulture.