Capless

The “Capless can phenomenon” – In Africa north of the Limpopo, everyone has a yellow plastic jerrycan. It’s like having a cell phone elsewhere in the world. Now these kegs are for water, or “local brew”, or to get fuel to a stranded car or motorbike on the side of the road, or whatever stuff in liquid form you can think of. The amazing thing is this. 9 out of 10 of these cans do not have caps. Whether empty or filled with something, they don’t have caps. Even if it means the carrier will get to his destination with half of its original content.

The “Capless can phenomenon” of Africa is one of those conundrums a westerner cannot comprehend. Why on earth would you not prevent your can content from spilling, especially if you take into account the dreadful conditions over which these cans are transported, carried or moved. After all what the hell happens to the can caps, where do they end up, are they used for something else? Most of us don’t understand this apparent ignorant behaviour by yellow jerrycan operators. The yellow jerrycan operator however, do. And there must be a reason for it….