On Saturday afternoon, at around 15h30, a group of young men in a white bakkie (that’s a “pick-up” or a “ute” for our foreign readers) called a Big Issue vendor over to their stationary vehicle at a traffic light in central Cape Town.

They then allegedly poured acid water all over her, and her wares.

This, from the Big Issue website.

The Big Issue was notified that at approximately 17h30 yesterday (Saturday 11 September 2010) a group of men driving a white bakkie CA568 413 allegedly called over one of our vendors on the corner of Hans Strydom and Eastern Boulevard, Cape Town CBD and threw water over her. There are witnesses to the incident and a photo of the men in the bakkie was taken.

The vendor was subsequently identified as Florence Godonwana, a single mother of three, who has decided to lay charges of crimen injuria against the alleged perpetrators. The Big Issue’s Social Development department will be assisting her to do this and supporting her throughout. The people who witnessed the incident have also indicated they will offer her their full support in terms of acting as witnesses and, if necessary, testifying in court.

This isn’t the first time that an incident like this has happened. Big Issue vendors suffer a dazzlingly creative array of abuses on a daily basis. Unfortunately for these gallant chaps, the Cape Argus News Editor Natasha Joseph happened to be in the vehicle behind them.

She snapped a photo on her camera phone, and tweeted both the shot and details of the incident on her Twitter feed.

And then all hell broke loose. These guys are the most hunted individuals in the city of Cape Town. ETV news is on this, the papers are on this, Cape Town tweeps are on this. Blogs are going nuts.

Gentleman of CA 568 413, the Internet will find you. You should never have messed with Florence.