Update: Thanks to everyone who showed concern for the whereabouts of The Sungazer – that’s the caring vibe we love about this city.

A reader has reached out to let us know that he has been in touch with some good folks who helped him out and he is apparently doing well. Good news on such a sunny day.

Thanks for caring y’all!

Cape Town can be a mysterious place with weird and wonderful stuff.

There’s the magnificence of Table Mountain looming over us, the Minecraft-looking Castle of Good Hope, the unnatural beauty of Clifton with its influencer’s wet-dream beaches, and of course the noon gun that scares the bejesus out of first-time visitors and Gautengers who moved here to escape the ANC.

But to those who live here, the true marvels that make up Die Kaap, are the people.

And we’re not referring to the unnaturally beautiful women or suspiciously fit guys who roam these stylish streets, but rather to the weird and wonderful regulars that we pass every day, yet know absolutely nothing about.

Some of these folks are as much part of the city’s scenery as the mountain itself – such as Micheal, who manages to turn old pallets into magnificent wooden sculptures from his ‘workshop’ on the pavement as you enter the city from Philip Kgosana Drive.

There is however one Cape Town local who is as mysterious as he is confusing. My son calls him The Sungazer, but to most people, he’s just the guy in the black bags.

Upper Orange Street is somewhat of a nexus for locals. Whether you’re driving to Camps Bay, or trying to avoid the fuzz in Somerset Road because you’re license expired three years ago. The road that eventually leads to Kloof Street is always busy. It’s here, close to De Waal Park that you would usually find The Sungazer.

If you’ve ever seen him, you’d know. Shunning local fashion, he is always dressed in a series of black bags, and unless you catch him on a rainy day, the guy is always staring directly into the sun. How he has managed to not fry his retinas is beyond me.

Fortunately, our sun spotter-in-chief managed to have a rare video of the mystery man on file:

Curiosity got the better of me once, and as winter was approaching, I gathered a few clothing items and slapped together a cheese sandwich as a peace offering to this weird, but remarkable person. Basking in my own altruism, I found him next to the Lennox Hotel (now there’s a place worth talking about at some point), and approaching cautiously, I said “Hi there, want a sandwich?”

The Sungazer dropped his gaze from the sun, and looked me (almost) in the eyes before screeching what I assumed were profanities, but could well have been ‘sungaze’ for “No thank you dear citizen, I am nurtured by the energy of Sol”. Okay, it probably wasn’t that, but before I could even hand him the bag of clothes, he set off on a shuffling trot and disappeared around the corner by the church.

I briefly considered throwing the bag of clothes after him, but this seemed a bit too aggressive, so I got back in my car and ate the cheese sandwich.

It’s been a few months since my attempts at ‘contact’, and in that time I have not seen the guy again. He remains a mystery to me, so I am hoping that someone can shed some light on who exactly the guy with the diamond corneas and trashbag couture is.

Have you seen the Sungazer lately? If so, please let us know. We’re equal parts fascinated and worried.