”BANANA, banana!” the Frenchman gestured. It was Friday, only the first day of the World Conference Against Racism in Durban and already the poor delegate was lost. He could not remember the name of his lodgings, only the key word ”banana” — which is of course not all that scarce in place names in KwaZulu-Natal, also known as banana country. Fortunately for him, WCAR security spokesman Director Bala Naidoo and a Telkom employee came to hear about his fate. ”He told me he didn’t know where his hotel was. All he could remember was the word ‘banana’,” said Naidoo. ”So I tried to think — Banana Beach, Banana Hotel…” But neither of those names had the right ring to the Frenchman’s ears. To add to his woes, he had not been accredited yet for the conference, and as such could not enter the Durban Exhibition Centre which houses part of it. Naidoo, whose 26 years of police experience have stretched his imagination, offered to go and buy him a pre-paid Telkom card, so he could phone somebody and make inquiries. The man phoned his home in France, but there was no answer. A Telkom official who had overheard the man’s lamentations in broken English, suddenly had a bright idea — Banana Backpackers Hostel, within walking distance of the conference. According to Durban residents, it is impossible to miss, with a signboard of a man in the shape of a banana. This was the right banana, and a happy Frenchman, empowered with Naidoo’s directions, trotted off to his long-lost lodgings. Lost accommodation is not the only thing Naidoo has been tasked to find. He said a desperate French journalist had asked his help in finding a story. And in a quest to help two Canadian students find their accreditation cards apparently held by an organisation, he walked the four blocks from the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium to the Durban Exhibition Centre with them. He went in to see if he could find someone from the organisation. ”When I got outside, they had disappeared.” After searching all over for them, he eventually found them again where he had left them. But their organisation was still on the lost-and-not-yet-found list. People say bananas are good for brain power. Maybe they should become the staple feed at the WCAR. – Sapa