Nigeria, Dec. 2 -- The number of people walking and commuting, on the streets of Soweto in the morning, is on a steady rise. Malls, which are also on the rise, sprouting out anywhere, have long displaced small businesses, redirecting the cash in circulation to Johannesburg's leafy north. Billboards advertising alcohol bear faces of youngsters in rude health. No faces of drinking-looking people feature here. Try again if you thought the liquor industry could curb alcohol abuse, gender-based violence and road fatalities.

In another hour or so, traffic at arteries like Koma and Chris Hani roads, will come to a standstill when funeralgoers swell the streets. We too are funeralgoers, on a Saturday in October, to lay to rest Todd and Esme Mats...