Nothing to goggle at in Google's close-ups of SA streets

Google Street View has gone live in South Africa and if there are any cringeworthy sights, the country has yet to discover them.

Using cameras mounted on a fleet of vehicles, Google began its 360 degree mapping of South Africa's major cities and routes in September.

The collection of pictures was launched on the eve of the World Cup, bringing alive 27 towns and cities, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

Users can stand on the pitch of seven of the football stadiums, including Johannesburg's Soccer City, Peter Mokaba in Polokwane, and Moses Mabhida in Durban.

In other countries, the Google cameras have caught several people in compromising situations, such as entering adult book stores and strip clubs.

So far, Britain has taken the cake for embarrassing shots. Earlier this month, British tabloids reported that two high school pupils had been photographed passionately snogging on a front lawn.

Among others caught unawares was a woman vomiting after a late-night booze session, an Australian passed out near his front door, and a man breaking into a home in San Francisco.

And because Street View images are shot months before being transferred to the internet, a woman in Australia was shocked to see the dead rise.

The woman wrote to a Sydney newspaper, demanding that Google apologise and saying: "My parents were pictured outside their house, but my dad passed away a month ago."

Google removed the image.

To access Street View, go to http://maps.google.co.za, type the address into the maps search bar, or zoom into where you want to go and drag the orange "Pegman" icon on the left on to a blue highlighted street.

Cape Times

Posted at 10:02AM Jun 24, 2010 by Editor in Cities and Towns  |