| He was often caught up in turf wars among the gangsters, or tsotsis, who ruled township nightlife. |
| Some writers describe situations where paranoid fears of crime and violence are dissolved by friendly warmth and wry smiles of supposed tsotsis instead. |
| Mixed-race bands were forbidden, black musicians barred from playing in all-white nightclubs, and a 10pm curfew left them prey to tsotsis or police, who would come to the concerts and interrogate people. |
| He remembers walking in downtown Joburg when, turning around, he noticed he was being followed by some tsotsis. |
| He approached several black policemen who, when they spotted the tsotsis, starting running. |
