Safety in South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA IS NOT SO SAFE LIKE OTHER COUNTRIES TO MOVE ABOUT.ONE HAS TO THINK SAFETY ALWAYS.I THINK EVERYONE SHARES THE SAME VIEW WITH ME

After having lived in SA for 6 years I´m quite disturbed by the fact that I´ll have to go back there soon because of the safety issue. I personally know a widow whose man was shot after having drawn money from an ATM, my girlfriend was robbed violently (lost 2 front teeth in the process), my car was broken into twice, my neighbour´s niece was hijacked and the security guard of the complex I was living in was shot at (and severekly wounded). All that happened in predominantly white suburbs (or the cIty center) of Cape Town.

Generally if you are living in moderate area its safe but slummy areas (Locations) as they are popularly known here your life must be in danger. I have visited these area several times but for sure your life is in danger comparing on the level of people there.

The recent problems were caused by the Zulu King who was coned by Nigerians in fake gold bt he could not tell the public

Lwere

Hi, after living in SA now for 8 years on the Western Cape I don't feel threaten or in any sort of danger. I don't think I would be saying this if I was in Gauteng, again it all depends on where you live. The Mossel Bay area is safe, well look after by SAPS but you have to be aware of the crime like any where else in the world. Just basic security advice which you can get of the web is sufficient to get you home safe and sound but always be aware of your security situation. Never take for granted that it wont happen to me. Great country but take the rough with the smooth.

Just look at ANY newspaper and you will get the general idea.... NO...it is NOT safe.... People get "carjacked" on a daily basis where you are confronted at a robot....Your window smashed and your car, you, your children etc..... carjacked with you.... DAILY shopping malls are being robbed by armed thieves...... Your children get attacked on the trains..... People living in the so called upper class areas are being robbed at gunpoint. I have been living in Cape Town for 40 years and it is  getting worse by the day.... When an incident happens... you will be lucky if the police arrives within a 5 day period to take your statement or to react.....
SO READ all the comments and then decide.... If I could..... I would leave this country where I was  born, within a heartbeat....    There are VERY FEW.... countries worse that RSA and Cape Town is definitely NOT as safe as people want to make out......
Just take a walk on ANY NIGHT after 7 pm and see what happens.....

JJ

I believe you caus ive seen worst with in a period of 2 years only

I live on the lower South Coast, KZN, near Port Shepstone. I am happy to walk locally and do so often.  I do not walk at night but only because we live in a fairly rural area with no street lights and rough roads.  In summer we are happy to keep our doors open in the evenings and bedroom windows open though we do have dogs.  I have lived here for 16 years now and I believe the area has got safer over the years.  The standard of driving is very poor and the roads are quite dangerous.  Just have to keep your wits about you and look both ways before you cross the road even if the robot (traffic light) is green. 
There are more Traffic accident reports in the local paper than there are burglaries.
The best advice is to be aware, don't go out wearing expensive jewellery, be very aware at ATM's and enjoy this lovely country.

That is the whole point of this crime. If you are friendly with the locals it doesn't matter what race or class if you just treating everyone equally then your more than safe.

Treat everyone with respect until they prove you wrong.

Did not know about the King being conned by the Nigerians, he should not have been so greedy.

Depends on where you live but safety is definitely an issue to be concerned about ... common sense should prevail when walking about and certain areas should be avoided ... I live in Northern Suburbs of Western Cape and we are generally safe ... I feel free to walk day or night ... there is good security

1. Yes, i do feel safe.
2. In the scale from 1 to 10 I would said 6. 
3. No , you can't. I think during the day it's depend of the area and at night I will not recommend.
4. I do believe that it's social problems and unfortunately the government doesn't care what is happening here in SA, they just care about steal more money from the nation.

I've been living in Joburg for 1 year and half and for me it's been good, thank God I haven't face robbery, rape or all the bads things that everybody talk about Joburg but I know that this things happen here, I will not say  that Joburg is safe or not because it's depend of the area and how alert do you are daily but I will say that you have to be aware at nigth and isolate areas, just take precautions and be always alert.

I was a bit more optimistic especially about Cape Town until yesterday when a group of five thugs attacked and severely injured my son who is in hospital and requires surgery

reading the local papers gives one a reasonable degree of information on the seriousness of the crime situation in South Africa

I live in Pretoria and I'd say that Pretoria is far more laid back than Johannesburg. Pretoria has many many diplomats, almost every other house has a police detail/ security at their gates--because of the extra security allocated to diplomats, I find that we live a relative crime free life, and there is no loadshedding /electricity cuts in Waterkloof.
Johannesburg nightlife is insane, there is so much on offer and lots more to do with kids. Johannesburg cost more than pretoria as well.

Public Transport: There is Gautrain and Gautrain buses and Uber makes getting around on an evening out cheap and safe.
I joined Internations because there are plenty of social activities arranged by the expat community

I have lived here almost 2 years and I find the state of fear around the topic of safety and self-fulfilling prophecy. I have never felt safer in a city. South Africa maintains that it is unsafe and there is an entire economy built on this premise. YOu'll be amazed at the number of alarm, security, electric wire complanies here. The media here is very sensationalistic and the papers are full of little international news but every page has some reporting on some horrible act committed--this is because they know people will read the paper because people here are obsessed with crime.
The degree with which people fortify their homes is, I find, personally disturbing. Yes, there is crime in this world, some places more than others but if you use your common sense and listen to your gut, you'll be just fine. We live in the city bowl of Cape Town and we have never had any issues. I have many friends here, who have been here longer than me and they also have had no problems.

I spent most of my life in City bowl Cape Town and I also never had any major problems...but still South Africa is really unsafe compared to most places in the world....CT ranks in the top 10 most dangerous cities for good reason.
You have to watch your back constantly in the city center , the level of vagrancy and dodgy drug addicted people hassling you on the streets is and always has been at an insanely high level. Anything thats not bolted down or locked up will be stolen , if it's possible to break in somewhere it will get broken into and if you walk around without really reading the streets all the time , you will eventually be robbed or even attacked.
Even although nothing terrible happened to me I caught a guy trying to break into my folks house in the middle of the night , was mugged twice and saw a criminal shot in the street etc etc etc.
I have been in Brazil now for a while and it's a lot safer than South Africa without a doubt which really says something about the state of things in SA.

Hi Everybody,
How about  Rosebank area in cape town is it safe?