Ron McGregor's web site - Welcome to South Africa -safety.htm

SAFETY & SECURITY

It's unfortunate, but South Africa has been developing a very bad reputation for crime in recent years, and our neighbours have experienced this too, although not on the same scale.

However, don't let the alarmists put you off visiting. Much of our crime is localised, and if you observe some routine precautions, then the risk of visiting Southern Africa is no greater than visiting many other parts of the world.

(Please check the Newsletter page for any current comments on safety & security)

MAJOR CITIES

In South Africa itself, it is the big cities in particular that have become dangerous, and you should avoid the downtown areas. Do as the South Africans do, and stick to the new decentralised shopping malls. To see the principal sights, hop on a guided tour - that way you will be safe, and you'll have a qualified guide to tell you what you are seeing. Your guide will also be able to tell you which areas are safe to explore on your own, and when it's safe to explore them.

BE STREETWISE!

Their could be no more perfect word than "streetwise" to describe why travellers are more at risk than locals in any country in the world. Locals are streetwise in their own territory. You may be streetwise in yours, but you're not streetwise in ours.

Tourists often draw attention to themselves by ambling where others walk with purpose. By concentrating on maps or shop windows where locals know where they are going or what they are looking for. By carrying cameras where locals carry briefcases or supermarket packets.

There's not much worth photographing in our big cities, so leave your camera in the hotel unless you are going to a particular site where you expect you will need it. Keep your wallet close to your skin, or use a moonbag strapped around your waist. Have your hands free, and walk with confidence. Stop to look at things, but look around you as well. Avoid places where no one else is around, or where only the wrong element is around. How do you know who's the wrong element? You'll feel it.

Where the locals are, is where you want to be. If the locals aren't around, then you shouldn't be around either.

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Downtown Johannesburg, in particular, is a no-go area unless you are very streetwise. However, you will have no difficulty avoiding it. Indeed, you will find it almost impossible to get there, unless you specifically tell a taxi driver that you would like to see it. By all means ride through in a taxi - you'll be quite safe. But don't get out and take a stroll. You could come back feeling like a dry Martini - shaken, stirred, and very bitter.

Downtown Pretoria is now getting pretty dodgy as a place for walking. It's best to see the sights by taking a tour, or getting a taxi to take you from place to place.

Downtown Durban is another place to avoid if you are on foot.. Stick to the beachfront area, or take a taxi to the specific places that you would like to visit.

Downtown Port Elizabeth is a bad one, but there's no reason to go there. No one else does.

Downtown Cape Town is still quite reasonable, and you can happily take a stroll down St George's Mall, and wander through the Flea Market on Greenmarket Square during business hours. You can stroll through the Gardens and visit the Museums, or walk to the Mount Nelson for tea, even on weekends, as long as there are other people around. No problem. Other sights of downtown Cape Town are further away, and you should take a taxi.

By and large, the downtown areas of our cities do not offer much to the visitor. We are very short on gracious architecture or attractive boulevards. You probably wouldn't be much drawn to the centre anyway.

Our cities are commercial hubs where the office workers gather from eight in the morning till five in the afternoon; then all law-abiding citizens go home. There is no reason to be on foot in any of our downtown areas after five thirty p.m. You're just asking for trouble.

The rule is: Go where the locals go. And if the locals cannot play in their own downtown areas, where DO they play. The following chart tells you some of the places where the ordinary South African city dweller goes walking, shopping, or eating.

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COUNTRY AREAS AND SMALL TOWNS ALONG THE RECOGNISED TOURIST ROUTES

Crime along these routes is of the petty variety, and you are probably safer here than you would be in many other countries. If you are careless, you could lose your wallet or camera to a sneak thief, but that is about the greatest risk you face.

If you are travelling by car, you should not park along country roads and wander off. There is a type of operator who will smash your window, remove the radio and whatever else is lying around, and be gone within minutes. You will find plenty of places to stop where there is proper parking, other people around, and quite often someone authorised by the local authority to keep an eye on your vehicle in return for a small gratuity.

SMALL TOWNS AND VILLAGES OFF THE RECOGNISED ROUTES

In the western parts of the country, where social conditions are not so desperate, you can feel completely safe, and I don't usually bother to lock my car. On the eastern side of the country, petty crime is a problem. O

REMOTE AREAS

These should be avoided unless you are young, fit, and there are a number of you - and that means at least as many males as females. The worst incidents have occurred in areas where the victims should never have gone in the first place. If you are on a tour, you can be sure that you will be travelling through safe areas. However, if you are travelling independently, don't set out on any road without first asking the locals where it goes and how safe it is. And don't just ask any old local. A tribesman on foot will obviously feel that the dirt track through his homeland is not a dangerous place. Ask at hotels, ask the managers of service stations, ask other motorists.

We have had a lot of nasty publicity, because some of our visitors have had some very nasty things happen to them. It is all so unnecessary, because if you ask a few simple questions, and follow the advice you get, South Africa should be a perfectly safe place to visit.

NIGHT TIME

If you are driving, don't travel at night. There are all manner of hazards, particularly animals, cyclists and pedestrians on the roads. There are also opportunist criminals who will take advantage if you should have a breakdown or a flat tyre. It is also no longer a safe practice to stop alongside the road to snatch a nap if you are fatigued.

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Automatic Teller Machines (ATM's)

Automatic Teller Machines (ATM/s) are now commonplace around South Africa and its neighbouring territories. They are usually in good working order, and they provide an invaluable service. They save on standing in queues to change money at banks. They save the frustrations of trying to change foreign money or travellers' cheques in places where they don't see a dollar or a D-mark from one year to the next. But where there is money, there is temptation, so observe these rules:

DON'T USE ATM'S IN DESERTED AREAS. Choose an ATM where there are people around. (If the people happen to be your own people, that's fine!)

IF YOU ARE TRAVELLING IN A PARTY, take some company with you when you make use of an ATM. The criminal element hates to feel that someone is watching. While your wife concentrates on the ATM screen, you can stand to one side and admire the scenery, including the people. And if anyone steps forward to offer uninvited assistance to your wife, then you step forward at the same time, and decline the offer.

TRY TO USE ATM's THAT ARE LOCATED OUTSIDE BANKS. If your card gets swallowed, you will be able to step inside the bank and get it back. You don't want it to be collected and taken off to a banking depot miles away. If the ATM is not outside a bank, let some other person go ahead of you, so that you can see if it works for them. Don't be the first to discover that the !!??****!!x!x thing is faulty.

DON'T ACCEPT ANY OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE. One of the most common tricks is to tamper with the machine so that it rejects your card. The con man then "spots" you struggling, and tells you that he has just had the same problem, but has found out how to solve it. Don't let him touch your card, or touch the keypad. Hit the Cancel key, get your card, and walk away.

IF THE ATM SWALLOWS YOUR CARD, wait until the next person has finished his transaction to see if your card is not returned. When you are sure that your card is not going to reappear, go and report it immediately.

ALWAYS TRAVEL WITH THE TELEPHONE NUMBERS NEEDED TO REPORT A LOST CARD

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HOTEL SECURITY

Theft from hotel rooms is not a great problem in Southern Africa. There are sporadic outbreaks, which last until the culprit or gang is caught, and then things go back to normal. I take only the most elementary precautions, and never lose any sleep about the safety of my possessions.

Visitors, however, carry more valuables than us locals, so you would want to be just a little more careful.

Just about all hotels of any standard will offer some type of safe deposit facility, and this should be free of charge. Bigger places will have a whole row of individual boxes in the office behind reception. Some have safes in the actual rooms. Smaller places should offer the facility of storing valuables in the general safe of the establishment.

Get into the habit of asking about the safety deposit facility as you arrive at the reception desk.

Larger items, like cameras, will generally not fit into the safety deposit boxes. Locking them in your suitcase, or in the built in cupboard of the room, is usually a quite adequate precaution.

THINK! Many visitors have reported things stolen, only to discover later on that the item was not actually missing, or had been left somewhere else. By that time an enquiry has started and an innocent person is under suspicion. In South Africa, where the suspect is almost always black, and the owner of the missing property almost always white, this also produces racial overtones. If you are unlucky enough to have something go missing, please think very carefully about where you last saw the item before you decide that it has been stolen from your room.

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GETTING HELP, and REPORTING INCIDENTS

One Zero Triple One - General Emergency Number

Don't dial 999 or 911. In South Africa, that only works in the movies!

10111 gets you through to a central police control room, who should take all your details and activate whatever services are required. Theoretically, everyone in South Africa is equal. In practice, the boys in blue will make an extra effort on your behalf if they know that you are a visitor.

1023 - Directory Enquiries

If you should find that the person on 10111 can't even spell your name, or seems not to care about your problem - this does happen, you may call Directory Enquiries to obtain any number. Numbers that you might ask for are those of the local police station, the ambulance service, hospital or fire department.

Medical Emergencies

If you are calling for a medical emergency, it is a good idea to get your problem moved from the public sector health service to the private sector health service as soon as possible. You should have insurance, which will cover the costs of private treatment. Your insurance documents should give you the emergency number applicable in South Africa.

This should send a private ambulance or helicopter to your aid, which will be a lot faster than the creaky ambulances of our overloaded public health services.

Our telephone systems

Our public telephones are blue and green. Blue phones take coins, while green ones take phonecards. It is a good idea to carry a phone card with you at all times, as the card phones are less likely to be out of order than the coin boxes.

Calls to 10111 and 1023 are free of charge anyway, so you may use any telephone.

The cellular phone services have their own emergency number - 112 -, which may be dialled instead of 10111. The cellphone companies have very competent operators on their emergency lines, and are linked to private sector medical rescue services. If you have access to a cellphone, make sure you know the emergency number for the network concerned.

Reporting incidents

If you have suffered a theft, you will need to report the matter to the police. Assuming that this is not an emergency situation, you will contact the local police station. They will call on you, or you can save time by calling on them. You will make a statement, detailing whatever loss you may have suffered.

Once your statement has been filed at the police station, a case number is allocated. For purposes of your insurance claim once you get home, you will need to provide your insurance company with the case number, the date on which you reported the incident, and the name of the police station, and police officer, to whom it was reported.

If you are driving, and are involved in an accident, the law requires that you go in person to any police station within 24 hours, where you produce your driver's licence for inspection, and make a statement describing the accident. A case number is then allocated, which you pass on to the car rental company in case of any insurance claim. (You can also complete these formalities at the scene of the accident, which saves you from having to visit the police station later.)

If you are involved in a collision with a person or another vehicle, you are required to remain at the scene of the accident until all particulars have been taken by all interested parties present. If no persons were injured, vehicles may be moved if they are dangerously situated. If there are any injuries, vehicles may not be moved until the police have taken all measurements.

There is one curious exception here. If you are alone, and you knock down a pedestrian or an animal, and you have reason to believe that an angry crowd may execute immediate judgement upon you, then forget about the law. Drive directly to the nearest police station and report the matter. African crowds can get very volatile at times, and are not known for waiting for the law to take its course.

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