Why would any sane person even consider setting foot in South Africa?

Question

Another story in www.news24.com tells of a Doctor shot to death in a car jacking. The streets are alive with murderous thugs who will stop at nothing to get even your mobile. The Government is in denial and sits in silence whilst the Tourist Boards lie through their teeth in their websites saying crime is no worse in SA than anywhere else. A woman is raped every 8 minutes and children are sodomised by the thugs in the so called Rainbow Nation.
Visit www.crimexposouthafrica.org and read the truth from ordinary South Africans who have no other means of protest.

to Savan The truth hurts but unless it is known nothing will change.Crimexpo is not damaging SA-the violent crime is. You need to examine your values as trading human lives for foreign currency is immoral.
to tay jen1- you are a travel agent promoting your business on this site but you promote SA based on how it used to be. Big 5? Is that Murder 18793pa,Rape 55114, Attempted Murder 24516pa Assault with GBH 249369pa and Common Assault 267857pa according to your own Police statistics, which Interpol say are grossly understated, last issued in 2005. Braai? Ask the British schoolboys who were attacked by armed robbers in a private home in Roodepoort a few weeks ago who were doing exactly that. Cheap? Compared to where? Life is certainly cheap in the Rainbow Nation. You are more than willing to sacrifice human life and security in your voracity to make money.
Finally a quote from Peter Bruce,Editor,Business Day " Whatever the Police or Politicians may tell us, this is a violent and threa

Violent and threatening place. Living here is dangerous." reported in the Scotsman of 9 August 2006.

If crime expo is too much for you try southafricaiscrap.blogspot.com and then read Dan Roodt's paper on the scenario for South Africa 2003-2010.
To felyneheart- you are 8 times more likely to be murdered in SA compared to the US and 24 times more likely compared to the UK.
To missbehave- Both the Damilola Taylor murderer and yesterdays terrorists were caught by the UK police. In SA , murderers have a statistically 94.4% chance of not being caught and you call it a Police Force. Most of them are as corrupt as the murderers and rapists walking the streets.

Answer 1

Hi Gerry

Love the name by the way, funny.

Ok, for the question, I would say that many people will go to South Africa from a tourism point of view, why?
1. Most lovely scenery in the world.
2. Some of the most friendly people in the world
3. Cheap place to visit
4. The big 5.
5. Some of the best weather in the world.

The issue is that people have to way up if the above 5 are worth risking their lives over, and many will say "come on, it can't be that bad" and will go. Many come back with the best memories of their lives, and yes, some won't come back at all, but that's the choice they made.

I agree with you that crime is out of control, and I agree that the government is not doing enough to safeguard it's number one priority, to protect it's citizens.

Are people insane if they go to SA, definitely not, they have weighed up the risks in their own mind, and have come to the conclusion that it's an acceptable risk.

Go to SA, but be prepared and be care full.

Cheers

AJ

Answer 2

Why would a sane person go to South Africa? To live experiences there and learn about the culture and lifestyle, instead of being brainwashed by someone else's narrow-minded view of the situation.

Yes, there is crime, and it's violent. Yes, there are horrible things happening there. But if you really want to compare stats together, check out the US ones vs the South African ones. Honestly, I liked being in South Africa more than in the US, considering the US rank in the world today.

South Africa is still under development. South Africa still needs an increase in education everywhere and the accessibility to water, electricity and phone lines in the rural areas. Yet, you can own a house worth a few million euros in Cape Town or get access to DSL internet in Johannesburg, or see the musical Fame live in Pretoria (which was beautifully interpreted must I say).

I was there for a year to get a Masters degree in biology. I could have gone anywhere else for such a degree, but sadly there aren't any roaming lions and elephants up here in Canada. I got robbed, once, and my life got spared. I went to see movies, ate pizza, played classical music with the university's orchestra, talked to plenty of people from various backgrounds, seen the city and the country, seen the beaches as well as the plains.

I think I'm sane. Do you?

Answer 3

7.4 million tourists visited South Africa in 2005. The chance that a tourist will fell victim to violent crime is very small. You'll see that the most people on that website is unpatriotic - thus, representing a very small % of South Africa - a very proud and optimistic nation. There's also fake info on that website... The owner of the website don't allow any comments that's against his campaign. He's totally irrational, hurting South Africa's image overseas. I started a website against his site: www.truecrimexpo.co.za that brings some perspective. I strongly reccommend tourists to visit South Africa - especially Cape Town. If South Africa was such a dangerous place to visit, why is Cape Town the 6th best city in the world, according to the readers of the world's leading Travel Magazine, Travel and Leisure? It relegated cities such as New York, Los Angelous, Singapore, London, Buenos Arias and San Francisco! Come to South Africa for the experience of a lifetime!

Answer 4

Because:

1. its beautiful
2. its cheap
3. the people are friendly
4. the weather is awesome
5. some of the best beaches in the world
6. the infrastructure is pretty descent
7. the people are good looking
8. the food is awesome
9. biltong
10.braai's
11. the big 5
12. all the other animals
13. south african beer
14. spiced gold
15. south african music rocks
16. the karoo
17. the grahamstown national arts festival
18. whale watching in Hermanus
19. the oyster festival
20. oppie koppie
21. woodstock
22. golf reef city
23. the clubs
24. the pubs
25. the nightlife in general
26. the hotels
27. the holiday resorts with international acclaim
28. its a first world country
29. democracy
30. the 2010 world cup
31. economic opportunities are huge!
32. 6000 dollar millionaires made last year alone
33. milky lane
34. steers
35. nando's
36. the drakensberg
37. /\/****\/\ table mountain
38. addo elephant park
39. diving in sodwana bay
40. bungee jumping
41. kite surfing on bloubergstrand

man i could go on for hours....

psst: the website you mentioned - the link does not work. :-(

Answer 5

I have been to SA and I love the place even if It is true there is dangerous, and there is nothing in the middle, only rich and poor, and that causes violent.
When I was coming back to the airport in Johannesburg in front of us was an accident - because one of the drivers was shouted from the bridge.
However there is many places like that, where education is on a basic level or non. There must be something done!

Answer 6

Weet jy hoekom? Well, I'll tell you y. Most people like visiting a country that is as multi-cultural as South Africa. It's a country in which you can find a little bit of the rest of the world. I do admit that the government is not that stable but most people are trying their best to maintain this country's heritage. There are a number of nasty people here just like in America etc. but in South Africa it's mainly the foreign African people who commit crimes here because the governments too wea to do anything about it.

Answer 7

It's true crime in South Africa is high, but that doesn't mean no one should go to South Africa. I mean millions of tourists goes to South Africa every year.
Yes, the government is not doing it's best to stop crime, but i think crime is lower than before and should be very low in 2010 for the FIFA World Cup.

Answer 8

stop promoting this website - how will our country ever get anywhere with this kind of attitude.

the site aims to drive investors away from SA? to what purpose - i wont deny that crime is dreadful but the country is not in such a state that you cant step foot in it for goodness sake. neil watsons site is horrible and insensitive and will not cause any change.

there are people in SA who love there country and are trying to work towards a better future, still believing in the potential of south africa. this attitude of watsons hurts the situation more - how do you fight crime and violence by turning people against our country, rallying people together to turn their hearts hard to our land? HOW? it baffles me.

i am someone who truly wants to see change and hate to hear stories of crime and hurt, but i love my land and the people there and i just dont understand this kind of attitude.

SA is a beautiful country, every 8 tourists = 1 job. much has been and is being done to promote tourim and its a great destination with much to offer. what has watsons site achieved, how can it affect change? why did he take photos off rotton.com and claim that they were of crimes in SA that they were not? this is sneaky and underhand and makes you wonder?

who suffer when he drives investors and tourists away from SA - the people, jobs are lost, children go homeless - cant you see that he is only adding fuel to the problem that he is supposedly campaigning against!

please stop promoting his site

Answer 9

Blah blah blah blah blah.. Seems baldy old git has perhaps changed his name or recruited some poor soul to do his dirty work. Try looking at what is happening in the UK. Mmmmm not a pretty sight is it to think that 10 planes could have exploded killing over 4000 people in a matter of seconds.

Damilolah Taylor....murdered and bled to death in London because they wanted his puffer jacket.

Answer 10

Yeah. The same sane people who burned down South Central.
Where's that Mandela guy now? Dressed in Brookes Bros and visiting Fidel and Raul?