Safety and Security in South Africa

would you trust this South African?

Safety in South Africa has been an issue for a long long time.

Not surprisingly, the World Cup being held here has brought these issues up in force and has probably scared some football fans away from the tournament.
The attack in Angola during the African Cup of Nations a few months ago, didn’t help matters, but it is like saying there was a terrorist attack in London so i am not going to Athens!

Austrian Barbara who has “underground contacts” in Jo’burg informs me that rival gangs have produced a timetable over the World Cup for muggings and robbery. An American we meet on the Inter-Cape bus tells of two friends who were threatened with an HIV+ syringe in Cape Town. Neither may be a reliable source.

Nonetheless BBC World reporting from Soweto say that the locals there are upset by such negative World reporting. Certainly the police presence here in Cape Town is heavy and security measures are in place to avoid such criminality. After all, such incidents will only tarnish the World Cup and South Africa.

Here’s hoping for a safe and enjoyable World Cup that will be remembered for the football, not muggings, violence or theft on a grand scale.