South Africa: Cape Town Township Tour Groups Robbed

I am an individual born in Cape Town. And I live in a society rated as beeing one of the most violent and crime infested.

Every single moment of every single day, I am faced with the very real possibility that I will be robbed or attacked or murdered. Only when I lived in a different society for a short while (Britain), did I realise what effect living in society like this one has on you.

When you are living in a society where you have to constantly look over your shoulder, and be aware of who is around you, you are robbed of your right to freedom, because when you live like that, you are not free.

I am a freelance photographer, paying for my own studies at university. One day I had to work in a township in Cape Town, called Gugulethu. And I got a little lost, one thing led to another and I ended up with a gun in my face and politely (seriously), asked to hand over any cellphone and wallet, of course they saw a large bag on the passanger side of the car, and ended up taking it from me. Only later would they have realised, that they robbed the right man, because they had taken camera equipment worth +-R30 000. I worked hard to be able to buy those cameras, now I cannot afford to buy new cameras and pay for my studies next year. So what now?

So living in a society like this one, where the crime is at the level that it is, and the Government does not give a damn, it is almost impossible to further yourself, if you are not financially on your own, and trying hard to get on your feet.

A Ghanian man said to me once, that “you South Africans (refering to white South Africans), are quite possibly one of the most patriotic people in the world, even more so than the Americans. You are all complaining about South Africa, cursing the government and so forth, but every one of you can’t wait to return to South africa”, we were in London when he said this.

I am one of those people he was talking about, I love my country dearly, and will always be proud to be South African. But I am so sick of this place, I cannot see myself starting a life or family here. I want to leave as much as I want to stay.

This is a sad incident… However, Cape Town is generally safe for tourists. One million people are expected to flood Cape Town in December and January 2007. I live in Cape Town and it’s wonderful!

I love Cape Town, I live in Sydney Australia. What changed my mind is the senseless murder of one of my friends in Stellenbosch, a quiet seemingly safe part of the Cape. He was a British wine maker working for the large Stellenbosch company SFW. Living in a staff house in the middle of the estate in the middle of nowhere, a gang burst in with AK 47 machine guns and shot both my friend and his visiting French friend. SA Police got the murderers. They stole a small amount of money (like $US2) and a Swatch watch, my friend died, the French guy recovered. My little sister was recently mugged and kicked in Cape Town, living in a very nice part of the city. My best friends, living in an exclusive suburb on Table Mountain had their neighbours broken into and violently assaulted at gunpoint. True stories, however I would never advocate that tourists don’t go to this magical place because of it, just that they watch themselves every second of the day and keep moving, never stay in one place too long, the bad guys are watching and they will kill instead of steal at the drop of a hat. That is the problem. The SA government seems to see this as ‘payback’ for the years of Apartheid but don’t realise the effect this has on tourism or the more important general attitude on crime. Visit South Africa, it will change your life for ever, but never stop looking over your shoulder whilst you are doing it…