I feel we have slightly been neglecting our old friend South Africa on this blog recently, so today I attempt to right the wrongs of past months and hope to pacify the baying crowd that wish to see me strung by the toe-nails as punishment for this gross misdemeanour.

As the World Cup is fast approaching being held in SA, preparations have been well under way for the mass arrival of thousands of lovely football fans to descend on South African immigration and each city hosting games. This has seen some remarkable changes and new buildings being built as well as five new stade de South Africa.

The five new stadiums are now finished and it feels as though June will be upon us before we know what the word stade means. This is all great news; however as with most conundrums there are always umms, this month a few readers have emailed asking just how safe it actually is in South Africa? The simple answer to that, on second-hand knowledge gleamed from ex-SA citizens and the wonderful tool that masquerades itself as Google – is not very safe at all.

This doesn’t look good for the World Cup then!

As readers from all 4-corners of the atlas utter the same sentence it could be interpreted as a bad omen that crime in South Africa is so high. I will not bore you with statistics, nor will I scare you with what crimes South Africa tops world-wide lists for, let’s just say that if murder was a sport then South Africa could may well be competing for the title, however don’t be fooled into thinking it is that bad or everyone would be dead already, yeh know?

So with the reasons for the level of crime in SA a subject that looks as vast and deeply political as their position at the top of the table in brutality, we will try and divert away from that unsightly blemish and concentrate on what are the nicer parts of the country, and if the weirdo’s feel as though they are being left out I will also be listing the worst area’s.

The Global Visas definitive list for the 3 safest and 3 worst parts of South Africa for crime.

Worst

Johannesburg

Johannesburg, or Jo’burg as it is fondly known by people that don’t like the name Johannesburg, is regarded as probably the most dangerous city in SA, with the townships on the outskirts such as Soweto held in poor regard and the downtown area of Hillbrow reported to be a no-go zone. Residents of near by areas will warn you to stay out of this area however if you have to go through it drive as fast as possible and don’t stop.

Durban

As with Jo’burg the most common crime in this city is burglary closely followed by robbery and assault, lovely. This makes the two cities very similar in the predominant type of crime taking place, which if you were wondering is violent crime. Durban actually comes out as the most dangerous city in SA for Africans whereas Jo’burg is for White people. Again you are advised to stay clear of the downtown areas, especially after dark.

Pretoria

Pretoria is to the north of Jo’burg and will host 6 games at its Loftus Versfeld Stadium. The city is relatively safe when compared to Jo’burg; however there is a higher incidence of car-jacking in this city, one method is for the would-be jacker to lie in the road as though they are dead, when a car stops to help they are set upon. Advice to avoid this is to drive as fast as possible at people lying on the floor, this I am assured will see them spring to their feet. Again it seems that the Suburbs are the safer option then compared to downtown.

Safest

Cape Town

This city is located on the south coast and is a leading tourist destination in South Africa, because of this it is undeniably still afflicted by crime, but when compared to the ‘worst’ parts of the country you soon realise it is only a small part of this beautiful city. Within throwing distance of the beach the city centre area has been revamped with new businesses being brought in, this period of growth has seen new modern bars springing up all round the area and creating a diverse and varied nightlife in the city.

Western Cape

This could be classed as technically cheating as the city of Cape Town lies within the Western Cape. However this vast region is home to countless un-touristy destinations along the coast and would be an ideal place to stay while travelling into the city of Cape Town to watch the matches being played there. You will find countless safe areas along the coast here and further up the areas of George and Port Elizabeth.

Eastern Cape

All along the Eastern Cape you will find safe and sleepy towns that have there own modus operandi, the crime rates in places like this are non-existent when compared to the cities. The closest city that will be playing matches will be Jo’burg or Cape Town again. This is a great area to immigrate to although not really any good to be travelling from to watch the World Cup.

So in conclusion it seems that if you are going to watch the World Cup in a few months then you should be heading to the matches being played in Cape Town. If your country is however playing in the Jo that is burg then you will have to take more care. As scary as stories of far away places sound they are often little more than that, I’m not saying go down to Hillbrow and show your face just so they know you’re not scared, I’m just reminding you not to let anything stand in your way from doing what you want and finding out for yourself what your opinion is.

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