Crime & Tourist Safety in Cape Town

Crime in South Africa has been making headlines for a number of years now. It would be foolish to dismiss this as media hype. However, I have lived in Cape Town for 30 years and crime has never touched me. So what I’m going to say below about crime avoidance is the alarmist approach.

The SA crime situation really is NOT a case of “step out your front door, become a victim of crime”. But in the interest of being paranoid, here are some pointers as to how to make sure that you are way, way less at risk than the person sitting next to you on an inbound flight to SA.

And that’s after all, what its about – just making sure that you are more difficult as a crime target than your neighbour (OK I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true!).

Firstly follow the guidelines on most websites about crime, and take them seriously. Here’s my take on some of them:

Potentially Serious Crime

Don’t walk around alone in deserted areas.

OK, so let’s think about this advice. Two women together do not constitute a group. If you’re walking on the mountain, or are standing by your car at a scenic but semi-deserted tourist spot, do you really think that that being two of you instead of one suddenly no longer makes you an easy target?

Don’t leave windows open at night whilst you’re sleeping.

Even if you are upstairs. I’m sure that beyond 3 storeys of straight wall as in the upper floors of a high rise hotel are fine. But below that even if you think a person can’t get up there, believe me it can and has been done. South Africans have burglar bars for a reason in their homes. Just look around you and see.

Obviously it’s different if you have burglar bars, or electric fencing around the property.

Burglar Alarms

If you are staying in a rented holiday house that has a burglar alarm, use it. Why not?

Reliable Transport

Make sure your rented car is reliable. Don’t run out of fuel and be stranded on the side of the road.

Don’t explore unknown areas on a whim if they look dodgy.

There are a number of areas scattered around Cape Town that are unsafe for tourists. Do a bit of research and speak to local people before you embark on your exploration into the great unknown. Just check first. It’s the sensible thing to do.

Petty Crime

Don’t leave your valuables unattended

This one is also interesting. In South Africa, this does NOT mean “Don’t forget your camera at the bus stop for an hour”. It means “Don’t leave your cell phone or bag on the table in the restaurant for even a minute whilst you go to speak to the manager or go to the loo”. Seriously.

Also it can mean “Don’t leave your bag draped over the back of your chair in the pub or restaurant (even whilst you’re actually sitting in the chair!”. Personally I put my bag under the table and hang it over my knee.

Don’t carry video cameras and other valuables visibly with you.

This is a hard one. The reality is, you want the camera with you, obviously, you’re here on holiday. You want to record the exciting occasion. So here’s what I’d recommend. Insure the camera comprehensively. Replace film, or download pictures regularly, so that if someone does steal it, you haven’t lost all your pictures. Preferably have a small camera that can be kept in a small daypack (that you keep zipped shut!). ie. Where possible, keep your camera completely out of sight.

Ladies, don’t wear expensive-looking jewellery and then totter around town on high heels. You’re inviting a street kid to snatch that chain off your neck and make a run for it. It does happen. And ask yourself what the work “expensive” means to a street child. It doesn’t mean jewellery only over the value of $20,000 per item. It probably means anything they can sell to get their next fix of glue. Very sad, and unfortunately true.

In the car

Don’t leave stuff worth stealing (handbags, phones, cameras, grocery shopping) on the seats next to you. It can happen that someone will smash your window at a traffic light, grab the stuff and run. Corollary: if the window is open, this makes life a lot easier for the would-be “help yourself artist”.

The Train

Daytime it’s fine to go on the train. Get off the train and stay away from the station at dusk and don’t get back on until 7 am the next morning. Seriously.

Airlines / Airports

There has been a big increase in theft of luggage and valuables out of luggage when flying to South Africa. The airlines point fingers at the baggage handling companies and everyone pretends it’s someone elses problem. Bottom line: Carry your camera, laptop, and cellphone in your hand luggage. Lock your checked-in luggage. Label your bags. Don’t look rich. Don’t have hugely expensive looking luggage.

THE BOTTOM LINE

I’d like to add that crime really isn’t that frequent. Common sense is really all you need to make sure that it doesn’t happen to you. You are less likely to be a victim of crime in Cape Town, than to have a traffic accident in your life.

And the major crime that you hear of mainly happens in slums and areas with socio-economic problems, that a visitor would normally not go to.