bbm What in particular were you warned about and how did you protect yourself? Just curious.
My flight landed in Johannesburg, I was met with a pre-arranged, paid guide from a service to get through customs and to handle my baggage to my hotel. He was a young, black SA citizen and he told me to not leave my hotel, which was connected to the airport and from which I would leave in the morning for a flight to PE. "Grandmother" he said, "it is very dangerous for white people in J'burg, please stay in the safety of your hotel until I come for you in the morning." He is not my grandson, it is a term of endearment. The black SA bellman told me the same as he deposited my bags in my room. They seemed genuinely concerned for my safety and apologized that the city had such racial problems. I would be targeted because I am white. I believed them.
In PE, I stayed at a friend's home near the beach. All the houses are surrounded with 10 foot concrete walls topped with electric razor wiring and full metal automatic gates at the drive - the kind you can not see through. I assumed it was for privacy, but was told it was for safety as there are really, really bad people who will break in and kill everyone in the house, white people in particular. My friends aren't white, they are Chinese, but even they have a bullet-proof safe room filled with military weapons in the house where they can gather in the event of civil unrest or home invasion. It is normal to have such a room in the houses. They are dead serious about this. When they drive into their property, they do not get out of their car until the gate closes behind them. Hyper-vigilant.
I visited the beach on the Indian Ocean, even waded in the freezing cold water - it was gorgeous, but I was again advised to not linger and to get back to the house before dusk.
They also advised me to not rely on police for help, to never walk anywhere after dark and to never walk alone anywhere. They are my friends, I believe them.
For my drive to CT, I was advised to never stop on the side of the road, even if someone ran out in front of my vehicle, just hit them if it was unavoidable and keep going until I got to a town. As it happens one night, a man did in fact jump out in front of the car in the pitch black middle of nowhere, I swerved, didn't hit him and kept going. He literally was risking his life to stop me, which would then result in his friends coming out of the dark to do whatever. I shook for miles after that. It solidified their warnings. They weren't kidding.
At a farm house in The Karoo, owned by Dutch Africans, the entire yard is surrounded by electric fences and there are loaded weapons everywhere, even in my guest cottage - for my use if needed. I thought perhaps it was for lions, cape buffalo and rhinos, but was told that it was for 'invaders'. One of the women there was a victim of the post-apartheid attacks, her 400 year old family farm house was looted, 400 years worth of family heirlooms gone, burned to the ground and all of her livestock was killed, even her pets dogs were slaughtered. She and her family escaped with the clothes on their backs by running through the bush for miles to a neighboring farm and hot wiring a car. Terrifying stories.
In CT, the homes are similarly surrounded with walls and electric razor wire. The concierge at the hotel told me, again, to not rely on police for anything and that people hire private police forces for protection. Warning signs on some homes read something like "armed response". I was told to absolutely not walk alone anywhere and to never walk at night, to take reputable taxi services only. I was escorted to my waiting taxi and when I arrived at the restaurant, the driver called in to the doorman and he came out to get me and escort me into the restaurant. The process repeated when I left.
With all that in mind, I did as they advised and found the people of SA to be delightfully warm and graciously welcoming everywhere I went. I can not begin to relate how many kindnesses I experienced. I would definitely visit again. There were 3 occasions where I could have been victimized, but honesty and integrity prevailed.
I live in a city that is known to be one of the most dangerous in the world, so I had some street smarts before arriving. There are areas here where I wouldn't go at night and never walk alone during the day. Still, I took their warnings seriously, as should we all.
The difference, I think, is that they willingly admitted that I, as a white person, would be particularly singled out for violence because of my skin color.
This is all true, whether anyone agrees or not. It is as I experienced first hand. But, I LOVE South Africa and would recommend that everyone make the trip once in life. I would live there in a heartbeat if my whole family would come with me.
I have no doubt that Marie was the victim of a terrible crime. Whether it was by locals or one of her own trip mates remains to be seen.
I wonder why she and her tour group weren't warned as often as I was and if they were, and she chose to not adhere to that advise, then how did that couple leave her alone on the beach?
