In Cape Town yesterday, we struck up a conversation with a random pair from Germany who were not on the ship with us. On vacation, they had spent a couple of days in Cape Town, staying at an upscale hotel in the central business district.
They were very strongly discouraged from leaving their hotel after sunset. Apparently, as nice as everything looks during the day, crime at night is rampant. And one should fear for one’s safety, if one is alone on the streets of Cape Town after dark.
Adding this to the verbal cautions we were given in Durban and Port Elizabeth by locals, South Africa is not a comfortable place to visit. 70% of the total population of 60 million live below the poverty line. Unemployment in the country is around 40%, concentrated among the young. The poor are packed into the townships. Crime, drug use, and Aids is rampant.
Walls and fences and guards are everywhere. Not only to protect ones possessions, but to protect ones life. One could argue that Apartheid (the condition of being separated) while no longer in law, still strongly exists.
What about other poor countries? Brazil, with its favelas in Rio, and where the middle class and wealthy live behind tall walls and fences, has insecure areas to be sure, but I felt free to roam, taking sensible precautions. Not once on our travels there did a resident tell us we should leave. There are parts of cities in the US or in Berlin which I might avoid at night, but not the city centers.
As with other ports of call on this trip, I expect to follow more closely the news from South Africa. But I doubt I will find a reason to return.
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