As a South African living in Europe I am constantly stunned (and amused) at the impressions people have about South Africa that are wrong. Not just wrong: OUTRAGEOUSLY wrong.
About two months ago I started asking my expat friends here in Holland what they think about South Africa, what concerns them about going there on holiday, and what questions they have about the country. I also started asking people I encountered during my day: school teachers, moms at the school gate, my Dutch teacher, to really get a sense of how SA is perceived in the minds of expats who have never visited.
The Thing About South Africa is…
…it’s culturally diverse, racially sensitive, economically divided, and with 11 official languages is a linguistic tower of Babel.
Our landscapes are arid and lush, green in winter and brown in summer; our climate is tropical and Mediterranean, our winters are warm enough to swim in the ocean and cold enough to build snowmen; we have mountains and plains, sea and desert; we have exhilarating cities and depressing slums; we are gifted with bountiful natural resources but have some of the poorest people in the world.
South Africa is blessed but blighted, buzzing with life but crying in pain, united as a nation but divided as a country, reaching for a brighter future but being pulled back by our dark past.
South Africa is massively misunderstood by the international community. People watch the news and see the worst. They hear stories and believe the worst. Having grown up in SA and having lived there on and off in my adult life I am sometimes stunned at how poorly people rate South Africa as a country and particularly as a holiday destination. The misconceptions run deep.
Here are some of the questions and observations that came up time and again.
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“All I hear about South Africa is that it is very dangerous. I feel like I’ll be murdered or kidnapped if I go there.”
This is a biggie, and it was a concern voiced by almost everyone I spoke to. Yes, crime is a massive problem in South Africa. Locals deal with it on a daily basis. Theft is the biggest problem. Car hijackings and home break-ins happen daily, it’s true. As a tourist however you will be most vulnerable to opportunistic pick-pocketing.
As with most big cities anywhere in the world, use your common sense:
Keep your wits about you.
Don’t walk around with your backpack hanging open.
Lock your hotel room.
Make use of the safe in your room to keep your valuables and documents safe.
Don’t carry large amounts of cash with you.
Don’t look clueless.
Don’t walk around dodgy areas at night.
If you are renting a car lock your doors while you are driving. Use the air-conditioning rather then opening your windows. Make sure you have theft insurance from your car hire company.
Will you be murdered or kidnapped? No.
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“Are there military guys driving around in jeeps with big guns? Will those guys kidnap me?”
No. This is South Africa not The Congo or Somalia. We are not currently in the grip of a civil war. The only guys you’ll see in jeeps are surfer dudes, and they don’t have guns.
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“Are there big cities like the rest of the modern world or is it still very basic with mud houses?”
Yes we have cities! Our cities are comparable to cities in the developed world. We have hi-rises, tree-lined boulevards, the biggest shopping mall in the southern hemisphere, stadiums, museums, theatres, kids play grounds, parking lots, highways, suburbs, all those first world perks. We also have Gucci, Prada and the gang, Zara, Mango, H&M, Micky D’s, KFC, and Burger King.
If you are specifically looking for mud houses, go visit Shakaland near Durban where you can have an authentic Zulu cultural experience.
Johannesburg is our largest city with a population of around 4.5 million people, roughly the same size as Turkey’s capital Ankara. Cape Town is second with about 3.7 million, similar in size to Los Angeles or Taipei. Durban comes in third with about 3.5 million people, so roughly the size of Berlin, Germany but with much lower population density and the ocean.
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“Do you have wild animals roaming around?”
You mean in the streets? Um no, because that would make life pretty impossible. South Africa is lucky to have fabulous wildlife. You can see elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, buffalo, rhino (sometimes), giraffe, hyena, baboons, crocodiles, hippos, birdlife. You name it, we’ve got it…in our game reserves. And no, there are no tigers in Africa.
Incidentally if you do go on safari, don’t get out of your car to pose with the lions. The last guy who did that got eaten.
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“I’ve heard there are sharks. Is it safe to swim?”
Yes we have sharks. And yes it’s safe to swim. They are usually kept away by shark nets, but sometimes the odd one gets through. In Cape Town around False Bay its Great White territory, they feed off the seals who live there. Surfers are sometimes at risk.
Advice: be sure to swim at a blue flag beach between the flag posts. These beaches are safe and have lifeguards. Don’t swim when the water is brown with sediment. Sharks love that.
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“Does everyone eat with their hands?”
If they want to. We’re cool like that. You can too. I’d recommend BBQ ribs.
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“Do you have normal food there?”
Do you mean burgers and fries? Pizza? Milk? Bread? Cheese? The best steak in the world? Yes, yes we do. You can also eat ostrich, kudu (a kind of giant antelope), crocodile, buffalo. You can be as adventurous or as boring as you like. We have gorgeous fruit and veg too. And allow me to introduce you to Woolworths…called Woollies by us locals. It’s our version of Whole Foods, it’s Sainsburys on steroids, it’s grocery store heaven. In fact I’ve not found a grocery store in Europe that can top it.
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“Is South Africa a kid friendly place? I’m worried about taking my kids to a developing country.”
South Africa is extremely child friendly. Kids are welcome everywhere and many restaurants have play areas. South Africans love kids. Remember that our warm climate means that most child friendly activities include running wild and free outside under the African sun. We have endless sandy beaches, great mountain trails, wine farms where you can picnic under 400 year old French oak trees, mountain streams for swimming in, the list goes on. You can drink the tap water and there will always be something for your kids to eat from chicken nuggets to fish pie, it just depends on them. And on you.
Here is an article I wrote about visiting Cape Town with kids.
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“What if I have a medical emergency in South Africa? I don’t want to end up in a rural field hospital somewhere.”
You mean like during the Second World War? Amputations with a crusty saw and a swig of whiskey?
Private medical care in South Africa is absolutely first class. The first heart transplant was carried out in South Africa by a South African heart surgeon. Every major city, and most smaller towns have numerous excellent hospitals or MediClinics. I gave birth to my son in a small town north of Durban and it was more like checking into a 5 star hotel than a busy hospital ward. I had a natural birth with excellent midwives and a doctor who listened to and honoured my wishes.
As a tourist you’ll have medical insurance, so expect excellent care.
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“Do black and white people hate each other?”
I can understand why you would think that, it’s the rhetoric of Apartheid still ringing in your ears. Perhaps you learned about it at school. Perhaps you’ve gleaned that impression from the news. Yes, there are racial tensions in South Africa. We’ve only been a democracy for 22 years. There are bound to be some growing pains. But will you, as a guest in our country, as a tourist after the good life experience racism first hand? No. I’m willing to bet that you won’t. What you will encounter is far more diversity than just black and white. We have all colours of the rainbow, one of the largest Indian populations outside of India, and many racial, cultural and ethnic nuances that you will not even be aware of as a tourist. But the bottom line is that all South Africans have a joy for life, an energy that is fed by sun and optimism, smiles as broad as the sky and hearts as deep as the ocean. That is what you will feel when you experience South Africa.
Go on, Google it, you’ll see I’m right 😉
Do you have any doubts about visiting South Africa? Or have you been and loved it?
Thank you for putting a tourist’s mind at rest on this article you have published. Sadly, South Africa is not a safe country to live in and as a tourist you really need to be fully informed of the real dangers that lurk at every turn. As ex-pats, now living in Spain after a spell in Santiago Chile and Brisbane Australia my husband’s work related moves, returning to South Africa we were to see and feel the real changes that are taking place. For those living there these changes aren’t as tangible and more subtle, but we felt the animosity, the anger and frustrations, the short tempers and the lawlessness. The level of service and apathy towards customers. The complaints of being no better off in the new democracy. The weakness of the rand makes South Africa a cheap holiday and the way you have shown some of the countries glorious landscapes, can never be questioned, sadly as a citizen or illegal stealing is common and it’s not a pick pocket but violent and abusive when it happens. The old saying if it should happen to you is no longer and is now when it happens you pray that your ordeal will be a little less violent and that you will come away with your life. Guns are on people for a reason either to defend or to harm legally and illegally. The system breakdown and rotten head of the ANC is accountable for many of the problems in South Africa and it has shown very little in the way of progress and improvement. Unless you are in private medical care and locked behind high walls and armed tactical response and your children are at private schools, you really are not living the real life as it truly is in South Africa. There is a record number of millionaires packing up and leaving, because they see no future there and they could afford the best, those who would like to leave and can’t with the exchange rate can’t afford to and yet those from the continent flock to the south thinking it will meet their dreams and fortune to offer a better life for their families. At unemployment of 24 % and a country unfit to house it’s own and has failed their own people the people are divided and the country is failing. This I honestly don’t believe is what Nelson Mandela foresaw as South Africa’s future. It is apartheid in reverse and less fortuitous for it’s citizens as the downward spiral continues, sadly or we wouldn’t have left as millions of others have before us.
Thanks for your comment! South Africa has massive problems, of course it does. But honestly, for sun, food, an affordable holiday, a splash of culture and colour SA is a fantastic destination. This article was written in that spirit, and also to highlight how misunderstood SA is overseas. I grew up in SA, left, came back and left again 6 months ago, and visited every year in between, and I’ve never been the victim of a crime. There are many comments on my FB page about this article, most positive but some negative. SA’s situation brings out different opinions, as it always has done. I just happen to fall into the positive side. Realistic, but positive. The situation is extremely worrying right now, but I don’t think it’s at the point of no return.
I have enjoyed your post a lot. People have a tendency to form ideas in their minds about a place based on what the media says or what people who do not really know anything about the country say. I am from Puerto Rico and you do not have an idea of the weird questions I have been asked. Just a thing, there are countries where the military patrol with long arms (Mexico, Dominican Republic, countries in Central America) and doesn’t mean they are at war or that there is danger where those soldiers are. In some countries, they just do things different and locals actually feel safe in that way (do not share their view but it is their view).
Hi Ruth, thanks for your comment. Yes that’s a good point about the military, and it ties in with what you say about the locals being used to it. I think the same can be said for SA: foreigners say ‘how can you live like that’ but actually, we are used to it. We don’t necessarily agree with it, but that’s the way it is.
“Do you have normal food?” made me laugh 😀 My sister’s ex-boyfriend is South African and if he had his way he would have gone his entire life without eating a single vegetable. It was all steak, all the time.
#MondayEscapes
Hahaha, yep totally. That’s why we BBQ in our house twice on weekends 🙂
I could probably do with writing something like this about Russia… Interesting to see some of the common ideas about SA tackled head on. Mind you, my main impression of the place is that I LOVE the accent. Although I daresay even that is a bit of a misconception as I expect it depends on where you are from.
Thanks for stopping by! I think many countries are shrouded in misconception, and then you go there and you’re like, wow this is awesome! You should write one about Russia!
Wow, amazing post Lucille! I’m happy to have found your blog through #MondayEscapes.
I’m an expat too, from Brazil but living in Germany (also lived in other countries too). Funny thing is that people ask me very similar questions about Brazil too. I’m happy that even though I’ve never been to SA (hopefully soon) I knew the answers to all these questions. Interesting how Brazil and SA are similar in some ways 😀
Thanks so much! It’s true, many countries are misunderstood. People who make the decision not to visit a place based on things they have heard, or believe without doing their own research, usually miss out on fantastic culture and a great country. I’ve been to Brazil and loved it! We still hope to live in South America one day…:)