matnikstym

i have read in lonely planet, let's go and fodors how dangerous capetown and johannisburg are as far as muggings, robberies etc. is it really that bad? i know not to go out at night, but is it safe to go out shopping, eating etc in the daytime. and can you bring your camera to take pictures of the city without it getting ripped off. i will be in capetown 2 days before our safari and 2 days in johannisburg after our safari and don't want to just stay in the hotel doing nothing, but don't want to lose my camera, money and anything else. any help will be appreciated. thank you

KRGfromSD

I was in Cape Town in Sep 2003 with 2 other women. We had no problems. We stayed down near the waterfront and never felt unsafe. I can't speak for J'burg

Mincepie

We were in Capetown in Jan this year. Stayed in a hotel fairly near the waterfront and never had any problems. Also stayed in Johan..but used it as a base to repack and get some sleep..but againe never felt threatened. i am sure there are bad areas as there are in any city...but Johan has plenty to do in safe areas..others will give you more detailed info I am sure.

jcasale

I'm guessing it's pretty much like any big city - you just need to be sensible and aware of your surroundings. We had been told the same thing about Rio and we never felt unsafe there. Of course, we didn't go out alone at night and stayed out of certain areas, but we did everything we wanted to do and took lots of pictures (my dad had a very expensive SLR digital camera). A couple of times when I was sitting at a sidewalk "eatery" I put my camera on the table and the waiter motioned to me to keep it in my lap so people couldn't just run by and grab it. We're going to be in both Cape Town and Jo'burg next month, and I figure we'll use the same general philosophy that worked in Rio (and that works here in Chicago).

Celia

Yes, it's safe to go out shopping, eating, etc. The people who live in Johannesburg go to work, buy groceries, eat in restaurants, go to the movies, shop at the malls and at the roadside, in short, they do everything that people all over the world do. Don't hide in your hotel room and miss this great city.

Do avoid the central city at night (there's nothing there you'd want to see or do anyway), but Sandton and Nelson Mandela Square, for example, are full of entertaining things to do at night as well as in the daytime, as are Parktown and Rosebank and Melville.

In all the times I've visited Jo'burg and Cape Town, I've never been a crime victim.