[linuxydave]

Okay, here's the deal. Overall SA has a really big crime problem but it's not a complete warzone. It is heavily dependant on where you live. For example, Cape Town is statistically safer than Johannesburg and the area I lived in Cape Town is statistically safer than the areas around it - there are only a few break-ins a month and hell, my childhood home has only been broken into once and that was because someone opened up a 'troubled youth' centre a few streets away.

However, I don't want to diminish what others have experienced - I just want to put it into perspective. It is still a dangerous country to live in. Even though I lived in a 'safe' area I had to travel through 'unsafe' areas to get to friends, family, and work. On top of this the judicial system is a shambles due to corruption and incompetence. Apathy and burnout is extremely common in the police so they don't really care anymore because why should they? They bust their balls off investigating, arresting, etc only to have the court case thrown out because, for example, important court documents go missing and no one is arsed enough to investigate why :/