Created July 2014
© WEW Tours
South Africa
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CostsYou must have wondered why I have stated the prices so often. Yes, I am cost conscious. And that may be some of you, too. The whole trip to South Africa did cost me roughly 2,500.00 Euro, excluding the souvenirs I bought, of course. If I would have traveled with a companion then I would have paid less, because I could have shared the cost of a double room. At first, I did consider to book a package tour for the first time. The reason was the fear to become a victim while traveling alone. So I looked up tours offered by various travel organizations. One of them, Studiosis, even had one tour for singles in their program for 3,695.00 Euro, shared double room for 3,445.00 Euro. Flying from Berlin instead of Frankfurt would have cost another 150.00 Euro. It included 13 overnight stays with breakfast, lunch only on 1 day, dinner only on 10 days and only 8 excursions. The rest of the time you were on your own. I estimated that I would have needed 150.00 Euro just for additional food and drinks only. So all in all it would have cost me 4,000. Euro, i.e. around 300.00 Euro a day. I stayed almost double the time , i.e. 24 days overnight, and I had double as many excursions (the most expensive part of it) and paid 2,500.00 Euro, i.e. around 100.00 Euro a day. Money alone was not the reason not to book the package tour. I was afraid of traveling together with up to 25 people for two weeks of which some of them might be a nuisance. During each of my daily excursions I would meet always fewer and different people from all over the world. Also getting in touch with local people and backpackers in hostels are more likely while travelling alone. And since I learned of all the precautions somebody can take and that it is easy and safe to travel around by the BazBus, for example, the decision was clear and that I have no fear to travel alone. Maybe someday I have to join a tour with an accompanying doctor. And if I have too much money just before I die, I would book the "Pride of Africa" journey with the luxury train from Cape Town to Dar es Salam in two weeks for 10,000.00 USD, i.e. 7,194.00 Euro. CrimeSouth Africa is a beautiful country and I only met wonderful people. It's nice to travel around but I would not want to live here. Why? Because I took a lot of precautions not to become a victim of any crime during my trip, but if I would live here, I would not want to be always on the alert. I have read a lot about crime in South Africa before I went on this trip. Then I was told by locals many times to be careful. Then I noticed strange situations, which supports some of the warnings. And there are many people living more safe in gated communities surrounded by high walls topped with barbed or electrified wire or in highly guarded condominiums or in houses with alarm systems and window burglar bars all around; it's like living in a jail the other way around. Some of these impressions I have already mentioned in my previous narrative. What I am telling now is all derived from second hand information. Some are from supposedly reliable sources, others are not. I'll try to distinguish between the two as best as I can. But with such a mass of information, it can only be just a small part of it. I also want to make it as short as possible, just to give you an idea. No easy task. But let's try:
It's commonly known that South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries in the world with one of the highest crime rates, and it's increasing. For example, the murder rate has increased from 15609 (43 per day) in 2011/2012 to 16609 (45 per day) in 2012/2013 according to But who murdered whom? Mostly blacks murder blacks, that's a fact. But how many whites have been murdered? The following paragraph in another report of "Africa Check" states:
“Whites are far less likely to be murdered than their black or coloured counterparts,” Lizette Lancaster, who manages the Institute for Security Studies crime and justice hub, told Africa Check. This is supported by an analysis of a national sample of 1378 murder dockets conducted by police in 2009. In 86.9% of the cases, the victims were Africans. Whites accounted for 1.8% of the cases (although whites make up 8.85% of the population). - See more at Are these percentages correct? According to the factsheet of "Africa Check", there were 15609 murders in 2012, i.e. 43 murders a day. If I take the 1378 murders from the sample dockets, then I come up with 4 murders per day. In my opinion this is not representative enough (less than 9 %) to determine the share of white victims for the whole country with 1.8%, because the white neighborhoods are not evenly distributed and I doubt that the dockets were. So, where are the complete and exact statistics of murders by race? And not only for murders. This has nothing to do with racism. Every "Wanted" list states the race. Even the authorities differentiate between blacks and whites, but not enough. One comment from a reader of the Mail & Guardian newspaper says: "One thing is certain and that is the government's lack of interest in the maintenance of accurate segmented data". As a matter of fact, I have not found any official figures of how many of the whites have been murdered nationwide, not to mention whether by blacks or whites (of course, this only can show the number of murderers witnessed or caught). I think it should be in the interest of the authorities to provide such statistics. It's the only way to take the wind out of the sails of the many right wing whites. Or is the government afraid that the right wing whites may be right? And what I have read and heard is that many whites think alike, and they cannot be all put into the right corner.
And one of the so-called "right winger" is a guy named Steve Hofmeyr, a famous singer and actor in South Africa, who claims that the amount of whites killed in South Africa in black on white violence can fill each seat in a World Cup soccer stadium. Look up I try to compare the statements of Steve Hofmeyr and "Africa Check" as follows: Hofmeyr: The number of whites killed by blacks in South Africa is equivalent to the number of seats at Soccer City stadium. The capacity maybe up to 94,736 ("Africa Check" estimate). "Africa Check": According to Lancaster official police statistics show that between April 1994 and March 2012 a total of 361015 people were murdered in South Africa. Applying the 1.8% figure, it would mean that roughly 6,498 whites have been murdered since April 1994. That's a big difference. Hofmeyr may have grossly exaggerated, for sure. But applying 1.8% of "Africa Check" may be way off, too (see my previous comments). The official police statistic failed to come up with the real figures. Even the total figure issued by the police since 1994 is disputed by other institution. Interpol, for example, claimed that there were 54,298 instead of 26,883 murders as reported by the police in 1995/96. "Africa Check" argued that it included attempted murder. Anyway, even by using the disputed 1.8% there are still 0.8 white murder victims a day or 4 every 5 days. By the way, dead victims of manslaughters are not reckoned into the police murder statistics, according to Hofmeyr. Hofmeyer: A white farmer is murdered every five days. He based this figure on the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa (TAUSA) survey, who stated that 1,544 people were killed in farm attacks between 1990 and 2012, an average of about 70 a year or one every 5.2 days. "Africa Check": According to a 2003 police committee of inquiry into farm attacks, cited by Solidarity, 38.4% of farm attack victims were described as being black, coloured or Asian. TAUSA’s figures suggest that 208 (or 13.5%) of those murdered in farm attacks between 1990 and 2012 were black. Ok, the killing of a farmer every 5 days is not disputed. Only the share of blacks in that figure. The 38.4% is not representative because it covers only one year (if correct). If we take the other "suggested" TAUSA figure, it comes to a total of 1336 white farmers killed, i.e. one every 6 days. Assuming that those figures are more correct, then there are still too many. When I talked to white people they told me that 1,700 white farmers have been killed since Apartheid was abolished. And the farmers have been not just killed for their possessions but also mostly tortured, which is an indication that also racial hatred is involved. I have read many gruesome stories about that in the media. One of the murders happened shortly before I arrived in South Africa. The following excerpt I copied from an article as reported in the news:
"Three members of the Schutte family, a father, mother, and son were brutally killed on March2, 2014 on their farm in Richmond Kwazulu Natal.
Lutz who arrived from Germany for the 77th birthday party of his father, Eckard. Unknown to mother and son, the murders were waiting for their return. When they arrived home, Lutz’s father was presumably dead after his neck and chest were slit open. Both mother and son walked into a frenzy of hell before their bodies were slashed with large knives and torched."
Look-up for yourself
The murderers, two men and one teenager, have been caught and pleaded guilty and sentenced for life on July 30, 2014. Look up the article at
If you want to read about more cruel stories then look up the following When Mandela was elected as a president he did promise to the white farmers that they can keep their land. He didn't want the same economical decline (including a famine) like in Zimbabwe, where president Mugabe kicked all white farmers out. One of this promises was also the introduction of a new land reform to able some blacks to get their land back or to get some kind of restitution if they could prove that they owned the land long time ago and if they could make a deal with the white farmer. But for many blacks it was a fig-leaf in the justification for not taking harder action against the white farmers. So the hardliners took the harder actions into their own hands without considering the consequences of a worsening economy, beside the possibility of getting caught and sentenced.
If you want to read about the white hardliners then look up the following link about an article titled "Hidden genocide. That is the only way to describe what is happening to white farmers in South Africa":
Ok, there is a lot of new hardship for whites after Apartheid. For sure there was a lot of bitter hardship for most blacks before. Now it not only affects the blacks in general anymore but mostly the poor. However, most poor people are still black and mostly still living in townships and black communities with a high murder rate. But it's not all about murders. The other crimes even hit higher figures, of course. Sexual crimes like rape, for example, are four times higher than murder. If you want you may look up
www.crimestatssa.com/national.php
Crime breeds crime. What can be done to reduce the crime rate in general? The government must start with the kids to take them out of the vicious circle. And this can only happen by providing good education, education, education. But that's still a big problem in South Africa. See next. PoliticsAs mentioned in my narrative before I bought the book "The Fall of the ANC" written by two black guys: Prince Mashele and Mzukisi Qobo. The brief description on the back cover reads as follows: "Political governance in South Africa has collapsed. Scandals of corruption, evidence of nepotism, rampant maladadministration in provinces, incompetence in public offices and a general decline in the quality of leadership are there for all to see. In the view of Prince Mashele and Mzukisi Qobo, this state of affairs has its origins in the messiness and collapse of the African National Congress. As helplessness deepens in our society, concerned citizens ask: 'What will happen to South Africa? The Fall of the ANC: What Next?' seeks to answer this question of the fate that awaits the country". This actually tells all about the state or this nation. And I think that it will not become better in the foreseeable future. Because most politicians of the ANC are either incompetent or do not want any change, because the possibilities to make a fortune through corruption is one of the big "incentives" for which it is worth to compete for a government office. One of the last corruption scandal even involved the president Jacob Zuma. He was accused of having deceived the South African Parliament about the use of funds for security facilities. Instead he used it largely for personal expenses by making additions and improvements to his private home in Nkandla. Those improvements included a visitors' lounge, amphitheatre, cattle enclosure and a swimming pool with a marquee area. People want him to pay back $21 million for the upgrade of his private home now. Zuma protested the allegations, claiming that the expenditures are for necessary security facilities of the head of state. For example, he referred to a Public Works documents that the swimming pool was actually a 'fire pool' on the pretext it could double up as a water reservoir for fire-fighting purposes. Look up www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/29/ if you want to know more. Thulisile Madonsela, a human rights lawyer and the Public Protector, is investigating the possible diversion of public funds. I do not know the end of it yet, but I will follow up.
This was only one example of corruption. Now another example, but of nepotism: Recently Zuma’s 25-year-old daughter, Thutukile, was appointed the Chief of Staff of the Post and Telecommunications boasting almost one million rand a year salary. That's 66,000.00 Euro. Nothing more to comment on this. All the corruption money is missing for important improvements of social services to get the poor blacks out of poverty and most importantly for a better education of the children. I have read reports that many schools don't get the books they need. How can a poor kid get a job later on with a decent income instead of becoming a criminal, if they don't have the means to learn enough the right things. And South Africa needs knowledgeable young people who can move into government positions besides filling up important positions in the economy. Most politicians of the ANC today don't have the knowledge to rule a country. They, especially the older ones, knew only how to fight for freedom, according to the book "The Fall of the ANC". A German teacher, I met at the Musafa Backpackers Lodge, told me that he talked to many politicians in government positions, who don't know anything about the economy. He had to explain to one lady how a stock exchange works, for example. So the question is: Why do most people still vote for the ANC. Because they still have the nimbus of doing the best for the blacks by having brought freedom to the blacks, even if personal freedom did not arrive for many. When I asked blacks whom they will vote for, they mostly answered: ANC. So they did get the majority again in the May 2014 election with 62%. Not as much as the years before, though. There are other parties getting closer but still not close enough. One of them is the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 22%. I would have liked them to get the majority. Not only because of its better program but also because of the leader Helen Zille, who is the grand niece of a famous German and Berliner: Heinrich Zille. She was a Mayor of Cape Town and now she is the Premier of the Western Cape. She did get most of the votes from whites who are living mostly in the Cape area. But the increase of votes of more than 5% during the national election must have also come from many blacks. As a matter of fact she was also an activist against Apartheid before. And I think she also would do more for the blacks than the ANC. I will close my short "story" now. There will still be many open questions. Search the internet for more information if you are interested. Or maybe you travel yourself to South Africa someday and make your own experience. I definitely will try to keep abreast with the further development by watching the news. It would be a pity if South Africa would go down the same as many other African states.
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