Pietermaritzburg Travel Forum

Hello!
I am a female American student who will be studying abroad in Pietermaritzburg, UKZN next semester. I am very excited to go but I am a little bit concerned about safety. I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight on this issue. Do you consider Pietermaritzburg to be a safe place? What are some safety precautions that you recommend I should take take?

Also, any other information on what I should do in my free time, where I should eat etc. is welcome.

Thanks!

Yes, unfortunately violent crime in South Africa is a sad fact that any visitor to the country will ignore at their own peril. You are correct in being proactive to minimise your chances of falling victim to crime.

Of particular concern in SA is the large number of robberies with aggravating circumstances, of which street or public robberies account for 66 percent of incidents. This is also true for Pietermaritzburg, which has in recent times shown a decrease in comparison with previous years (since 2001).

However, the latest crime figures also show an increase in car hijackings from 13 599 to 14 201 cases nationwide.

The murder rate in Pietermaritzburg has increased and the period April 2007 to March 2008 is the highest since April 2001 (according to official police figures).

Another trend you have to be aware of is the high incidence of people driving under the influence of drugs or liquor. This will obviously have an impact on safe road use.

Brush up on basic crime prevention strategies, such as leaving valuables fully secured at home; don't be ostentatious with your jewellery; try not to use your cell phone in public (as this is a popular target); ditto for Ipod's etc.; be aware of your surroundings; travel in groups; make sure your friends know where you're going and expected time of arrival/return; don't load yourself up with baggage (which will inhibit movement and awareness); stay away from areas with poor sightlines; avoid areas that are poorly lit; lock your car doors and wind up windows; do not leave valuables visible in the car (your window will be smashed whether you're sitting inside or not - ask my mom and sister!); don't stop for supposedly injured people flagging you down; don't get out of your car if you are involved in a minor traffic crash (drive to the nearest police station if you become suspicious); be especially weary at traffic ligths or stop signs.

That's what comes to mind at the moment. If you need more specific advice on the crime situation, send me an email and I'll try and find out from some of my friends in the SA Police Service (Natal based).

Hope this has partly answered some of your questions.
Good luck.

Pietermaritzburg is the second biggest city in Kwazulu Natal. It is not very big, and still has a very colonial feel to it compared to many other towns. It is 90 kilos from Durban, with excellent roads etc. There is a lot to do in the area, from game viewing to historical sights, with the coast not far away. I think you will have a great time.

Regards

Mike

Some of the country's finest boarding schools are around the 'Maritzburg area. It is only the central business district (CBD) that is a bit seedy. Plenty of smaller villages in the area where one can be a lot more relaxed about crime.

Just follow the lead of your hosts and fellow students - you will be fine.

Further to what Mike and Gerald said, places of interest you may like to visit could include:

Howick Falls (north west of Maritzburg)
Nearby Umgeni River Nature Reserve (giraffe, zebra and a variety of antelope)
Midmar and Albert Falls Dams
Durban, which has UShaka Marine World
Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park (northern Natal)
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve (northern Natal)

There are many more places and will depend on your interests.

For general information on the area, visit the website of the logal rag, which is at http://www.witness.co.za/

Cheers!

Jeez Johan, after your first post I am afraid to go to Pietermaritsburg!! You are now banned from further contributions.

Seriously, crime is an issue and be aware and alert and always listen to your gut. If a situation or place feels wrong, get out or away. Listening to your gut feel saved me from a few nasty situations.

LOL, mate, those are official statistics, not mine!

Anton's correct though. Awareness is very important to develop a gut instinct that will help to alert you when things may not be kosher.

How about the rest of the statistics on murders . . . .
- in 80% of the cases, the victim knew the killer before the murder (family, friend, colleague, etc.)
- in 80% of the cases, alcohol was involved.

......so, if you don't make friends, and stay away from liquor, you are going to be safe :-)

Hi Johan...Please give me the web address where you get these official figures, as I would like to give additional comment on them, once the whole story has been read.. No wonder you left, you must have been scared to death....As a South African, living in the country, I just want to say, that it is the Matric "summer" holiday here at the moment, and I was quiet happy to let my 19 year old daughter and her 19 year old friend drive from Pretoria to Durban, and along with 1000's of others, they staying there on there own for 10 days

I am extremely optemistic about the future of this country, and personally, I feel some of your comments of late are not conveying the full situation as it is at present, but that is just my opinion.

Regards

Mike






.

Guys, I do not post on these forums to debate whether to be optimistic or not about the country's future. I leave that to South African's living in the country (and as an aside I will note that a recent non-scientific newspaper opinion poll found that 80% of those who participated thought SA was worse off today than 15 years ago - let me stress again, this is not my opinion but a SA opinion poll).

Having said that, I am not going to sugar-coat the levels of crime in SA; just as I would not gloss over crime levels elsewhere if I had some knowledge about that. If VT posters request information about safety in SA, I will answer as fully and honestly as I possibly can - they deserve nothing less.

Mike, let's not kid ourselves about crime in SA - the statistics I mentioned is available from the SA Police Service website. They are available because the government eventually lifted a moratorium on crime statistics (I will not venture an opinion on why the government did not want people to have access to crime figures). It is interesting to note that integrated crime statistics are still not available - that is combined figures for specific crime levels and how successful law enforcement is in solving those crimes.

How accurate these statistics are, remains unknown. From personal experience, I know that many people would not report crime for a variety of reasons: lack of confidence in the police; lack of confidence in the criminal justice system; the view that some offences are merely petty; etc. Furthermore, I know for a fact that (a few years ago) the officer in charge of a certain police station at a tourist beach received instructions from higher up to submit zero crime figures for his division - irrespective of how many offences his officers investigated.

I therefore conclude that reported crime (on which statistics are based) would not reflect actual crime.

Mike, am I scared to death? Yes, I was scared to death when I dropped my son off at school, and heard the chilling cries of a mother desperately trying to get her children out of the car while being hijacked outside the school gate. I am scared to death when I hear the fear in my elderly mother's voice after she recently had her passenger door window smashed at an intersection in broad daylight - she now only drives if absolutely necessary. I was scared to death when jogging along the Durban beachfront and ducking as I heard the crack of a gunshot within yards of me. I was scared to death when stopping at Pretoria intersections and looking at street signs warning me against a "hijacking area".

I am scared to death for my sister when current crime figures show that at least 40 families in SA have their homes robbed every day. One Pretoria suburb, earlier in 2008, suffered at least 13 incidents of armed or attempted robbery in less than a week! Police arrested 9 gang members and linked them to 18 dockets of murder, rape and armed robbery in the same suburb!

Even the Ugandan High Commissioner to SA in June this year deplored the safety situation in SA - in response to xenophobic violence that left 42 dead.

In August, deputy minister of Justice Johny de Lange admitted in parliament that crime is so overwhelming the government does not know what to do. A significant proportion of the 2 million reported crimes in SA are never solved. Half of these crime scenes are not even examined for evidence!

The new minister of Safety and Security Nathi Mthethwa admitted only a month ago that South Africans are living in a war zone where law abiding citizens are being murdered by criminals - not my words; that of the minister.

Let's not delude ourselves - or anyone else - crime in SA is real. I am not making things up, or painting a skewed picture. South Africa is a beautiful country and many tourists who venture there have a wonderful experience without falling prey to crime or violence. However, it would be an insult to the memory of Kathy Odendaal, tortured and murdered in her home during an attack described by the investigating officer as worse than what animals would do, and all the other victims of violent crime in SA, to deny the severity of the problem.

Mike, I trust your daughter will have a wonderful time during "schoolies" and return safe and sound.

Johan, that type of dramatic posting makes me sick. There are a bunch of us who are positive about this country and who are going to stick around and see if we can fix what is wrong.

Could you tell us what percentage of tourists are affected by crime? No, I am not interested in the one off examples. Even Australia has examples like Anita Cobby.

"...that type of dramatic posting makes me sick."

Gerald, I don't blame you; violent crime is sickening.

"There are a bunch of us who are positive about this country..."

Good for you! However, your use of the word "positive" implies that my post, which simply answered a question about safety by using public domain facts and personal experiences, is "negative". If that is so, then I am in company with your own leaders: both the deputy minister of justice and minister of safety and security have publicly expressed concern about crime levels - they must then be negative too?

"...see if we can fix what is wrong."

So, then we DO agree that crime is a significant problem!

"Could you tell us what percentage of tourists are affected by crime?"

Of course not - I wish I could! I'm surprised you "positive" blokes don't badger the government to release those statistics...
Of course, I know of incidents of crime where tourists became victims, such as one tourist from Belgium and one tourist from Wales shot dead in separate Pretoria house robberies within the span of one week. Crime, however, is indiscriminate. Criminals are not going to ask you whether you're a tourist before they rob you!

"No, I am not interested in the one off examples."

Would you be interested in more examples?
What about Antoinette Botha, murdered in her Waverley home? Her unborn child did not survive the knife attack.
What about Tertius Wehmeyer, 64, stabbed repeatedly and then shot dead outside his Boekenhoutskloof home?
What about Dawie Maree Jnr, who died in a Pretoria hospital shortly after he was shot at home in bed while trying to protect his wife and two toddlers from an armed robber?
What about Sias Stander, 69, shot dead in the bedroom of his Coligny home? His wife Hannatjie, 68, succeeded in shooting one of the attackers - after being stabbed 12 times.
What about Charmaine Pienaar, 18, who suffered a fractured skull and lay in her dead mother’s blood for hours after being attacked with an axe?
What about Petrus Louwrens Weyers, 76, beaten to death in his Brummeria home by three attackers?
What about Flip Minni, shot dead at home in front of his 14-year-old son by armed robbers?

"Even Australia has examples like Anita Cobby."
Mate, Anita Cobby was murdered in 1986! I've got more recent examples of crime in Australia if you need them.
Every one of the above "one off examples" occurred in 2008 and is public record. I'd be happy to discuss crime comparisons between SA and Oz with you in another forum, but that is not the subject of this post.

I have asked VT's staff to look at the above posts and to decide whether they foster the spirit of VT. Hopefully they will be removed.

While they do their thing, it is very interesting that all the victims that Johan lists above, are from one cultural group. Is he saying that people who don't belong to that group are safe from crime, or that he doesn't care if there are victims from cultural groups other than his own?

I agree with Gerald...I often get the feeling that some South Africans who have left our shores keep looking for this type of info to substantiate the reasons for leaving...Johan, you have more "stats"on South Africa than 99% of South Africans do, I however do not agree with all of them.

....But Gerald is right, this is maybe not the forum to debate this. I am staying here, and I am happy here, and I will make a difference.

To our American lady coming to study in SA, I think you are going to have a great time.

Regards

Mike

"I have asked VT's staff to look at the above posts and to decide whether they foster the spirit of VT."

My posts have been directed at answering the initial question about safety, honestly and openly. It is based on public domain facts - none of which have been refuted. I have NOT expressed any political ideologies, in stark contrast to Gerald's post. I have NOT made any personal attacks on other VT members, in stark contrast to Gerald's post.

"Hopefully they will be removed."

Gerald, is this your answer: if you don't like a post and cannot refute it, you'll get it banned?


"...it is very interesting that all the victims that Johan lists above, are from one cultural group."

Wrong. Not one of the deceased from the xenophobic attacks belongs to the cultural group to which he refers. Neither does the Belgian and Welshman. Neither does one of the murdered females (I'm pretty sure).

"Is he saying that people who don't belong to that group are safe from crime?"

Not at all. The crime statistics I quoted originally, which you have not refuted, does not distinguish between ethnic groups. Let me make this clear for Gerald: people of all races, colours, creeds, genders and sexual orientation are at risk of falling victim to high levels of crime in South Africa.

"...he doesn't care if there are victims from cultural groups other than his own?"

Ridiculous. I was responding to a question on safety from an American!

"Johan's list of names is gleaned from websites like these:
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2008/10/afrikaners-dying-by-thousands-in.html"

Wrong again. Every incident I referred to was reported in South Africa's daily newspapers. Thanks for the link though, I'll go and have a look...

"Note the title: "White Afrikaners......"

Wow, I think this portion of your post clearly and unambiguously illustrates who the real ethno-centrist is! I will not respond to this comment in this post, because it is clearly in contravention of VT guidelines.

"However, Johan's telling of the crime story is very much twisted for his political viewpoint."

Where in my posts have I stated a political "viewpoint"? I have only commented on crime and safety, which was the subject of this post! You keep on using derogatory terms such as "twisted", but why don't you refute it? In fact, you agree: "I don't deny that SA has a crime problem."

"I often get the feeling that some South Africans who have left our shores keep looking for this type of info to substantiate the reasons for leaving"

Another personal commentary, which has nothing to do with the original question. Easy to refute, but once again, as I have done throughout this post, I will refrain from entering the political arena.

"...this is maybe not the forum to debate this."

It is not the forum to debate politics, and I have not taken any political sides - contrary to Gerald, for example. However, it is the forum to answer - as honestly as possible - the question of safety as requested by the VT member.

Hi there. I am a newcomer to VT, but have taken note of he various responses to your e-mail. For simplicity sake I advise that, for now, you ignore the hot-headed males (politics in SA, as in America tends to encrouch on all areas of life - even religion - where it has no place!) and enjoy preparing for your upcoming adventure! The fact that you have posed the question about safety in SA tells me that you ARE aware of the possible risks and that you have read at least some reports on crime in SA. The world it is a changing, and not for the better. So I will address the safety issue merely by agreeing that you should be vigilent and aware. You do not state where in America you stay. This I believe could affect your perceptions. If you are use to city life, then you would know more or less what to expect. As a young student you should take care to socialise in groups and not travel excessively far at night. You should take care to lock your doors and not "be" a victem/soft target. I am a mother of two living in Pretoria and drive around a lot. I do so freely, but vigilently.
Make sure your vehicle is always road worthy and that you have a mobile at hand. It is not advisable to stop alongside the road if you are travelling alone. Also, when driving in SA, it is required by law that you always have your driver's license with you.
As it is winter now in the US, I am sure you are going to thoroughly enjoy the warm, balmy climate in Natal in Jan/Feb/March and April. Pietermaritzburg is reasonably close via the freeway to some beautiful midland sites. Natal is wonderfully green and lush in summer. Enjoy!

I have two children, aged 24 & 26. Both have their own vehicles and both drive around freely using their own common sense and intuition. My wife and I are completely comfortable about this. But we would be nervous of their safety if they moved to another country where they are not tuned to the local conditions.

My advice to the original poster remains; take guidance from your hosts and your fellow students.

Our children have bumped into the likes of Barbara Bush (Jnr) and princes William & Harry in public social places where they appeared to be having a good time with no signs of nervous bodyguards. Crime is not an omnipresent burden that we carry around all the time.

Hi Gerald. I do not believe that comments made in an earnest attempt to assist a query should be removed merely because the comments offend you personaly. I am sure all the input made (the personal comments aside) will be beneficial and assist the lady to make an informed decision.

Lizelle, since I did not want to waste time posting in a thread that was going to disappear soon, I only alerted VT to the fact that the discussion was taking place to see if they were going to let the thread stand. I did not ask them to delete. And since I did not feel like refuting Johan's dramatics, I would have preferred that the VT staff did remove the thread. I also thought it fair to let everyone on the thread know that I did alert the VT staff.

The thread was started by an American specifically asking about Pietermaritzburg. So Johan goes and unpacks all his angst about the whole country (48 million population) that he decided to leave. Everyone knows that South Africa is a country of diversity - we are not one large mono-culture. Pietermaritzburg's crime picture will not be told by taking horrific examples of murders all over the country and leaving the tacit message that the American has a big chance of going home in a box.

'Maritzburg has a population of about 600 000, and a well-known American city of similar size is Washington DC. Maritzburg's murder rate is about one person per week. Washington DC's murder rate is over 3 persons per week. Enough said.

Sources:

http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2008/_provinces/kzn/pdf/pietermaritzburg.pdf

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/dccrime.htm

Ignoring the tedious personal comments it is only fair to rectify the false perceptions contained in the previous post:

The post compares a single police station in Pietermaritzburg with the entire District of Columbia, which has the highest murder rate of all 50 American States and DC.

Much more significant is DC's murder rate of 30.8 per 100 000 population compared to KwaZulu-Natal's 47.1 per 100 000 population.

This is my last post in this topic, unless someone other than Johan asks me to continue.

Only 15 years ago, the District of Columbia had double the crime rate it has now, making it worse than what is seen in the Kwa-Zulu Natal today. (Washington DC is no longer the US city with the highest murder rate - it has been surpassed by Detroit, Baltimore, St Louis & Newark).

I am optimistic that Washington's turnaround in their then escalating crime can be repeated here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C.

Throwing statistics at tourists is a stupid exercise because it doesn't begin to give the picture of what they will experience out here. Everyone agrees that Cape Town feels like a very secure city from a tourist viewpoint, yet it has the highest murder rate in the country!

I cannot believe that people are suggesting to remove factual information from a phorum just because it doesn't promote the image of a country or it would scare tourists.
Of course statistic are always a little bit tricky and this is the reason they have to be analysed and understood but they sure have the advantage of not being subjective (a lot, rarely, often, etc) and I would expect a 'place' like this' to help me in qualifying merely numeric information.
So when I say for comparison, state that an average italian city like Milan, Rome or Napoli, has 30 murders a year (the worst mafia city has 24 and whole Italy has 600, Car hijacking is a term that doesn't even have a corresponding italian translation) and Durban, has 2800 this is important to be mentioned beyond personal feeling and has a consequence. Afterwards we can discuss about the fact that by taking precautions you can reduce the risks to an acceptable level. But please do not mislead people by keeping away information because statistics stay statistics until you become part of them.

Many car hijackings in this country are voluntary, for insurance fraud.