Safety Tips in South Africa

Travelling to South Africa? Hope you are not afraid of needles! You need some immunizations before you go. At the least I would recommend these for any travel other than on a cruise ship:

Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B – for longer stays
Tetanus
Typhoid

The full list is here of every possibility worldwide, but includes some immunizations you should have had as a child:

Diphtheria
European tick borne Encephalitis
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Japanese Encephalitis
Measles
Meningococcal meningitis
Poliomyelitis
Rabies
Rubella
Tetanus
Typhoid
Yellow Fever


Yellow Fever - You only need this if you are going into affected areas and staying for a while.

BE SAFE: See your doctor before you go! I’m no medical expert, just a safe traveller.

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Some areas of South Africa are in the Malarial Zone. If you visit such an area - PLEASE PREPARE! Malaria can sometimes be fatal and at best may make you regret that you survived. Medicines must be taken weeks BEFORE you come here. There are 4 different species of Malaria and humans can get them all from the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Illness and death from malaria are largely preventable - if you plan ahead.
While you are here you need to use a repellent spray early in the morning and any periods of darkness, especially at night. We have already lost one VT Member to Malaria. Do not take chances!

I would suggest you buy repellent with 100% DEET.

DEET

The information below was taken from the Sunday Times on the 23rd January 2005.

WARNING RE PASSPORT BLANK PAGES

Two recent incidents where foreign visitors have been turned away from South African airports serve as a warning to all visitors to this country: a valid passport is not enough, you need at least one blank page in it.

This would probably not affect South Africans returning home but you may wish to warn family and friends travelling on foreign passports.

Business Day reported this week that Kenny Jacobs, an information technology director, was refused entry to SA on January 5 and locked in a cell before being sent back to the UK for not having enough blank pages in his passport.

Before that, US hedge-fund guru Jack Schwager was refused entry on similar grounds. 'It's the most exasperating run-in I've had with bureaucratic stupidity and rank indifference in my entire life,' said Schwager in an e-mail to his South African colleagues, for whom he was to host two education conferences."

UPDATE May 2006: Please read the tip below. Further precautions are being taken now. Please check with the South African Home Affairs Office prior to travelling.

Regarding trains/ public transport in Cape Town, serious crimes commited on trains in Cape Town at night, unadvisable to travel especially alone. During the day, just be very aware.

If you happen to travel by car, the unwritten rule is to not stop at red lights at night time, if all roads seem clear, then go straight through the red, as people have been known to get car-jacked.

Whilst driving in your car in South Africa, please remember not to keep valuable items on car seats or in view, as it has been known that opportunist thieves will smash the window whilst you are stopped at the lights.

If wandering out and about, keep a good solid grip of your handbag etc., if you don't, you might find your bag attached to a running persons arm.

When you are on a visit in Durban.
If you are going to the beach, take a cab insted it dosent cost much.
Its safer to go with a large group of people.
Dont cary around a lot of money.

If you get robbed, give the robbers what they whant do NOT try to fight them, your life is worte more than money or a camera.
Dont expect any help from your fellow citisens.

A robbery can take place at any time in the day.
I know what I'm talking about. I did get robbed in Durban last time I was there, in the middle of the day in a crowded street.

If you discover that somebody is following you try to get in to a store, many stores have security guards witch could help you.

Another way to lose people who are following you are to run across the road, but be aware before you do this so you won’t get run over by a bus or a car.

We did not personally encounter any crimes, but our concierge and our tour guide constantly reminded us about the need for personal safety. We kept the car door locked, did not wear any attractive items - jewellery, bags, etc. We only took taxis recommended for us by the hotel. We did not take any side streets. We stuck to the main areas after dark.

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A few days after arriving in SA I started to get what I thought was a cold, with a headache and a sore throat. A gurgling solution from the pharmacy didn't really help, and things got a bit worse rather than better when I also got a chesty cough. When decongestant didn't do the trick either, I was finally fed up and went to see a GP. Her diagnosis was - hayfever! I was very dubious, seeing that I frequently suffer from hayfever at home, with a runny nose and itchy, swollen eyes, and I had none of those symptoms now. However, the doctor said that due to the very different fynbos vegetation in South Africa my reaction could also be very different. Anyway, so she gave me an injection and some tablets to take for a couple of days, and I wandered off, still very doubtful. Not for long though. About an hour later the symptoms started to disappear, and I was right as rain for the rest of the holiday - making sure to take my antihistamin tablets every day!

So if you are prone to hayfever and travel to South Africa in spring, make sure you take your hayfever tablets with you and be aware that it may manifest itself with different symptoms than what you're used to.