Negative posts

Hi James

This is what I replied to him on his previous post :

Well what a negative reply from SportsArtist. Sports Artist ????? I wonder what made you so negative ? Are you an expat living in the USA ? If SA was such a dangerous place, what made you stay so long ????

I am not in denial about the crime rate in SA, but then neither am I in denial that it is bad all over the world - Chicago has a higher crime rate than Soweto.

Safety is pretty relative - so where would you consider safe ? Iran, Iraq and Afganistan are out of the question for obvious reasons, and so to is any country that has Oil, for the same reasons. South East Asia has avian flu & then there is always the posibilty of a tsunami. Korea, Guatemala, Cuba, Libya, El Salvador Nicaragua, Chile and Sudan need a regime change according to the only super power - this will also includes Zimbawe, but for other reasons as well. Brasil, Papua New Guinea and Nigeria, you can forget - there crime rate is just as high. Burundi, Cote d Ivoire, Congo, Liberia & Somalia have either a civil war or unrest. The rest of the countries in Africa -not safe due to Malaria, Aids, Cholera or TB. Haiti - also civil unrest.

U.S. Department of State's Travel Warnings list includes : Philippines,Zimbabwe, Liberia ,Côte d'Ivoire'
Algeria ,Libya ,Bosnia-Herzegovina ,Sudan ,Burundi 'Somalia ,Kenya ,Iran ,Afghanistan ,Nepal ,Iraq ( But not SA )

Pakistan is a so-called haven for terrorists and Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia would also be included as unsafe - I suppose why don't we say all Islamic countries.

Columbia has the drug wars or narco-terrorists as some people like to call them.

Israel & the middle east have a on going war and Kyrgyzstan has clashes between pro-government and opposition forces.

Europe, USA and Australia are terrorist targets due to there involvement in the Iraq War, so that to makes them unsafe

Are there any countries I've left out ? Oh Yes - lets say all coastal countries, due to global warming, I think that about wraps it up.

SportsArtists, I think the whole world is unsafe for you, so best stay in bed and not travel

I"ve met hundreds of people that have travelled through Africa, myself included, and have done so safely.
I met one particular woman, who was travelling on her own around the world. She had just come through Africa. The only trouble she had, was when she was mugged in the Vatican City.

he's just trying to wind you up. ignore him.

"throughout the USA" "I'll be traveling on a permanent basis with a travel trailer"
"What do other people think of this"

If he wants to do that, he's a nutter.

I came here in 1995 from England when everyone else was going in the other direction.

I live here because I like it.

It is a fantastic country and a great place to live.

Of course there are problems, we have 60% unemployment where I live in Port Elizabeth.

We need overseas visitors, and when they come they have a great time and are not affected by the crime.

South african Tours and Safaris

What carolineb says.

He confuses the crime rate with the risk to tourists. They are not linked directly.

OP: everyone is entitled to their own opinions and, on an open forum like this, to express those opinions.

Play the ball, not the man.

That tourists are not affected by the crime in South Africa is a load of crock. There are enough cases of murder, rape and muggings on record. But tourists are our best hope to get something done about it. It may sound like tourists are being lured here to bait the beast, but I don't believe this is so. Going to "strange places" involves a higher risk simply because exploring is part of the deal. And tourists always stand out like red thumps. So tourists, all over the world, must simply be aware that they are prey for certain elements in any society. And I truly don't believe that SA tops the list. I've seen and lived through worse.

Negativity in a person is, of course, the effect of personal experience and anybody with an axe to grind on the matter of security is most welcome to do so because only through embarrassing those dickheads who make statements like "Whoever doesn't like the crime is welcome to leave the country" will eventual change be wrought.

In the end, it doesn't change what SA has to offer to the responsible and open eyed traveller and so, I believe, it will continue. And to be quite honest, we, who live here, are facing much greater risks of "discomfort" from the ineptitude of how this country is being managed and run politically. The fact that certain approval processes required by law take up to and more than 6 months to go through is like treason by virtue of economic sabotage if such processes prevent the applicants from generating income and taxes thereon. That's what I'm worried about. The crime rate I can deal with directly.

bundubasher, I agree in principle (#6). But there is a considerable difference between expressing an informed opinion when asked about the subject, and just jumping into any old thread where the OP has asked for some travel advice and the word "crime" hasn't even been mentioned. By anyone. For example a request to comment on an itinerary, nine relevant replies, then the idiot posts his diatribe. Or a question about a specific accommodation. That time he "achieved" reply #1. As you said, play the ball. But keep to the sport (topic).

The consolation is that if continues in that vein, he's not gonna last long.

i'd better not open my mouth otherwise 'furious' will be after me!!! hehehe ;-)