Travel in South Africa - The Good the Bad and the Ugly

In all my published travelogues I focus on the beauty of South Africa. Why? Perhaps because I was raised to look at the bright side and rather say nothing about the dark side. "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all."

In this hub, which I will link to all my travelogues, I'm giving my readers who are not living in South Africa the opportunity to get a balanced idea of South Africa. Let nobody ever say I created a false impression of my home country.

South Africa is indeed a beautiful country. Its geography and human-and-animal-friendly climate(s) make it a perfect homeland for all races and a tourist's paradise.

The beauty of South-Africa has no end. Tourism is one of our country's most flourishing businesses.

But, sadly, the bad and the ugly exist just as much as the beauty.

Let these pictures talk for themselves.

This is but only a tip of the iceberg about BAD in South Africa!

Then we also have the UGLY...

Crime

The increases in crimes such as sexual assault, murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery and hi­jacking, is a matter of great concern in South Africa. What makes this even more alarming is the arrogant, brutal and even barbaric modus-operandi of most criminals. The 99% chance of getting bail and eventually parole after only a third of a sentence has been served, destroy all fear of the law.

• From April 2015 to March 2016, 40 police officers were killed while they were on duty.
• The ongoing murder of people all over the country (and NOT only the murder of white farmers, white people living on small holdings, and white, vulnerable senior citizens) are major issues that keep the flames of racism and xenophobia burning. During the 2015/16 year 446 violent farm-related incidents were reported. While 80 people were killed in the 532 attacks in the 2010/11 year, only 49 were killed in the 446 attacks of the 2015/16 year. However, this small decrease make no difference to the fact that violent crime causes great suffering among all races in South Africa.
• Politically related violent incidents are also a matter of great concern. A total of 27 violent incidents have been reported between January 2016 and July 2016. Fourteen were murder or attempted murder cases.

Anine Kriegler, Researcher and Doctoral Candidate in Criminology of the University of Cape Town, and Mark Shaw, Chair Professor at the University of Cape Town, recently busted the "myth" that South Africa has become more violent since democracy (1994). Their book, “A Citizen’s Guide to Crime Trends in South Africa”, includes centuries of murder statistics in South Africa, which they did not only obtained from annual crime reports, but also from reports that were hidden from the public. Every individual who wants a clear and balanced perspective on the reality of crime in SA, should read this book instead of forming opinions on media reports.

According to the annual statistics for the 2014/15 year, which were released by the police on September 29, 2015, 17,805 murders have been recorded. About 49 murders per day! Considering the population of almost 55-million, 33 people per 100,000 have been robbed of their lives.

The rising of these numbers in the 2015/16 year to almost 19,000 proved that public safety is deteriorating at a rate of 20% during the past four years. Gareth Newman, Head of the Governance, Crime and Justice Division, envisions a decrease in murders and armed robberies over a period of ten years only after investment in programs that would reduce the extent of child neglect, abuse and trauma in all societies. He believes that South Africa needs more social workers, better trained teachers and a police force that focus on organized crimes and repeat offenders. Through effective use of crime intelligence, proper forensic reports and well-trained, motivated detectives, police will be able to get on top of South Africa's crime, he says.

Protests about serious and less serious issues ending in violence have become the order of the day in South Africa. Universities, schools, public and private properties have been set alight to such an extent that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has taken a decision not to publish and broadcast any content displaying violent protests. This decision only incited more protests, as it violates South Africa's Constitution.

A new ISS paper, At the heart of discontent: measuring public violence in South Africa has been launched in June 2016. The paper sets out preliminary findings from an analysis of the ISS Public Violence Monitor and other research on how to understand and respond to the phenomenon of violent protests.

According to African Affairs political corruption is entrenched in South Africa.

The top 10 corruption scandals in South Africa comprise among others mismanagement of public funds, maladministration in local governments, and abuse of resources. More than 66% of the municipalities are involved in alarming deals of supply chain management to the benefit of employees and Councillors. Tenderpreneurship is now all about greedy government employees partnering with “politically connected” people, manipulating the supply chain management procedures in order to win tenders from the state.

The negative impact of political corruption on South Africa's economy is deplorable!

Poverty and Unemployment

According to The Conversation, who followed the internationally recognized “Cost of Basic Needs” method, approximately 63% of South Africans are poor. In 2013 the unemployment rate was 25.2%. Trading Economics recently revealed a slight decrease to 26,6%.

Racism, Xenophobia, Hate Speech

Racism has many faces in South Africa. Abrahim Harvey, a political writer, analyst and author, listed whites towards blacks, and vice versa, coloured people towards blacks and whites, and vice versa, and now also the rice of intra-black racism.

Rhino pouching

From January to April 2016 a total of 363 rhinos were poached in South Africa.

I can list more ugliness, and give more detail about it, but why spoil the beauty in South Africa with the bad and the ugly, I ask myself daily.

Life is too short to appreciate all the beauty, and therefor I should spend ALL my available time appreciating beauty, I tell myself.

As humans we have choices, and, of course, we have responsibilities. Whatever bad and ugly we can, and may, and are supposed to turn into beauty, we should.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

- Reinhold Niebuhr

Please note: I refrain from posting pictures of ugliness in South Africa. Shocking images, videos and hundreds of articles are available on the Internet via search engines.