Safety in the Eastern Cape

Safety is often a concern for people visiting South Africa and whilst some areas do suffer from high crime rates there is no reason that this should affect you on your trip to the Eastern Cape. We provide a few general safety tips for visiting South Africa. Don’t let them scare you – most are common sense and should be exercised everywhere in the world. 

Safety Tips:

• We would strongly suggest avoiding walking around streets alone at any time and always keep to busy well-lit areas at night such as malls or entertainment centres.
• Lock your car and avoid carrying valuables – if you need to leave something in your car leave it out of sight and make sure you park in properly guarded car parks. 
• Be careful at ATMs.
• Carrying large sums of cash or wearing expensive looking jewellery is not a good idea as this offers temptation to muggers.
• Look after bags and wallets; do not leave them lying around on tables.
• Some areas in major cities can be more dangerous than others. It is completely possible to have a great holiday and still avoid these areas. Check with your accommodation or other locals who will advise you on which areas to avoid.
• If you are driving around you are likely to come across hitchhikers – needless to say it is not a good idea to pick up a stranger anywhere in the world and that is no different here in the Eastern Cape.
• It is also good practise to lock your car doors from the inside whilst driving, especially through towns and cities and keep your windows up when stopping at traffic lights.