Craighall Park

It is impossible to talk about South Africa, and especially Johannesburg, without talking safety.
For example, there are areas that one "just doesn't go to". We once took a wrong turn into a township and within a few meters, we were driving on refuse, surrounded by free roaming cows and chickens. It was daytime, we turned around swiftly, but those mistakes can quickly become costly.
Another quirky thing, in Johannesburg only, is that, at night, one does not stop at a red light but slows down and crosses when possible. To stop is to invite car jacking, a very popular type of assault in the city. So red lights are more of a suggestion, really. And also, roughly 25% of the lights do not work at all anyways, even in the CBD.

But the most noticeable example, for me, is the fences. Especially in Johannesburg, each building block is surrounded by high walls, topped by spikes and a LOT of electric wires.
I have taken a few pictures from the super posh area we happened to stay in, to give you an idea.
On top of that, you have private security companies paid to roam the streets in their heavily armed vehicles... It is a bit daunting.
The house we are staying at has walls, gates, wires, then a second layer after the parking with more gates and wires, then motion detectors in the backyard, bars on all doors and windows even inside the gates... It feels like a lot but this is the minimum required to insure your house.

So inhabitants organise their own safety, either in their own or as a community.

But that is not all they provide from themselves:
-Most well to do houses come with their own bore water and filtration system.
-Most houses and businesses have solar, batteries, or generators for the times of the day when parts of the grid are switched off for what is called "load shedding" because there just isn't enough electricity for everyone. These periods can last for 2 to 4 hours a day, each day a different time...
-Some neighborhood even take care of their own roads because it is useless to hope that the government will fix them.

Overall, it feels like the people of South Africa have to fend for themselves on many fronts, and if money helps, it doesn't fix everything.Read more