throwawayza123

Carrying a weapon in South Africa is a bit of a touchy subject... When I hear the phrase "carry a weapon", I either think of a concealed pistol or a knife. I personally consider the idea of carrying a knife for protection to be really stupid, even if you know how to use it and obtaining a firearm in South Africa is a non-trivial exercise.

To purchase a firearm requires a gun license which is issued by the police for the specific type of firearm that you want to own: pistol, shotgun, rifle or carbine. If you want to own all four, then you need a license for each type. To become qualified for a license, you must complete an open book exam on the specific type of weapon which expects you to be able to name each part of the gun, firearm safety and South African law related to firearms as well as a separate closed book exam on South African law on firearms and when you are allowed to use a firearm in self-defence. After you have a license, you may purchase a gun for that license. A firearm must be kept in a gun safe at all times and if you want to keep it on your premises, then you must install a safe and have the police inspect it. If you don't have a gun safe, then the firearm will usually be kept by a gun shop/firearms range and you will take it out when you want to use it with obvious exceptions (hunting, etc).

(Obligatory "white South African")

White South African chiming in. Definitely not. If anything we are still the most favoured and fortunate population group. Certain laws (Black Empowerment Equity) have granted additional rights to black people (or previously disadvantaged) at the expense of whites and many whites who are affected by this bitterly complain about it and cry "discrimination". The larger problem with BEE and other laws is that they tend to benefit a very small group of black people who usually have direct family connections to politicians and the wealth that these "tenderpreneurs" obtain doesn't trickle down to those who most need it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that during the Apartheid regime, it was virtually impossible to be white and unemployed. You could be an alcoholic mouth breather with a drug problem and you would still be given some form of government employment (usually as a foreman to a team of black labourers). This has subsequently decimated a significant number of whites and they are very bitter as a result.

In addition to all of this, South Africa has gone through a horrific depression and finding employment for many people, irrespective of their skin colour has been hard.

"Don't walk around in a dangerous area late at night."

Which part of that are you struggling with ?

There was certainly less crime but our black population were treated like shit by the police. Please also keep in mind that the bulk of the violent crime in South Africa occurs in the poorest areas such as squatter camps, locations and townships which only have black or coloured populations. Violent crime does spill over to wealthier areas, but not nearly to the extreme that it exists in the poverty stricken areas.

Crime in South Africa is different to crime in any country that doesn't have the levels on social inequality that we have here. The poor in South Africa have nothing and our politicians don't give a shit about anyone.

If you as a tourist are stupid enough to go into a township, location or squatter camp in the middle of the night then you quite frankly deserve whatever comes to you. If I were visiting the USA, I would avoid walking around late at night in Detroit, Compton and various other areas because I'm not fucking stupid.