I can tell you all, having lived in other countries and other big cities, the rules are the same do not walk around with cash falling out of your pockets, dont wear a gold rolex unless you are aware of the area you are wearing it in.

I am going to say this again, South Africa used to be a police state as so the locals who were used to abslute safety and absolute fear have to adjust to the new world wide open country. Give them time it has only been 14 years or so, the fact is it is perfectly safe to walk down the high street at 3am just as it is doing it in the middle of nottinghill in London or even Brixton. Just a lot safer.

Fact is if you are stupid you will get mugged in any central city, most people on this forum will open businesses that do not deal in visibly large amounts of cash where the public see the turnover, this is a risk in any country even the UK, Paris Moscow and New York.

The City of Cape Town is like London quite small in and of itself, to see great properties in London you can look at my favorite web site for the upmarket properties in London on Chase Devonshire blog . com and from there you will not see any figure proclaiming any violence which is a daily fact in London. The rest of the city of cape town is out of what is called The City Bowl, because it is nestled i the foot of the mountain it looks like a bowl, simple hey?

That the London metropolitan police have the highest density of police almost anywhere in the world and they struggle says it all. South Africa has fewer police in the whole country than The City of London has. Sad but true.

The armed response signs you see are no different from what you see when in other countries you see ADT security signs, they are not really necessary as 99%of the unemployed are peace loving people who just want a chance to work. They don't have any skills and this limits them to poorly appreciated jobs that are low paid, the fear of them is greater than the danger they do not even pose.

The fear marketing by the media is used to keep the population in check as it is the only way the locals understand to do this.

Do yourself a favour understand that what you put out is what you get back and treat all the people you meet in RSA with respect and in my experience it is returned.

As a country the people (all the people's) of South Africa have a few characteristics in common, they are blunt and what you see if what you get which to other cultures can be very scary , don't be scared be happy as you don't have to guess. They are also very savvy when it comes to making money and those with a lot of fear are also quite greedy. This is a weakness from the fear of loss.

Be sure that you want to work hard and I can tell you from personal experience that you will make a lot of money, very quickly as it is there you just need the will to succeed. No different from any other country. The fear you can blame on that old twit Bush. He did more damage than the 'extremists' ever could on their own.

He did their job for them and the world is now a much more fearful place and this is borne out by the xenophobia I experienced in London first.

To date this has not happened in Cape Town, they are curious but no more than that. They are adjusting to the world and the neighbors coming to the New African Dream. Its a new century and the America dream has soured.

Be a part of the New Dream that is Africa and be a part of the positive things I have seen with my own eyes.

Oh and one more thing, keep your old bank accounts alive as the RSA reserve bank can be a royal pain. As a dual nationality person or a permanent resident you are legally allowed to have this so keep a post box or a family members address in the country of origin for your bank accounts etc.

I am not a lawyer so do not take this as legal advice, I read the law or government Gazette just like anyone else can, its online.