Whoever has a razor wire business in South Africa...

[randomness]

...must be making money like mad. And the folks who build security fences, too.

You can often tell whether a neighborhood is dangerous by looking for certain cues. Unfortunately, one of the signs I look for is totally useless here.

In the States, if you see bars on the windows and razor wire topped fences, you're probably in a bad neighborhood. By that measure, all of South Africa is a bad neighborhood. Even in expensive suburbs (in fact, *particularly* in expensive suburbs), houses have bars on the windows and razor wire. Some even have electrified wire along the top of their enclosing walls.

And most houses have signs from ADT, Chubb, or some other security company saying "Armed Response", meaning that if you trespass, some rent-a-cop will come and shoot you.

I'm guessing much of this is required by the insurance companies as a condition of homeowners insurance, but it is daunting anyhow.

I'm staying in the suburbs of Nelspruit, the capital of Mpumalanga province, in a neighborhood with a Southern Californian feel. Except for the massive amounts of security fencing. Oh, and the mean-looking dogs behind the fences.

Comments

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

From the jokes in their comic strips, they seem to be awfully worried about armed robbery there, particularly those with some money. They depict it as a common annoyance just like the ladies who run around selling corn and hawking their wares at an annoying volume. Odd combination of worries, that.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

So, I haven't had any problems with ladies who run around hawking their wares at high volume. None of them have been shouting, really.

However, I think they have good reason to be worried about armed robbery here. A *lot* of people get mugged here.

Gotta go and get back to where I'm staying before it gets dark...