Is South Africa dangerous for a foreign exchange student to study abroad in?

I may study abroad in South Africa as a foreign exchange student next year, and I wanted to know if it is dangerous because someone said that it is. Are there any precautions that I should take?

Is South Africa dangerous for a foreign exchange student to study abroad in?
Let me put it this way. One's chances to be a victim of crime anywhere in the world is like playing Russian roulette. The only difference is, in South Africa you do not play it with only one bullet and five open chambers in the revolver. In South Africa you play it with five bullets and only one open chamber in the revolver.
Reply:I do not think it is as bad as the other respondents make it out to be. Firstly it depends on the area (the city, and what section / surbub thereof) and I believe that if one is cautious enough such as not moving at night, carrying things such as jewellery, cellular phones etc that are attractive to thugs, one can survive.
Reply:We've just been visited by a couple of Professors from UJ with a view to this sort of thing. Usually I tell my students to get the hell out of France and go to pretty well any other country as long as they go - but I'm sorry, there is no way I'm going to encourage a load of French mummy';s boys to go to UJ, none at all. Durban or Cape Town, fair enough, but not UJ - or Wits, which is in the same city.
Reply:It s entirely up to you. Depends where you come from also. We lock doors, have alarms on our houses, cars. Drive with gear locks, watch in which areas we ride etc.





On the other side of the coin, you might or might not be a statistic! If you normally game for anything, come over, you might even have a ball!
Reply:Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Sound of falling off chair.





There are white people who are leaving SA to return to Zimbabwe because it is safer here than it is in parts of South Africa!
Reply:Dont want the blood in my hands to say its safe, i would just say look at the crime rate and then decide