SA's reputation as a high-crime country as no doubt deters many a potential visitor, even though at most a handful of tourists is killed every year in the course of a crime. Almost unknown is the fact that well over three hundred foreigners are killed every year in South African road traffic accidents. I am not suggesting in any way that this should stop anybody from driving in SA. On the contrary, the road infrastructure is generally good to excellent, and in large parts of the country traffic is so light that driving is a pleasure. However, it makes sense to assume that drivers (and pedestrians, for that matter) are capable of doing the craziest things when you least expect it. Officially, some 11,000 are killed in traffic accidents is SA yearly. There is good reason to believe that the true figure is closer to 18,000. It takes quite a few motorized morons, drunk jay walkers and (especially) minibus taxi drivers to cause such carnage year after year.

Johan