On the one hand, Trevor Noah releases a fabulous advertisement, inviting tourists to South Africa.
On the other hand, tourists continue to be used as target practice by armed criminals prowling our streets, on the lookout for opportunities to strike.
Lately their soft targets have included tourists ignorant of exactly how bad things are here.
Five visitors became victims of our scary crime rate this year. But if Trevor’s message succeeds, that number could skyrocket in coming months.
The latest was American Walter Fischel, who literally just stepped off the plane and drove straight into the hellscape of being shot in the face by a heartless robber in Nyanga.
He survived, but the decorated British orthopaedic surgeon Kar Hao Teoh, who was shot in the head in the same area three months ago, wasn’t so lucky.
Like Fischel, his only mistake was taking a wrong turn with his young family in the rental car.
Last week, an elderly German couple stopped on the notorious Baden Powell Drive to admire the striking view of the Wolfgat Nature Reserve stretching out to the False Bay coastline.
Two thieves armed with pangas took the opportunity to pounce, robbing them of their belongings.
Fortunately, passersby didn’t ignore their plight and suspects were caught, the stolen items recovered and some faith in humanity restored.
It could all have turned fatal very quickly, again for no reason other than a wrong turn.
Getting a flat tyre very nearly proved fatal for local singer Craig Lucas, who says he had to beg for his life when two men accosted him, while he was waiting for assistance in Thornton.
Lucas says the one guy, who looked like he was high on drugs, told the other to shoot him, which luckily didn’t happen.
Our Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, also feared for her life when she and her three bodyguards were robbed along the Joburg N3, while changing a flat tyre last week.
At some point we need to have a conversation about SAPS officers, who are supposedly the best of the best, but let’s leave that for another day.
The thing I want to observe today is this impression that armed gangs are just prowling the streets and lying in bushes waiting for opportunities to rob, traumatise and possibly kill people in the process.
This is a scary idea and these recent incidents do nothing to allay those fears.
In fact, they reinforce them as a virtual fact, especially considering that there are so many examples that it is impossible to track.
Joggers, hikers, cyclists have all become victims over the years, many of them foreign tourists and businessmen, like Nick Frischke and Ivan Ivanov.
The fact that one of our ministers fell victim, will hopefully spur government on to tackle this scourge with more urgency.
Because like I often say, they won’t act until they are personally affected.
The fact that the minister couldn’t even be protected, despite having three armed bodyguards with her, says a lot about our own chances as ordinary citizens.
But now that we have spent all this money on getting Trevor Noah to tout our welcoming beauty to the world, we will be exposing more foreigners to it as well.
No doubt more of them will wander into crime hotspots, or stop off to admire one of our many scenic drives or set out to enjoy a peaceful walk in nature, only to come face to face with the type of brutality many of us face on a daily basis.
Trevor’s advert will undoubtedly result in an increase in tourism, but it will also result in an increase in more stories like these.