OK, I'm with Marius on this one. South Africa in 1990 was Apartheid era South Africa. As long as you were not in the black townships, there was very low crime. I felt very safe traveling there during that period. True corruption at the lower levels was almost unheard of. There were of course abuses on both sides when it came to ANC vs. the government, but that is a different matter.
However, and I can't say if Marius can remember this, there was a growing agitation from the ANC with the desire to affect destabilization of the government through social unrest. Many whites in South Africa at the time were prepared for a civil war. All abled bodied men had to serve at 18, and then were part of the militia. All the adult men I knew had their army issued R1 or R4 locked away, but were prepared to use it when the SHTF.
Maybe the guy in OZ was in an area of ANC turmoil. I can tell you that there was very little trouble I recorded in the Eastern and Western Cape or OFS back then. Have no idea about life in the Transvaal or Northern Transvaal then. (Or whatever they call it now. WTF is Gauteng????)
