Be safe not sorry — or dead

Moment waiting for gate to open is prime hijacking time when you get home

- Hein Kaiser

Crime is everywhere and no matter where you live, in South Africa or abroad, the same rules apply. It's better, as they say in Afrikaans, to be "bang Jan" than "dooie Jan". Vigilance and situational awareness saves lives and protects your possessions.

Contact crimes are no longer simple drive-up-and-grab operations or a hold-up. In South Africa, crime has kept up with the times and technology.

This means that staying safe now means thinking like a criminal, before they think of you, said Gerrit van Heerden, general manager of security company Community Monitoring Service.

From express kidnappings to surveillance and opportunistic following people home and smart tech to outsmart your gadgets, it's all over the place.

Van Heerden said there are a few basic rules that South Africans can commit to memory to keep themselves safer.