Transkei safety - opinions please

[Jean Struweg]

Morning Gents

I have booked to go to Trennerys hotel in Transkei over New Year.

Recently there have been a few violent incidents in the Transkei, two of which targeting tourists being a kidnapping (well covered by the media) and an armed robbery where the robber pulled the trigger in the face of the victim, but thankfully the detonation failed.

These incidents worry me, and it worries SWAMBO even more.

Any opinions regarding safety in the Transkei? Do I just cancel the booking and look for alternatives?

TIA.

Cheers

Jean

[Joao Felizardo]

Morning Jean ; we used to go to transkei twice a year namely to either xora or nqabara or both ; of late wavecrest being  3 years ago and to the haven this year in Feb ; we went pass some signs of service delivery demos on the way to the haven ; I have some colleagues going next weekend on a fishing trip ; I must say I did not enjoy the trip to the haven and have not visited again typically nqabara that we visited during crayfish season and for a good rest and some good fishing ! I feel the last spate of crime it has got to do with crime proper and the failure of the RSA saps to control the situation specifically in the transkei ! For the moment we have no plans to visit again until the saps or the army ( like they did in sodwana and mabibi ) clear the situation ! You don't want to start taking personal fire arms again just in case ... like in the days of the PAC ; not a healthy situation at the moment ; hope that it improves soon!!! 

Rgds 

Joao 

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[Hennie Rautenbach]

Do you have to drive through Mthatha at all ? (sp?)

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[Joao Felizardo]

Hi Hennie;  no not at all ; you drive from east london on the n2 to kei mouth on a good road ;then at kei mouth you take the ferry ; a couple of minutes and you cross the kei river and then drive to the hotel (trenneries) ; it is only a couple of kms from where the ferry docks ; I have done it by mt bike when we camped at trenneries ; there was no trouble at all and the hotel being near the kei is very popular with east london residents (Saturday night sea food night !!! 😋) this until the recent kidnappings and attack.

Rgds 

Joao F

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[Joao Felizardo]

But my reservation is wrt the transkei more isolated ( invariably good fishing !)  Destinations l

Friends as I said are going for a long week end fishing _ 6 people ; in 3x bakkies ; 

Rgds

Joao F

[Jean Struweg]

Thanks for the input Joao

Do you think the close proximity to Kei Mouth mitigates the potential risk?

Cheers,

Jean

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[Andries Piek]

We toured Transkei last year December.  Morgans Bay, Kei Mouth, Dwesa, Coffee Bay.

We approached the area from the south (visited Baviaans) and my honest opinion is that anything from East London and north is off my travel plans for many years to come.

Friends and family from PE to Elliot advised us not to stop in any town not on the coast if at all possible.  Although we didn't experience or see anything negative as far as safety is concerned, the warnings made us feel very uneasy and made the trip less enjoyable.

All the coastal towns seemed friendly and we felt safe.  BUT getting to those towns you need to travel the N2 which felt like a race track (had a really close call on one of the passes) and almost all other roads are in a really bad condition.  The concern is if you are inland and have some trouble due to the bad road condition, then what about your safety.....

Regards

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[Joao Felizardo]

Yes just a personal view because it is not like travelling to the more isolated places e.g. xhora mouth and nqabara;  over the week ends in summer the ferry gets busy ; you can imagine the difference like having to travel to nqabara ( one of my favourite places in the transkei near dwesa ) ; u have to travel about 2 to 3 hours depending on the gravel road condition  after willowvale ; towing the boat if u take one ; so when we book we book for a couple of days in a cottage ;take food and drinks ; fishing tackle etc 

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[Joao Felizardo]

But if you come from GP then the route is straight forward ; jhb to bloem via the N1 then take the N6 in bloem and drive down to east london then the N2 up to kei mouth , cross with the ferry and drive to trennerys hotel .

Rgds, Joao F