I'd sure as hell head butt the man 😅 if it was in South Africa!
Regarding SA... well you know people tend to overexaggerate when telling or passing on something bad... right....
It's bad... but it's not that bad. There are parts to avoid and if you keep an open mind you'll be fine... (like don't go walking at night, lady alone... then you'll be unsafe! No matter which country you are)
We've a lot of safe places but they are growing less and less through the years, however with the new joint ruling parties or whatever they had meshed up after the elections.. well after that I have noticed an incline in police presence and somewhat cleaner streets so they are trying ( not hard enough but they are)