Public Channel

Fellow ICA members -

I recently returned from a trip to Cape Town and I felt the need to remind my ICA colleagues that petty crime is prevalent in our 2026 host city. Unemployment and poverty (still largely stemming from apartheid) have shaped the frequency of criminal activity in Cape Town, and I recognize the systems that have led to the current situation (and my own privilege in writing this). I also acknowledge the work of the ICA headquarters team and the local host committee, and I appreciate the posts they have provided about safety in Cape Town. However, many of those posts suggest that petty crime in Cape Town is similar to other urban areas--that was not my experience (though I am an N = 1).

Though Cape Town is a beautiful city with incredible landscapes, friendly people, and amazing cultural experiences, our attendees need to be vigilant about safety in Cape Town more so than other major urban areas. A few examples from my recent experience:

1. Hotel concierges strongly suggested that we do not walk at night, even if we were only going a few blocks, and even if we were with others. Walking at night was highly discouraged no matter the context due to petty crime.
2. Multiple ride share drivers noted that they prefer to roll through stoplights and stop signs rather than stop, because a full stop allows pedestrians to break windows or open car doors in order to steal phones and purses from passengers. We were consistently reminded not to be on our phones when in ride share vehicles, and we witnessed someone try to open doors of a stopped ride share.
3. Locals told us multiple times to put our phones away when standing on a side street. They noted that you should not have your phone out in the open on the street, but if you do, make sure you do so directly in front of a restaurant, bar or other establishment. Do not hold your phone in your hands on a side street or quieter part of a major street.
4. In reference to the above, I was traveling with college students. Over 10% had their phones stolen from them, many directly out of their hands while walking or sitting. 
5. One of our students was approached by a person with a knife while hiking Table Mountain. This is apparently common.

Though the ICA team always makes (good) safety recommendations, it is worth noting that attendees in Cape Town should not take safety precautions lightly, but should be very vigilant. I am so pleased that ICA will be supporting tourism in Cape Town and I truly loved my time there. I also look forward to the conference. But please--be intentional and aware of the safety concerns in Cape Town.

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Bradley Bond
Professor
U of San Diego
San Diego CA
United States
------------------------------

Dear Professor Bond, we are sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience on your visit.

That South Africa has a crime problem is no secret. Yes, petty phone theft is common, and you have to have your wits about you on the street. And yes, it's more prevalent than in many cities in the Global North. What is puzzling is that this anecdotal post presents itself as a public service, as though ICA had not already issued detailed safety guidance to prospective attendees. As residents of Cape Town who live with this reality daily, not from the insulated comfort of a Waterfront hotel, which is, by any measure, among the safest urban environments in the country, we have actively assisted ICA in developing those very guidelines. The practical advice is sound and uncontroversial: do not conspicuously handle valuables such as cameras or cellphones in public spaces, do not walk alone at night, do not hike in isolated areas without company.

What is not sound is scaremongering. And what is particularly disappointing, in a community of communication scholars, is the apparent indifference to framing.

Societies are violent in different ways. In Cape Town, you may need to be mindful of your phone at a pavement café. What you will not experience is having that phone confiscated at the airport so that your social media history can be searched. You will, however, arrive in a society still marked by the long aftermath of colonialism and apartheid. This is a society that disproportionately bears the economic consequences of geopolitical conflicts and wars prosecuted by the very countries where ICA has comfortably and without controversy held its previous conferences. You will find communities absorbing the slow violence of a climate crisis they did not create, but whose architects in the Global North continue to withdraw from the international agreements designed to contain it. You will find women and children facing life-threatening health crises in the wake of the overnight suspension of US HIV/AIDS funding. And you will encounter, if you are paying attention, the epistemic violence of a global discourse that routinely pathologises poverty; one that treats the poor, and particularly the Black poor, as inherently criminal and deviant.

ICA has for years proclaimed its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and internationalisation. That commitment cannot be discharged by including one or two Global South scholars to a grant proposal or panel, or by treating inclusion as charity rather than as a response to gaps in knowledge produced in the North. It requires a willingness to relinquish the security of one's own epistemic privilege: to do what the postcolonial theorist Gayatri Spivak has long demanded of those who claim solidarity with the marginalised: to unlearn your privilege. This intellectual challenge, rather than the city's potential for tourism, is why ICA should be meeting in Cape Town.

Delegates who arrive in Cape Town prepared but not anxious, informed but not prejudiced, and open to understanding a conference as an intellectual encounter rather than a managed tourism experience, may find something they did not expect: a society defined not only by its difficulties, but by its warmth, its fierce commitment to social justice, and a profound love for a country that has survived a great deal and has in recent years taken moral leadership in global affairs lacking in much richer countries.  You will find a society where lack is turned into creativity, and suffering met with resilience. You may even go home with a perspective you did not arrive with.

Whether that happens depends entirely on you.

Herman Wasserman (on behalf of the host committee) 

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Herman Wasserman
Professor of Journalism
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch
South Africa
------------------------------

Herman, I thank you for your detailed response. You bring to light many good points for all attending ICA to consider during our experience in South Africa.

A quick correction: I did not have an "unpleasant experience" in Cape Town. In fact, I noted in my post that I "truly loved my time there," that I am very pleased that ICA will be supporting Cape Town, and that the city is home to "incredible landscapes, friendly people, and amazing cultural experiences." My recent trip allowed me to learn from artists in Langa, scholars at the University of Cape Town, and locals in Bo-Kaap. From my experiences, Cape Town is a remarkable and resilient region. 

I also challenge your idea that my post was scaremongering that lacked framing, as I noted my own privilege and systems of oppression related to apartheid in my original post. I was also sure to articulate that my experiences were my own--a sample size of one. 

My intentions were quite simple and pragmatic: reminding our colleagues that they should be vigilant with safety while attending our association's annual conference, and that guidelines and warnings (that your host committee so thoughtfully put together) should be taken seriously. Sometimes safety guidelines can feel performative; I just hoped that reminding my colleagues of the realities might make the safety guidelines more tangible for others attending.

I look forward to a productive and enjoyable conference, and I hope I can thank you in person for your work on the local host committee.

------------------------------
Bradley Bond
Professor
U of San Diego
San Diego CA
United States
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-03-2026 09:18
From: Herman Wasserman
Subject: Cape Town: Petty Crime & Safety

Dear Professor Bond, we are sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience on your visit.

That South Africa has a crime problem is no secret. Yes, petty phone theft is common, and you have to have your wits about you on the street. And yes, it's more prevalent than in many cities in the Global North. What is puzzling is that this anecdotal post presents itself as a public service, as though ICA had not already issued detailed safety guidance to prospective attendees. As residents of Cape Town who live with this reality daily, not from the insulated comfort of a Waterfront hotel, which is, by any measure, among the safest urban environments in the country, we have actively assisted ICA in developing those very guidelines. The practical advice is sound and uncontroversial: do not conspicuously handle valuables such as cameras or cellphones in public spaces, do not walk alone at night, do not hike in isolated areas without company.

What is not sound is scaremongering. And what is particularly disappointing, in a community of communication scholars, is the apparent indifference to framing.

Societies are violent in different ways. In Cape Town, you may need to be mindful of your phone at a pavement café. What you will not experience is having that phone confiscated at the airport so that your social media history can be searched. You will, however, arrive in a society still marked by the long aftermath of colonialism and apartheid. This is a society that disproportionately bears the economic consequences of geopolitical conflicts and wars prosecuted by the very countries where ICA has comfortably and without controversy held its previous conferences. You will find communities absorbing the slow violence of a climate crisis they did not create, but whose architects in the Global North continue to withdraw from the international agreements designed to contain it. You will find women and children facing life-threatening health crises in the wake of the overnight suspension of US HIV/AIDS funding. And you will encounter, if you are paying attention, the epistemic violence of a global discourse that routinely pathologises poverty; one that treats the poor, and particularly the Black poor, as inherently criminal and deviant.

ICA has for years proclaimed its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and internationalisation. That commitment cannot be discharged by including one or two Global South scholars to a grant proposal or panel, or by treating inclusion as charity rather than as a response to gaps in knowledge produced in the North. It requires a willingness to relinquish the security of one's own epistemic privilege: to do what the postcolonial theorist Gayatri Spivak has long demanded of those who claim solidarity with the marginalised: to unlearn your privilege. This intellectual challenge, rather than the city's potential for tourism, is why ICA should be meeting in Cape Town.

Delegates who arrive in Cape Town prepared but not anxious, informed but not prejudiced, and open to understanding a conference as an intellectual encounter rather than a managed tourism experience, may find something they did not expect: a society defined not only by its difficulties, but by its warmth, its fierce commitment to social justice, and a profound love for a country that has survived a great deal and has in recent years taken moral leadership in global affairs lacking in much richer countries.  You will find a society where lack is turned into creativity, and suffering met with resilience. You may even go home with a perspective you did not arrive with.

Whether that happens depends entirely on you.

Herman Wasserman (on behalf of the host committee) 

------------------------------
Herman Wasserman
Professor of Journalism
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch
South Africa
------------------------------

I fully agree with the sentiment expressed by Herman and the Local Host Committee. Two years ago, ICA's decision to hold its conference in Cape Town met with such great excitement. It makes me sad to see this enthusiasm eroded by what I think is an unfair treatment of Cape Town as a conference venue. Yes, we need to take the safety concerns of conference attendees seriously. There's absolutely no question about that. And I can see the good intentions behind the original posting. However, Cape Town is a popular tourist destination particularly for visitors from the Global North, and the Waterfront is an exerienced conference venue. I encourage everyone to read the "Safety and Practical Guidance" section in the ICA newsletter. You find it here: https://link.icahdq.org/discussion/safety-and-practical-guidance-for-conference-attendees-in-cape-town?hlmlt=VT

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Thomas Hanitzsch
Professor
LMU Munich
Munich
Germany
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-03-2026 09:18
From: Herman Wasserman
Subject: Cape Town: Petty Crime & Safety

Dear Professor Bond, we are sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience on your visit.

That South Africa has a crime problem is no secret. Yes, petty phone theft is common, and you have to have your wits about you on the street. And yes, it's more prevalent than in many cities in the Global North. What is puzzling is that this anecdotal post presents itself as a public service, as though ICA had not already issued detailed safety guidance to prospective attendees. As residents of Cape Town who live with this reality daily, not from the insulated comfort of a Waterfront hotel, which is, by any measure, among the safest urban environments in the country, we have actively assisted ICA in developing those very guidelines. The practical advice is sound and uncontroversial: do not conspicuously handle valuables such as cameras or cellphones in public spaces, do not walk alone at night, do not hike in isolated areas without company.

What is not sound is scaremongering. And what is particularly disappointing, in a community of communication scholars, is the apparent indifference to framing.

Societies are violent in different ways. In Cape Town, you may need to be mindful of your phone at a pavement café. What you will not experience is having that phone confiscated at the airport so that your social media history can be searched. You will, however, arrive in a society still marked by the long aftermath of colonialism and apartheid. This is a society that disproportionately bears the economic consequences of geopolitical conflicts and wars prosecuted by the very countries where ICA has comfortably and without controversy held its previous conferences. You will find communities absorbing the slow violence of a climate crisis they did not create, but whose architects in the Global North continue to withdraw from the international agreements designed to contain it. You will find women and children facing life-threatening health crises in the wake of the overnight suspension of US HIV/AIDS funding. And you will encounter, if you are paying attention, the epistemic violence of a global discourse that routinely pathologises poverty; one that treats the poor, and particularly the Black poor, as inherently criminal and deviant.

ICA has for years proclaimed its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and internationalisation. That commitment cannot be discharged by including one or two Global South scholars to a grant proposal or panel, or by treating inclusion as charity rather than as a response to gaps in knowledge produced in the North. It requires a willingness to relinquish the security of one's own epistemic privilege: to do what the postcolonial theorist Gayatri Spivak has long demanded of those who claim solidarity with the marginalised: to unlearn your privilege. This intellectual challenge, rather than the city's potential for tourism, is why ICA should be meeting in Cape Town.

Delegates who arrive in Cape Town prepared but not anxious, informed but not prejudiced, and open to understanding a conference as an intellectual encounter rather than a managed tourism experience, may find something they did not expect: a society defined not only by its difficulties, but by its warmth, its fierce commitment to social justice, and a profound love for a country that has survived a great deal and has in recent years taken moral leadership in global affairs lacking in much richer countries.  You will find a society where lack is turned into creativity, and suffering met with resilience. You may even go home with a perspective you did not arrive with.

Whether that happens depends entirely on you.

Herman Wasserman (on behalf of the host committee) 

------------------------------
Herman Wasserman
Professor of Journalism
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch
South Africa
------------------------------