From the US Embassy in Joburg:

Messages for U.S. Citizens
U.S. Consulate General, Johannesburg
July 25, 2017

The U.S. Mission to South Africa advises U.S. citizens to exercise caution when arranging ground transportation from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg to hotels, guest houses, and residences. Numerous U.S. citizens and other travelers have been robbed at gun point while traveling from OR Tambo International Airport to their place of lodging in what are known as “follow home” robberies. In some instances, U.S. citizens have been injured or shot at during these robberies.

Strange, we keep hearing about how safe SA is these days and that all the scary talk is overblown...

Guys,

Stay at City Lodge on the airport proper and avoid the shuttles and possibility of problems.

Mark

Good advice that any prudent person would appreciate. Opus, do you think this is solely a J Burg issue? Stuff like this happens in hundreds of cities around the world. Do you comment on them also or was this just a convenient spot to throw an internet bomb from?

And just how many of these hundreds of cities have had similar warnings issued? I truly don't know. Personally, I have only rarely heard of things like this.

We'll be overnighting at the Aero Guest Lodge which appears to be very close to Tambo. I'm hoping that the driver from Aero is aware of this concern and will take the appropriate precautions.

Being in Jo'berg is the worst part of the trip.

Opus responded to me via PM with his reasons for his comment. They are valid and come from personal experience. My "bomb throwing" comment was out of line. However, I still do not believe this to be any different from multiple cities even here in the US. We only hear what the media wants us to hear and each of us has different life experiences. Still, and as I originally stated, it is good information that any prudent person should take note of.