This is nothing new. For the record, I was one of a few missionaries that first started working in the large townships. We survived just fine although we had rules to govern where in the township we went and at what time of the day we could go.

Someone without proper knowledge should never venture into a township, especially tourists. However, the rest of the country is fair game if you do it wisely and not really any different that traveling to NYC, Chicago, or Baltimore. There are places in those cities I know to avoid while factoring time of day. If you're smart there's not much danger for the tourist in South Africa.