[imagesource: Facebook/Walter Fischel]

Last year was rough when it came to tourists being directed into dodgy parts of Cape Town only for terribly traumatic things to happen to them.

Kar Hao Teoh, a British orthopaedic surgeon, was shot dead in August last year in Nyanga after his GPS allegedly diverted him off the N2 motorway. Straight after that, a Los Angeles couple, en route to the airport from Simon’s Town, trusted Google Maps and took a turn for the worst, resulting in their window getting smashed and a jaw broken.

Then, a US tourist named Walter Fischel was robbed and shot in Nyanga soon after landing at the Cape Town International Airport. The navigation system in his rented car directed him to go through the township when suddenly, four men approached his car while he was stuck in traffic and shot him in the face, leaving him close to dead.

The spate of incidents reached a fever pitch, and Google ended up removing Nyanga from shortcuts in November, after talks with the South African tourism authorities.

The Foreign Office and US State Department also updated travel advice and warned visitors against taking GPS navigation shortcuts down back streets.

But it was all a little too late for some, including Walter and that LA couple, who, according to The Telegraph are suing Google for allegedly sending them into direct danger.

Close to the airport, Nyanga sees hundreds of thousands of people pass through each year, but its streets at one time held the unwelcome title of South Africa’s “murder capital”.

A Google spokesman told The Telegraph in December: “We have updated Google Maps and provided an alternative route to our users who drive past the Nyanga intersection.

“This new route takes users away from the area which has been reported by authorities as a crime hotspot and ensures that they get to their destinations safely.”

But Walter insists “Before I came to Cape Town, Google Maps had already known Nyanga was a problem area yet it was still put on the route map”.

“Why they did not remove it a long time ago is beyond me. They have caused major damage to my mental health and healing process.”

The 55-year-old made his recovery in a hospital in Mowbray and was forced to crowdfund to get out of the country and return to his family in Connecticut.

Image: News24

That LA couple are also reportedly suing the tech company after they followed the app into Nyanga and were robbed in October last year. Jason and Katharine Zoladz said they were left terrified and bloodied after attackers threw a paving slab through their side window, breaking Jason’s jaw.

Their case was filed in January in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California alleged that “gangs of robbers would lie in wait for tourists travelling in rental cars” and would “assault the cars by throwing bricks or large stones through car windows, violently assaulting the occupants and stealing valuables”.

Yep, this is South Africa.

[source:telegraph]