The last decade has brought a bewildering increase in the rate of violent crime in South Africa. Car hijackings, armed robberies, rape and violent housebreaking are far too frequent and serve to severely damage South Africa's potential as a tourist destination and investment center. Whites feel particularly threatened, and many families live behind walled houses, with armed-response security, dogs and guns. In reality, black people living in the so-called "townships" - dormitory suburb remnants of the apartheid era - are far more readily attacked by small gangs of ruthless criminals, often in the employ of wealthy racketeers.