I’ve just returned from a trip to South Africa and Botswana and have had to “confront” the risks of both humans and animals.

Before leaving, I must admit I was very aware of the potential risks and dangers of the trip. The plan was to spend four or five days in Johannesburg and almost three weeks camping in Botswana. My Australian friends were more concerned about the threats wild animals posed, but I was much more concerned about humans in the cities.

There’s no doubt that Johannesburg is an “interesting” city. For starters, the police stations are protected by security firms! They also don’t get involved into public protests on the basis that it’s not their jurisdiction.

It appears that by and large the communities have resorted to their own system of protection, prosecution and retribution. “Burnings” (i.e. people being killed by being burned to death) appear to be the result of community prosecutions for crimes as minor as theft. The community is obviously at its wits-end.

Car hi-jackings persist and danger areas are clearly identified. A friend of mine (who enjoys mountain biking) told me that “bike-jackings” are also a problem.

Notwithstanding all of this people still get on with their lives. The traffic is unbelievable – five and six lane freeways are packed. In fact the vibrancy of the streets is greater than I’ve ever seen before. Bike races through the dangerous areas still continue with some adaption to provide greater protection. People have learned to live with the risk and refused to allow it to impact their lives. Maybe this is naïve, or just a practical way of dealing with it.

A new law encouraging (okay, maybe demanding) black empowerment is being applied quite normally. Every company is required to favour black people in all categories. It’s a quota system of sorts and it permeates the whole of South African society. There’s the odd comment about it but everyone just gets on with it.

There’s a new train system in Johannesburg and Pretoria. It’s absolutely world class and a pleasure to travel on. Carriages are clean, it’s quick and in Australian terms, relatively inexpensive.  When I was growing up in Johannesburg, trains were dirty and dangerous. We would never have contemplated using a train and would probably never have even thought a whole new system would have been built.

The last time I was there, they were having significant problems with ‘acid water’ underground. The old mines were no longer being maintained and water was building up and almost flooding everything under Johannesburg. My impression at the time was that it was a massive problem. Eighteen months later and it’s not a big topic.

Notwithstanding the enormous challenges and risks, South Africa has grown in many ways over the last 20 years. Economically, socially, politically, and on the sports field, it is a country that has proven its doubters wrong.

Having said that, I am not for a second suggesting that I would rather be living in South Africa. The risks are simply too high… for me. Being able to reduce the risk to my family’s safety was worth every sacrifice.

However, the lesson is still relevant. Sometimes we allow risk to get in our way. There’s always risk – understand it, measure it, manage it, but most of all get on with it.

Contemplating risk is critical but it shouldn’t be inhibiting. We all accept that there are no guarantees in life and it would be very boring if there were.

And so it is with financial strategies. Risk cannot be totally eliminated. Accept that risk exists but evaluate all the risks, develop a set of appropriate strategies, put in place a management plan and then get on with it.

At SentinelWealth we have developed a risk assessment and management service which does exactly this. From the macro risks of global warming and the Euro debt crisis to the micro risks of a parking fine, it rates the likelihood and consequence and develops a plan of action.

It’s amazing how this approach creates a freedom as liberating as the worrying about risk is inhibiting.

To find out more about this service, please contact Melissa Oliver on 02 8908 5300 or info@sentinelwealth.com.au.