Investors and travellers are likely to be watching South Africa closely as fears of violence in the upcoming local government polls prompted British government officials to issue a second travel warning in less than a month. British tourists have been told they "should exercise extra vigilance, avoid political rallies, demonstrations or large gatherings".This was as "municipal elections will take place on August 3 2016", said the "latest update" posted on https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-africa on Monday and listed as still current yesterday.Economist Dawie Roodt said: "We are probably losing our status as an attractive country to invest in for a number of negative events that have taken place in the country. There is no way to calculate the damage or cost to the economy at this point but investors are certainly watching what is happening in our democracy."He also said the first thing that would happen once investors were deterred was a downgrade and an even weaker currency."It is an image thing and it is not only what is happening in Tshwane now, it is a whole package of political uncertainty," said Roodt.Police on Monday said there were elements of "criminality" in the protests.The UK government's travel advisory notes there "is a very high level of crime, but the most violent crimes occur in townships and isolated areas away from the normal tourist destinations"."Most visits to SA are trouble-free, but ... crime increases in areas where large crowds gather, so be particularly vigilant if you're attending sporting or other events that attract large numbers," it says...