Daxk

Juggernaut, you are obviously extremely well informed.

How many is some and a few?
What were SAP officers, SADF Officers, Fire Brigade and Ambulance Personnel advised about their promotion prospects?
What was the Golden Handshake that was offered?

How many SAP recruits were prepared to be "Impimpi"?
Kindly advise what the SAPS Quota for Black officers was pre-1994 as that is what you are implying ?
KIndly advise Factual information.

lccuk08

I've recently moved to Cape Town (I'm British, SA hubby).

Milnerton (Royal Ascot very nice and secure complexes), Table View, Blouberg are good areas to live, lots of security complexes. I live in Big Bay, next to Blouberg and it's lovely. We opted not to look for a place in Parklands on advice from friends & family. Parklands College is highly regarded though, my niece goes there.

If you're in a security complex, these areas are child friendly. Atlantic Beach down the road in Melkbos is honestly where I would want to live when we start a family. Living on a security complex/estate is a must (for me).

South Africa doesn't have the safety and freedom of the UK, you just have to adapt and change routines, be more careful. The sunshine and countryside stir positive feelings though.

Traffic can be crazy, so good to live near the school you choose.

The West coast area, suburbs mentioned above, is convenient for Century City, half an hour or less, avoids city traffic. From southern suburbs: Claremont etc, may take longer to get to Century City due to traffic on the main routes.

Hope that helps.

sky08

Hi there,

three years ago we had similar decisions to make when my husband got his job offer to work in Cape Town. And you know, what worried me then, was all the negative aspects everybody wrote and told us about living in SA. We were quite worried actually, but somehow decided we have to see for ourselves. So after a one-week preview visit we found we can try to live with what's on offer here...

Well, we had our ups and downs also when we moved here, some frustrating moments, but hey, you have these moments everywhere! We have experienced culture shock in other countries before. But you grow out of it!
And crime? It is a disturbing fact, but we had experiences in Europe where we always thought everything, everybody and everywhere is safe. Here, you try to stay out of trouble zones and are more vigilant. Actually now, when we have visitors from overseas, we often cannot believe how careless and thoughtless they act and behave...

Now, we are living in Milnerton for almost three years after having lived in York/England for 5 years. Before that, we lived in other nice places around the world like Singapore and Sydney on expat assignments.

But we still do not regret that we are living in Cape Town. One big point in taking the decision to move to Cape Town was, that we wanted our children to know more and learn about living with people of other cultures and races. And the climate is so much better than in England, the local people generally are very friendly and open and the outdoors lifestyle does make life easier for our kids too. We have two boys, 7 and 9, who just love hopping in the pool in summer and play in the garden all year round. They go to a private school in town, but we will move them soon to a school closer to home, possibly Elkanah or Parklands next year. We lived in town for a short period, but think outside of the big city, close to the beach, life is so much better.

Traffic is quite a concern, so I always would prefer to find a school close to home. It takes us 60mins at 7am to drive from Milnerton to Tamboerskloof! Driving to the international school definitely would take longer! Traffic is quite bad in the rush hour here. And the kids do not enjoy the long ride neither. So we never considered the international school as other private schools often lean on the uk curriculum anyway.

If your husband works in Century City there are good housing options to be found in Milnerton, Sunset Beach, Sunset Links, Woodbridge Island, Royal Ascot and eventually Tableview or Blouberg as was said before.
Parklands is getting huge with lots of traffic in the rush hours but if your kids should go to school in the area it certainly would be an option. You always have to remember also that your kids' friends would live far away, if your school is far away and so socializing for you and the children will be more difficult... And I know what I am talking about here... driving my kids to Hout Bay and Sea Point...
And consider too, that if your husband is away on travel your social net is probably better if school is closer and you should need some help. Anyway I would advise to set the priority in finding a home close to your husband's office. My husband has to work early or late some days, even sometimes on the weekends so it is shorter thus safer to travel for him then too.

Just one more point regarding living in a gated estate. Actually, we did live in a gated estate for a year and now feel actually safer living in a house with a good alarm system outside of the estate. Power cuts usually are no problem in that sense as the good alarm systems always work on battery stand by.

Family life is good here, we have great places where we can go and relax on the weekends and we enjoy our time here!
Hope this can bring a more positive outlook into your considerations. If you want to go more in details please send me a private email.

Sasher

There are some beautiful houses in the Century City complexes themselves (called Century View, Villa Italia or Royal Ascot) . They are all gated and have 24 hour security. Each unit is an individual house with enclosed garden and can be single or double storey. They are also have good access to the N1 which is the main highway into Cape Town CBD. I wouldn't recommend staying in Parklands or Tableview as they are quite close to the petrol refinery and water recycling plants so if the wind blows the wrong way it can be quite smelly. Also there is only really one road into and out of the area so the traffic congestion in peak hours is horrific. Milnerton is a good option for a family but beware you need to look in Milnerton Proper or Tygerhof as the rest of Milnerton (advertised as Milnerton Rugby, Milnerton Sandrift and Milnerton Ysterplaat) are rather shabby areas.
All the schools you mentioned are good choices, just once again remember the traffic into and out of Parklands in the morning is nightmarish.
Best of luck with your move.

AudsFrmSA

I'm sure you will find a gated community somewhere near where you need to settle, as they are very popular, although I cannot speak for Cape Town, I'm in Jhb., pity you weren't moving here, as we have two homes to sell!!

Just make sure you send your kids to a 'private' school, and remember education in SA is about 2yrs behind the UK, as kids over here start primary school the year they turn 7.

Good Luck

Campbells

All sounds like a fantasy

What about when your two boys (white I presume) are faced with trying to get a job in South Africa

South African education is not recognised in many other countries in the world for the obvious reasons.

Glad the alarm has a battery standby, what about your oven in the kitchen, electric gates and electric fence? They on battery standby also?

I guess you have to make the best of SA cause if your investments are based on ZAR they are getting pretty worthless on an international scale so you are pretty much trapped in SA. Of course the kids will miss the pool.

Big trade offs

Campbells

Moving out of SA ?

Tegwyn

Those alarm bells ring out loudly when someone "new" to the forum tells us "it happens everywhere". Very very HCR. I am also intrigued when folk find it safer outside of gated communities. Since my connections to security firms are quite close, that seems to be in contrast with what my sources report back to me.

I would like to know if those kids are allowed to play outside? Do they ride their bikes down the neighbourhood streets? All (sort of) fine behind closed (deadbolted) doors but one can only do that for a spell before heading outside to the real world.

Do concur that the Cape is a beautiful place, even with the lights off.

Stanley10

Which countries, and for what reasons? I suspect the answers are none and because you say so, but I feel I should try.

Campbells

Hi Stan,

Are you looking for statistics ? Sorry don't have those

Reaons:
Because like so many other things in SA a lot of qualifications are forged or bought.

Just like the driving licences from SA.

In NZ SAers have to re-sit the driving test whilst other countries DLs are valid, such as UK DLs.

Stanley10

No I'm not looking for statistics, just a country that says they do not recognise an S African education. One will do.

AudsFrmSA

Yes, selling up...hopefully we can! The market is flooded with the mass exodus going on here...so it could take forever and a day! But we are positive because we stayed in a gated community (security estate) that there will still be buyers out there...e.g. the people from the suburbs are all wanting to move into security estates. In the process of looking for work, getting hubby settlement visa completed, and looking at areas (Edinburgh) to live in.

Mitzyboy

Why

It was the question I asked when I first became a mod on here, and it was a genuine honest question but I got gunned down in minutes!!!

Pablo

Why? Because it's a particularly heavy handed ploy used by some of the ANC's supporters in order to excuse the disgraceful slaughter of innocents that is going on in South Africa. It is a shorthand for saying, 'why complain, when crime happens everywhere' - usually followed by pointing to a crime that has happened in some relatively peaceful country. It is a banal and deliberately dishonest sleight of hand.

Similarly, with the current power and infrastructure crisis, it is now being said by SA government ministers that power cuts happen everywhere, that it is a worldwide occurrence, etc, in order to mask and deflect from the government's own monumental incompetence and corruption.

It has long been a tactic in South Africa to over-report in the local press instances of rape, murder, etc in places such as the UK. The subtext is the same: 'See? It happens everywhere!'

HomecomingRevolution was particularly adept at this little trick, and for a while fools fell for it.

Mitzyboy

But that does not mean that everyone that comes on here asking a similar question is a member if the homecoming revolution and should be treated as so does it?