Crownjewels

I am sorry if I sounded too insensitive with my previous post.

I know South Africa has HUGE problem with crime, I am not denying it I was just saying that whenever people ask for advise on this forum on travelling to South Africa or even investing their money into South Africa certain people respond by quoting crime stats and how they might possibly be crime victims. Even when they say they have been there and they know about the crime, why do certain people keep on throwing the crime stats and tell them how bad it is in South Africa? Certainly these people have already made up their minds about South Africa and are willing to go back or invest money into the country.


That is just bad mouthing South Africa and scaring tourist away from South Africa, a lot of people would possibly like to invest in that country and would like to spend their money there as tourist but as soon as they read this forum and aks for advise the responds they get is, don't bother the government is corrupt, the crime is way too high.

Yes I agree ordinary citizens should complain about crime and I understand where you are coming from but is this forum really the place to complain and quote how bad south africa is scaring tourist and potential investors away from south africa???

I guess what I am trying to say if I had read this forum before I went to South Africa I would have avoided the country and spent my holiday in another country. I truly enjoyed my trip in South Africa in 2007 and would definitely go back again.

Sorry if I offended you on my previous post, I just wanted to know why people try to bad mouth South Africa all the time?

Daxk

Hi Crownjewels, your comment:Yes I agree ordinary citizens should complain about crime and I understand where you are coming from but is this forum really the place to complain and quote how bad south africa is scaring tourist and potential investors away from south africa???

Where should we raise the points?
Unless there is a body, it does'nt get into the Press
The only way the ANC will do anything is when it becomes International knowledge, proven time after time.
I dont want to throw stats at you,you can spend a lifetime in SA and never experience crime, but when it happens it tends to be a life-changing experience.
The young Belgian student who went to a party in Soweto and got gangraped, the Mormon missionary in Natal last year, The Belgian swimming coach for special olympics and the german businessman who went home in a box, should perhaps have read some forums and taken a bit more care.
perhaps...

Kitten24

Hi, new to this forum and just wanted to say...

I love South Africa and would personally have loved to go home, if I didn't have children. We've been in the UK for 6 years now and went home in February for 3 weeks to have my family meet my new baby boy and decide whether we would like to move back. The change in the country is rather shocking and we had horrific things happen to us while we were there. The day we landed we were mugged at the airport and it just went downhill from there.

When we raised safety issues with friends who still live there, they said that we had probably just become desensitised to it while being away. The idea of having to live in constant fear doesn't seem appealing to me. I fear for my family who are all still there and I miss them with every ounce of me, but would never forgive myself if I moved back and something happened to one of my children. I don't want them growing up in a country where you have to barricade yourself into your house and be afraid to go anywhere. (And I am not exaggerating)

I was once a big supporter of SA and was always quick to suggest it as a holiday destination to my English friends, but will no more be doing so. Can you imagine how I would feel if they took my suggestion and had something terrible happen to them?

Tegwyn

Sad for you Kitten24. Hope you and your family are okay.

I am always amazed how some folks prefer to stick their heads in the sand and pretend all is just fine just because they weren't affected. They may have skipped the bullet (literally) this time but at the rate things are escalating in S.A. it has become a matter of when, not if!

Crownjewels

www.sagoodnews.co.za

TouristTrap

Unfortunately, any good news is completely and utterly overshadowed in a country that is dying a slow death through AIDS and rape, or a fast death through unchecked murder, armed robbery, baby rapes on a widespread scale, etc..etc...

It is like saying that the Holocaust killed 6 million people but hey, there were some great German medical breakthroughs in the chemical and medical field due to the concentration camp experiments.

TouristTrap

Plus. Amazing for a tourist *yeah right*, how you're pushing the country and know where all the websites are....funny ha!ha!

Tegwyn

Yes, seen that site and guess what? That dastardly link to Homecoming is right there. Funny though, on those very positive sites, they acknowledge the brain drain. Wonder why that is? I had to smile at the statement about "nurses returning in droves". Not exactly true but you've got to sell your propaganda somehow.

Kitten24

I'm not going to get into a tit-for-tat with someone I don't know, but just wanted to say the following.

I haven't seen anyone bad mouth South Africa on here, because if they had then I would have had something to say. Don't get me wrong, I love my birth country and it will always be a part of me and in my blood. It's just not a safe place to live anymore.

Being a tourist in a country and actually living there are totally different things. You had a wonderful time there and nothing bad happened, I'm glad for you, BUT that doesn't make you an expert on the subject. I would love to be able to feel more positive about it and not have to be afraid for my family who still live there, but I am a realist.

I won't go quoting any statistics or telling you about different experiences, just know that there isn't anyone I know that hasn't had their lives touched by crime of some sort. You can add as many links to sites as you want, but realise that very little of what is really going on is actually reported.

duglambier

Hi CrownJewels,

Don't worry about all those bad mouth on this forum. Everybody can build his own opinion about a country. South Africa has a lot of problems, there is no use denying it. AIDS, crimes, poverty, illegal immigration, pollution...
South Africa has to recover itself from the Apartheid Era : all the problems don't come from Apartheid, but poor disadvantaged peoples are mostly to hate those who took profit from Apartheid.

Those bad mouth are those who were not able to sustain the change. Those who returned to SA and failed will certainly take their own situation to all the expats as a whole.
In fact, some failed to return to SA, some succeed. It is a question of intelligence, adaptation, management.
There are some opportunities in SA. I tried to invest here with a native South African but I failed due to personal reasons. I think there is a lot to do in this country. Of course there are some savages killing babies and oldies. Of course you have to take care and sometime you can lose your life. South Africa is not really dangerous providing you settle in the good area and providing you have enough money and vigilance to protect yourselves.
My colleagues who went to SA were happy to visit the country. No crimes, nom robberies. Chance ? I don't know.

Resettling for a country is difficult. I know peoples wanting to go to Australia and NZ went back for several reasons (mentality, weather in NZ...)
SA is a beautiful country, no European country can cope with the diversity of this country. No european country has the same level of beautiful landscape of SA. SA is magic because this is a mix of European, African and Asian culture. You can visit some german and dutch villages, while visiting the next villages who are typically African. No European country as the same level of liberty concerning the official languages. That's why Europeans love this country.

Nomad_H

In the main, you've just described the old South Africa.

Daxk

Which is all very well, duglambier(another refugee from HCR) who has never been to SA,is an absolute expert on SA without knowing anything more about it other than what he has read on the internet.
has a child with his Cameroonian partner who fortunately knows enough about SA to stay out of there.
Aaaah well, Dug ,I thought you were going to buy one of Sean Whelans blocks of flats in Hillbrow??
We kept on asking you when you were emigrating to SA and you kept on saying that Au and NZ were looking a better bet

Campbells

Here’s a little song I wrote, you had better sing it note for note……


The main ones are violent crime, baby slaughter, rape at an outrageous rate..



So who is taking the profits now and what is being done for the current people suffering from poverty and the countless homeless ? I hear that most of the illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe are running back there saying they are better off there. Scary stuff !

In our case just couldn’t take the constant barrage of murder & rape & baby slaughter going on ALL AROUND US ALL THE TIME.


Yup, it is a serious question of intelligence – or – lack of !


Is that because you are white ?


Woo hoo. You said it. Let’s talk about service delivery …………

What a lot of clap trap. The member Kitten 24 just posted her recent experience of getting mugged at main international airport in the country. One would imagine SA would like to welcome visitors, tourists and perhaps foreign investors with other than CRIME……………….

No, playing Russian roulette I would say.

It is not about re-settling it is about LIFE and the value of it and choosing freedom over sunshine.

I love SA but I am so sad that it is being TRASHED and the filth and hovel it is becoming rapidly just does not cut it whilst comparing to many beautiful European cities that offer freedom to live.

Yes this is true and Africa gets in your blood but I also wish the blood of my family and I to remain inside my body and not spilt for a pair of sunglasses, Cellphone, car, or whatever other material replaceable item you can consider.

Personally I chose to leave Africa as I am not really sure if there is a boundary to my capabilities of what I would become if our child fell victim to some mindless slaughter. We chose our parental responsibilities for our young white male who is probably our life, we would die for him and therefore leaving SA to get out of that hell-hole was an act of love for our son.

It is amazing what even babies can teach you ( if you are teachable) as the unplanned birth of our son four years ago was the kick in the ass we needed to get us out of SA and one day when our son is old enough to understand I will thank him.

There is no greater thing than to love – and be loved in return !

TouristTrap

I watched Blood Diamond over the weekend again. Brilliant movie IMO. The director's commentary - a yank btw - is very informative. The man spent 2 years in Africa and understands it as though he was born and raised there. Worth a listen to.

T.I.A.

TouristTrap

There are a few of these online. Trying to compare the 'hoods of Barcelona or Marseille with South Africa is just laughable IMO. They would have their behinds handed back to them in S.A.