kevinhenator

Hi peanut, my emails weren't meant to incite this much violence, but you clearly had it rough growing up under apartheid, and still carry a huge chip on your shoulder - as do most "non-whites" in South Africa. Like I said, it was a s**t system, but are you honestly so hung up in the past that you can so glibly justify the rapes and murders currently happening - 13 years after the end of apartheid.

I appreciate that you dont erase the atrocities of the past overnight, but having experienced the deliberate process of dehumanising a group of people on the basis of race - I would expect people like yourself (you seem reasonably well educated, though I don't mean to summise), to want to reject in the strongest way any form of prejudice. Or is seeing whites suffer the revenge you seek to get over the past? If yes, dont you think that the whites of today will feel like you do now in the future, especially when the children of today have had no hand AT ALL in the apartheid policies of the past? I wonder where the cycle of hatred will stop?

My children currently go to a school with blacks, coloureds and indians (there's your rainbow nation right there), and its so amazing seeing these kids interact. no hatred, no historical baggage, they just accept each other at face value, and then go and play together on the jungle gym. Why do you want these kids to grow up resenting each other because of their skin colour? as the change in south african goverment (and apartheid) came about largely due to pressure from within (read: whites, refferendum...), the succes of this country, and in fact race relations throughout the world, is going to rely on people like you who have expereinced the worst type of hatred, yet can move on.

If not, and the hate will never go away, I suggest all the whites move to europe, blacks move to africa, asians move to asia, and we'll send the prisoners to Australia

*Edit - at the risk of inciting more violence, this time from the good folk of OZ, I need to state that the last paragraph was a (weak) joke, jus trying to ease the tension guys*

Campbells

Hey Sipho,

What's your point here with regard to Crime (or better put "violence") in South Africa ?

BTW, how would you know what it is like to be black?

TouristTrap

He's well known on S.A. boards for spewing junk like this - obviously a CID person pretending to be all colors of the rainbow. Mugabe's hoods did it for years on Zim boards.

kevinhenator

Oh well then my speech was a bit of a waste of time then. DOH! BTW, I know this is a British Expats forum, so jus to clear the air, my wife is british, so technically she is and will be expat

kevinhenator

Well, just finished going through my nightly routine, getting ready for bed:

• lock driveway gate
• check dogs ok, not drugged
• check outside electric fencing (3 strand on top of my 6' wall) is ok
• lock front door security gate
• lock front door, plus dead bolt
• switch on outdoor security lights
• lock passage security gate (seperates bedrooms from rest of house)
• check all windows
• set alarm
• now i'm buggered so off to sleep

TouristTrap

You poor man, I truly feel for you.

Holding thumbs you'll make it out of there soon

Campbells

Yes, I remember that well,

I can give you a bit of a laugh. When we first moved into this house, on our first night I said to my wife, hey this is stupid, the control panel for the alarm system is in the garage and when I set the alarm to come back to bed the sensors are going to trip the alarm.

My wife just laughed and said, relax you are in New Zealand now, no-one sleeps with their alarm on.

Gee, when I think of it we NEVER check our front door is locked unless we go out so really most nights we sleep with the doors unlocked.

We have a sliding door from our bedroom out to the patio which I often open at night to get fresh air in and never think about it.

On a more serious note what I can say (from experience) is that South Africans probably have no idea what stress they are carrying around with them , even if they do manage to bury it into their sub-conscious.

The other day we were at the beach with our wee lad and the people next to us went for a swim, left their Cellphone (fancy one) right there on their blanket, their car windows open and I would imagine the keys in their bag too and they never said to us do you mind watching or whatever.

Readers – coming out of South Africa these are MASTERCARD MOMENTS – PRICELESS….

It is called faith in the human race and respect for others. The longer I stay in New Zealand the more I love it here.

Oh no, we don’t have a swimming pool or a maid, I think I must rush back to SA.
Yeah, right

Cheers and hope you all had a great weekend……….

Campbells

Hello,

Anyone out there ?

News update maybe?

So what is SA really like?

Campbells

It is quite interesting that no one can tell me why I should consider returning to SA that was a “challenge” I posted. I thought tat maybe the Ha Ha’s , Peanuts or Stuart James’s of this world can use the opportunity to reveal the appeal for me in my position to return to SA?

I have seen it happen many a time when people living in a tiny flat in London say they have had enough and going back to a better life in SA and the get heaps of encouragement from blinkered SA’rs or perhaps they just work for the ANC propaganda team.

So the challenge is still there – anyone?

Please advise me why I should consider South Africa a better option for my family & I . I guess if there is no replies to this then New Zealand is quite obviously a better destination to consider.

I await ?

Cheers

kevinhenator

I would wager some good money that you will not get a single compelling reason to return. its amazing - both my current and recent bosses have both been directly affected by crime
1) on holiday in the midlands my previous boss and his family were attacked while sleeping. His answer to me "well thats life, you have to move on"! uh, thats not the life I want.
2) current bosses wife was fololwed from the bank (they suspect inside job) where she had just drawn R20K for wages. Back at office held up at gun point, lucky not be raped/killed. answer: "what you going to do, you have to just move on". amazing - methinks we are a nation in denial.

btw, campbells i have sent CV. had a long chat to the wife, and we are fully commited to this.

TouristTrap

I'm going to die laughing

TouristTrap

Over the years I've been asked by Americans why we left? I tell them that I don't want my kids to grow up in that VERY abnormal society.

Unfortunately, it is only once you actually live in a first world society that you realize how bad it really is back in S.A. The fact that you have to be on 'alert' at all times, day and night, including in your fortress-like home (which is VERY abnormal in itself!), is highly stressful. You learn to live with it when you're there, but once you've left, the weight that surrounds you just lifts.

No more ensuring you have an escape route at red lights. No more ensuring no one has followed you home, no more fear when you pull into your driveway in case armed gangsters are waiting to pop you one and steal your car with your kids in it. In fact, no fences around properties, no gates at doors, no bars on windows, no panic alarms in every room......

I would rather live in a small flat in London my entire life, if I had to, than a mansion in Hyde Park. Freedom from fear is priceless.

kevinhenator

it sounds crazy, i know, but that was the one thing that my wife and I have been debating about the most: while it isnt a mansion, we have a nice house by todays standards, and having seen what the house prices in NZ (and OZ, in fact everywhere) are, we were so worried about what we would be able to afford if we emmigrated. but we weighed up the nice house versus release from this constant looking over the shoulder sydrome, and its a no-brainer. so we have started get the house ready to put on the market...

i'm looking forward to going camping with my boys for the first time

TouristTrap

I can just imagine. Think Braveheart.

Campbells

Hi there,

I tell you that when we left SA we were told that we would never have a lifestyle like we did in SA (we had a very nice house, in an up-market areas of Jhb – and mortgage free) and of course we would never be rich like in SA.

Readers that is the trap of SA. That is why SA has isolated (and most South African choose to isolate themselves internationally) itself. We thought exactly the same…
Only because we were operating in South African Rand terms. We now look at houses of NZ $ 700 k and that is within our reach, that is in a space of two years.

That is why we send out newsletters to an average of 3-40 people in SA and there is probably 2 or 3 reply. They DO NOT want to hear that you can make it outside SA. They want you to stay there & support there belief that there is nowhere like SA (from a violent crime perspective that is true!)

There is now way in hell we would have looked at houses in SA for R3.5 M so in reverse you look at your net worth and South Africa has what to offer? Maids and swimming pools? The swimming pools you can get here (and other countries) too. My brother here has a swimming pool. For every $ I000 earn here it is worth SAR 5000.

If you look at SA on an international scale you do not feature. That is why even people there making millions are trapped. Because there value on an international scale is nowhere and they are only allowed to take a certain amount of money out of the country. Hence – TRAPPED.

Several months ago I went to hospital in the wee hours of the morning. My wife phoned my neighbour in the middle of the night, he was here in 5 minutes. I was taken in and examined from top to toe (including ECG) and out the following day, diagnosed as food poisoning. And that lots cost me big time, FREE and guess what most of doctors were …….. White South Africans.

I sprained my ankle some four weeks back (an old injury) and I went to the hospital to make sure it was not broken. Thank God it wasn’t. Anyways, I have been going to Physio Therapy once a week and you can not believe how expensive that is here – FREE.

Our wee lad fell whilst playing at a play park and took a knock right on his front tooth.
We took him to the local A`& E and treated him there but wanting to be sure sent him to another hospital for x-rays. Bye the time we arrived at the Auckland city centre hospital, we walked through the doors of the children’s section and were greeted by name, they had all the documents and knew exactly what was going on. Not being racial here, but ALL white doctors and nurses (mostly Brits).

Our wee lad was x-rayed as they wanted to make sure there was no bone damage. That whole episode cost us heaps – FREE. Wait, we got a letter three days later ( efficiency is an amazing thing) informing us of a reference number and that if EVER there is a repercussion and our son needs medical attention due to that accident it is FREE.

My point:
In some countries it is nice to feel that you get something back for your taxes.

GOOD NEWS:
The only difference of lifestyles between here & SA is maids & gardeners. We have a garden service and you know what. They come into our garden when we are not here and we don’t bat an eye. They are white folk earning an honest living. You can get cleaning services here that will help with housework & ironing.

We have a babysitter. A young white girl that we trust 100% we pay her in SA terms around R35 per hour. We can afford it and you know what. She is going to UNI and paying for it herself. She works part time in a supermarket; yes most of the staff are white. It is no shame to work in a store like that

The great thing for me as a parent is that this young girl will not grow up in “princess” mode but her education will extend to life skills and learning the value of things.

Anyways, I had better get off my soapbox………

Cheers………