Haruspex

Hi,

I'm a newbie here, so be nice to me...

I've been living in London for almost three years, and last year met a gorgeous wonderful South African guy. Unfortunately his visa ran out in April, so he has had to go back. I went over for 2 weeks in May, and although I found the whole car mentality a bit irritating (i.e. without a car, you're buggered), I loved the place and felt more at home there than I'd ever imagined. The people were warm and friendly, the countryside mind blowing and it wasn't the hotbed of crime I'd anticipated. And it also cemented my feelings for my boyfriend. So we've decided I'm gonna come over in September for 3 months, then hopefully extend my visa if all things are ok.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the change and a bit of a new start (if I don't do it now, when will I?), but am also rather apprehensive about being a Brit alone in a place where they all think my accent is funny. Does anyone know of any places/ groups for English ex pats- and where are the nice places to go when you're feeling a bit homesick, and fed up of casinos and malls?!

Thanks,

Cx

1066

Hopefully, that will be the least of your problems.

You may not have experienced the crime ... yet ... and hopefully you won't, but don't be fooled. The crime exists, and it is something that is beyond your wildest imagination.

Be careful .. be alert .. and enjoy the most beautiful country on Gods earth!!

Haruspex

Yeah, I guess my thread sounded quite naive. I have got my head screwed on, and I am worried that the fear of crime will keep me imprisoned in car/ home- concerns i've expressed to my boyf. I know many people over there who have first hand experience of being victims of shootings/ carjackings. But if everyone gave up on the place because of that.. a shame.

The huuuuuge thing that draws me is the landscape- as you say, the most beautiful country on God's earth.

newkiwi

as a south african just wanted to say good luck and hope it all works out for you. sory i dont really know much about visas or stuff like that but feel free to msg me if you want to know more bout SA. i lived in pretoria most of my life but also lived in johannesburg for a while.

i admit it is a car orientated society, but you will have to get used to that. dont really know of expat get together places, south africans do like to entertain at home. so hopefully you will get to make friends that way.

its pretty scary moving to a new country, where i joburg are you planning to live. we lieved in northcliff which was fab.

Haruspex

Thanks- I'm really looking forward to it, so it's nice to hear positive things. I'll be living with my boyfriend in Linksfield at first- really nice place on Linksfield Ridge.. I think he has a few friends in Northcliffe- at least it rings many bells from when I was there..

As for the cars, sure as soon as I get a 'cabbie' of my own, I won't be moaning- I've been in London 3 years, so have grown used to life without my car, but sure it won't take me long to get back into the swing of things.

Pablo

If you want to get a feel for things, The Star has a web site you can check out (The Star, as you probably know, is the Jo'burg newspaper). And you can also watch the SABC news etc on your computer. There are various posts about the difficulty of obtaining visas and dealing with SA bureaucracy generally, so you've probably already checked those out and seen what people say. And anyway, you can always marry your boyfriend and take care of visa-matters that way.

In my experience, the penny drops with expats to SA after about six months, when they realise that "home" (wherever that happens to be) is no longer home, but a distant place, expensive to get to, and increasingly remote.

I'd say, in general, that SA is fine if you're rich enough to buy a good deal of personal security, good health care, etc, and if you're not planning on doing things like have children. Most people who have a problem with SA are those who have either lost friends to violent crime, or know of people who have, or have experienced that crime themselves, or have children and are worried about their futures.

The other great complaint is jobs - and one reads again and again of people who can't get jobs because they're the wrong colour -- this in spite of the most appalling and destructive skills shortage. It is said that you can set up your own business and make a success of that instead. I'm not sure how many people have that kind of entrepreneurial spirit, but some do.

I don't think it's controversial to say that, at present, SA's future is unpredictable - and if a person invests his/her future with the country, then his/her future is unpredictable as well.

Still. We all have to die sometime, and if you can look at life with that sort of philosophical perspective, then you can have an enjoyable time.

Best wishes, Pablo

newkiwi

from what i remembner linksfield is quite a nice place, you should not be too far from entertainmenty areas including randburg and sandton is not too far away either. property prices have gone wayyyyyy up since i left, but it should still seem a bargain to you coming from london

get used to needing a car get used to needing a car get used to needing a car.......

im sure it will be an adventure, hope you have fun making sense of a very unique country....

do u know any rude words in afrikaans yet?

if you want to get a feel for the news and happenings in SA look at news24.co.za

cheers

Haruspex

Yeah, prices are still half what they are here. You can get a family home for the price of a UK one bed flat..

I hear Afrikaans is a brilliant language to swear in..

sa2oz

It is a brilliant language to swear in, and you will learn that part quick enough. Having a different accent wont be a problem. there are tons of Brits there. In our suburb there were Irish, Scots, as well as every other major suburb.
Good Luck

Haruspex

That's cool then. When I was over there I actually quite enjoyed having a minority accent- it made me seem interesting. Or something!

Kathy Atkinson

I wish you all the luck in the world - i grew up in South Africa - i have been in the UK 6 years now - not a day goes by where i do not yearn for home. Circumstances left me with no alternative but to give up 20 years of married life - paid off home, 3 cars - secure jobs and start again from scratch in my 40's. Not an easy decision i am sure you can appreciate - but a decision that only a mother can make when putting her young family first.
Take care of yourself - it is a dangerous country and Johannesburg is the centre of it all. Don't allow yourself to become a statistic. You will be in a classy suburb - good security systems, etc etc.
Some of the best places to "Jol" - have a good time in SA Slang - is Melville - coffee shops, very arty type people. Randburg Water front - there is a British themed pub there. Dont go near Hillbrow. Stay out of Johannesburg city centre, stay in the Suburbs. You have to go to Sun City, Kruger Park. There are thousands of Brit's in Jo'burg you won't be alone. South African's are lovely genuine people they will take you under their wings.
Please take care of yourself and enjoy every minute of this experience and i wish you all the luck in the world in this relationship. God bless
K

HOBSON1840

I must correct you here - I have friends that live in Melville and they have told me that the area is fast becoming a slum .. street children hang around the restaurants and vagrants are living in the parks, just waiting for an opportunity to pounce .. just yesterday and man was shot coming out of his driveway and there are many muggings. The best bet is to stay out of Melville.

The Randburg waterfront is no more - the "lake" has been filled in and most of the pubs have closed down.

Haruspex

Bloody hell, people- you do seem to be so negative about your homeland. Words like 'slums' and 'vagrants' last passed the lips of English people about 60 years ago. I know we have a far more developed social welfare system etc etc, but don't you think it's quite depressing how you view your homeland. Maybe if you hadn't all run away in fear, then integration might be a little more forthcoming. I know I'm gonna get ripped to shreds by what I'm saying here, but it's really depressing.

I know it doesn't compare, but there are areas of London with gun crime, car jackings and muggings that many small towners would call 'no go' areas, but if we live as prisoners of our fear, then we never live our life. Shoreditch and Hackney in the UK are very trendy areas to go out (like Melville), but also have a lot of poverty and a lot of crime. But surely it's better to patronise these areas and provide some kind of economy than to stay in sterile wealthier quarters?

And I'm sorry, but it seems like what many of you are implicitly saying is 'South Africa is terrible now they've given the blacks freedom'.

I know I'm coming from a wishy washy champagne socialist UK viewpoint here, but to see someone so hopelessly negative about their country is terrible.

Maybe when I go over I'll be prooved wrong; I'll probably be car jacked, shot, raped, burgled- who knows. But at least I'll be giving it a go and going there without prejudice and fear.

HOBSON1840

Well then., do just that. Go and live the life of riley and see for yourself why people say the things that they do. I wish you all the best. Bon Voyage !

Haruspex

Ouch.

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