South Africa forum < To anyone thinking of moving to South Africa.

  • arum jourdan

    Agree with ALL of you

    posted by  arum jourdan in South Africa forum 

    What is stated above - each one gives a valid point. Not every day is the same in South Africa. Not every place is the same. So what one person experiences will not be the same as the other person´s experiences.
    South Africa has a terrible crime problem, the government laughs it off and tries to sweep it all under the mat.
    Problem is: the government is incompetent, incapable of getting things sorted out, schooling, municipal problems, electricity and CRIME.

    The approach of the government about AA BEE etc is plain racist. The apartheid government never had such strict racist applications. Employers are FORCED to employ a certain percentage of blacks. A friend who is an attorney, runs his business by himself without any employees, yet is constantly harrassed by authorities as to why he has not employed any blacks !!!

    In apartheid time there were jobs for everyone, although some jobs were never open for blacks and coloureds. Now, white men are the losers all the way round. No wonder so many have left to work overseas where their qualifications are acknowledged. The joke about this is that many of these come to work in South Africa on contract with international firms, and then they earn way more than they would have if they had been employed in South Africa.

    We are presently living in Germany. We left because of over 20 break-ins on our property, the worsening economic situation and because we feared for our daughters´ saftey. Rape incidence is far too high to dismiss it as a joke, as some politicians do. My life here is not utopia, I also struggle to find work, people are also racists here, stuck up and think they know better.

    I cannot wait for our pension so that we can return to SA and settle in a small town near my family in the Western Cape, which is the only province that is functioning properly. We will have to do some sort of work to keep our heads above water. Handiwork, baking or gardening. In South Africa it is much easier to get odd jobs than in Germany. Even delivering pizzas brings in some welcome cash.

    And is one has learned a trade, Rob Vaughan, then one can look for jobs or offer one´s services on gumtree for example. One has to lower one´s standards and take what one can get. One or 2 weeks of renovating someone´s bathroom is better than sitting at home and lamenting one´s fate. At least the weather is better in SA than in the UK. No heating costs. But, on the other hand, you can go on the dole in the UK, in SA not.

Post a reply

Other replies