Hi. My husband and I are seriously considering buying a guesthouse in South Africa in the next year or 18 months, and I have a few questions...

We are considering either the coasts north/south of Durban (eg Margate, Salt Rock, Ramsgate), or further north near the St Lucia wetlands. I'm organising a visit in the next few months, but does anyone have any feedback or advice about these locations?

Crime - does crime decrease significantly outside of the big cities? I have only visited Cape Town in SA and had no problems during my visits, but I appreciate that visiting SA as a tourist is different to actually living there. We are pretty cautious at home - eg, locking the car when we drive through the grotty bits of London, making sure we lock up, not walking round with loads of cash etc. Are businesses (ie hotels, guesthouses) often targeted for robberies in SA?

Visas - it looks like we can apply for a business permit as we can bring R2.5m into SA. The other criteria includes employing 5 South Africans over 2 years.

Has anyone used companies such as Global Visas and Integrate Immigration to make their applications? The process looks pretty easy - get the company's books, write a business plan, complete the relevant forms - so I was going to do this myself. However, the immigration/visa specialists say that they can speed up the process, and have connections that will make it easier. Is this necessary, or is it a waste of money? Any advice would be welcome!

Society - how welcoming are communities to Brits arriving in SA?

I would really welcome anyone's advice, or experiences. Thanks!