Best and worst

[Frappuccionfan]

Originally Posted by Lanason

I am interested to see the best 3 reasons about living in South Africa and the worst 3.

So please give me your lists

I live in Egypt and posted this on the Egypt forum as well and will compare the results
May be interesting

Top ad bottom of Africa !!!

Hi Adrian,

For me the best reason living in South Africa is Africa itself and all opportunities, the nature and the wildlife and the kindness and not taking things to serious

on the other hand I've difficulties to get a work permit, I'm not able to use my bike for everyday transport and I'm far away from my family and friends.

I hope these answers help, please let me know if you need more and about the results!
Kind regards,
Anne

[vegasboy]

Originally Posted by ikimbrell

My wife and I are thinking about moving to South Africa in 36 months from the US. With crime and government services being the common issues, I am curious how bad those two issues were 3 years ago. Have they gotten worse, stayed the same, or gotten better? I am curious what the trend is and we might expect 36 months from now.

Let me give you an idea. My house is in an affluent area of the northern suburbs in Cape Town. Here is last nights crime report for a radius of 2 streets I received and posted on my FB profile today:

"Lot's of activity very near to my house last night: Received this report this morning: "For your info: D'Secure night supervisor reported the following. 1 break-in Coetzer str, 1 break-in Andrag str, 1 attempted break-in Andrag str, 2 x Attempted break-ins Ruitershoogte str. All of this between 24:00 til 02:00. Two black males spotted and chased by AR and SAPS. One resident in Ruitershoogte saw the two black males jumping his fence as the outdoor sensors activated."

Where is it going to end? One person on our forum suggested that we "double" our resident patrol service. Huh? And then we triple it and so on and so on. This is now over and above SAPS and about 6 AR companies patrolling our streets at night.

To answer your question, it is getting worse by the day. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a second home in the US where I can stay on and off, it would have driven me crazy.

[2fargone]

I agree Vegasboy it's not getting any better. Been here for 5 years and I don't see crime improving. I live in an apartment in Cape Town, but those I know that live in a house are adding more and more security.

[vegasboy]

Originally Posted by ikimbrell

My wife and I are thinking about moving to South Africa in 36 months from the US. With crime and government services being the common issues, I am curious how bad those two issues were 3 years ago. Have they gotten worse, stayed the same, or gotten better? I am curious what the trend is and we might expect 36 months from now.

This OSAC Report may help: http://https://www.osac.gov/pages/Co...aspx?cid=12014 Good luck with your decision - take care.

[Native Texan]

Originally Posted by ikimbrell

My wife and I are thinking about moving to South Africa in 36 months from the US. With crime and government services being the common issues, I am curious how bad those two issues were 3 years ago. Have they gotten worse, stayed the same, or gotten better? I am curious what the trend is and we might expect 36 months from now.

Like everywhere else I guess it depends to a large degree on where you are going to be living when you make the move. Vegas boy gives an illustration of the crime in his upscale neighborhood in Capetown and it sounds like they have a problem with break ins in particular even with plenty of security patrols. On the other hand and at the opposite end of the country where I live, in a small town, at our June homeowners meeting it was revealed that thus far this year there have been 0 security breaches in the entire estate. The biggest complaints were that construction workers entering in the morning and leaving in the afternoons were making to much noise. There was also a fierce debate on what colors of paint could be applied and still be in line with the building restrictions.
The houses in the estate seem to be wonderfuly built for the weather and we have had no problem keeping warm in winter or cool in summer. I have not calculated the cost per killowatt for power here as opposed to the USA but I do know that I am paying about 1/3 of what I was in Houston Texas when I owned a house there. My brother in law tells me that with deregulation of the utilities in the last few years the cost is now less but he still pays almost twice what I do and his house is only about 2/3 as large and he has no pool. I don't claim to know what the overall trends or costs are, just what I have experienced on my own.
You just have to look at what you want and what you are willing to pay and what you are willing to compromise on. I am very fortunate in that I did not have to make any compromises and got even more than I had expected. Sometimes you just get blessed beyond what you could hope for.

[vegasboy]

Originally Posted by Native Texan

Like everywhere else I guess it depends to a large degree on where you are going to be living when you make the move. Vegas boy gives an illustration of the crime in his upscale neighborhood in Capetown and it sounds like they have a problem with break ins in particular even with plenty of security patrols. On the other hand and at the opposite end of the country where I live, in a small town, at our June homeowners meeting it was revealed that thus far this year there have been 0 security breaches in the entire estate. The biggest complaints were that construction workers entering in the morning and leaving in the afternoons were making to much noise. There was also a fierce debate on what colors of paint could be applied and still be in line with the building restrictions.
The houses in the estate seem to be wonderfuly built for the weather and we have had no problem keeping warm in winter or cool in summer. I have not calculated the cost per killowatt for power here as opposed to the USA but I do know that I am paying about 1/3 of what I was in Houston Texas when I owned a house there. My brother in law tells me that with deregulation of the utilities in the last few years the cost is now less but he still pays almost twice what I do and his house is only about 2/3 as large and he has no pool. I don't claim to know what the overall trends or costs are, just what I have experienced on my own.
You just have to look at what you want and what you are willing to pay and what you are willing to compromise on. I am very fortunate in that I did not have to make any compromises and got even more than I had expected. Sometimes you just get blessed beyond what you could hope for.

Native Texan, it sounds as if you are living in a smaller town where in some cases, crime are often lower. I am glad that you are happy and blessed.

However, what you are describing, constitute less than 2% of this country. The boiling pot that will eventually spill over to the smaller towns and cities, resulting in poor to no municipal services etc. will be the result from escalating violence similar to what we have experienced in Rustenburg today as reported on CNN.

We are NOT winning the battle on violence, crime and corruption. "A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat."

[vegasboy]

Originally Posted by vegasboy

Native Texan, it sounds as if you are living in a smaller town where in some cases, crime are often lower. I am glad that you are happy and blessed.

However, what you are describing, constitute less than 2% of this country. The boiling pot that will eventually spill over to the smaller towns and cities, resulting in poor to no municipal services etc. will be the result from escalating violence similar to what we have experienced in Rustenburg today as reported on CNN.

We are NOT winning the battle on violence, crime and corruption. "A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat."

This extract from the US Diplomatic Report for 2012 (see link in one of my previous posts), explains the current situation well: "Of particular concern for American citizens living in South Africa are home invasion robberies. These crimes are often violent in nature and can occur at any time in the day.

In many cases, criminals prefer the occupant is home because the residential alarm is off and the occupant can identify where valuables are located. The recently released South African Police Service (SAPS) 2011 crime statistics indicate that the number of home invasions remains at an alarmingly high rate, with a total of 7,039 reported in Gauteng Province alone (Gauteng Province includes the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria).

Measures to combat home invasions should include several layers of residential security including perimeter walls, alarms, and grills on windows. Vehicle gates should also be equipped with anti-lift brackets, as criminals have been known to use crowbars and pneumatic jacks to lift gates off their tracks."

[Orbit24]

My 2C

The Good:

1) Mostly friendly people (Greeting an unknown person is usually met with a positive response)
2) The outdoors activities, weather, first world suburbs and facilities
3) Great education for my kids

The Bad:

1) Inept government departments (not all of them)
2) Fraud and Corruption
3) Crime

If I could comment on the last point:

I live in Durban in an upmarket residential area. I cycle hundreds of kilometers in my area every year mostly on my own.
In 15 years of owning a home I have yet to have it broken into. I have lost a GPS and some work equipment to the sum total of less than $1000 in this period (from my car and work sites) and this is my total experience of crime in 15 years..

It is not my intention to paint a picture of utopia, it isn't that, but it's not all doom and gloom.

[vegasboy]

Originally Posted by Orbit24

My 2C

The Good:

1) Mostly friendly people (Greeting an unknown person is usually met with a positive response)
2) The outdoors activities, weather, first world suburbs and facilities
3) Great education for my kids

The Bad:

1) Inept government departments (not all of them)
2) Fraud and Corruption
3) Crime

If I could comment on the last point:

I live in Durban in an upmarket residential area. I cycle hundreds of kilometers in my area every year mostly on my own.
In 15 years of owning a home I have yet to have it broken into. I have lost a GPS and some work equipment to the sum total of less than $1000 in this period (from my car and work sites) and this is my total experience of crime in 15 years..

It is not my intention to paint a picture of utopia, it isn't that, but it's not all doom and gloom.

Good post Orbit. The only part I do not agree with is when people say "I have lived here for so long and so long and it has never happened to me."

If you look at the countries with the most crime, I bet more than 50% of them were not personally or directly affected by it. See, it is not only those who experienced crime first hand that suffer, it is the whole psychological and sub conscious effect it has on you, especially your kids.

Read through the following stats. I don't want to go into a debate with regards to the accuracy of the data which was dealt with on another thread. It is just to help you understand that what is going on here is not normal:

Latest Statistics for crime in South Africa. Taken from the CIA.gov website and the United Nations 2011 report "International Statistics on Crime and Justice". This is South Africa's position in the World Crime Rankings:

Some interesting statistics:

Assaults (per capita) 12.0752 per 1,000 people [1st of 57]
Burglaries (per capita) 8.89764 per 1,000 people [10th of 54]
Car thefts 93,133 [6th of 46]
Car thefts (per capita) 2.25426 per 1,000 people [18th of 55]
Corruption > % of managers surveyed ranking this as a major business constraint 16.09 % [16th of 39]
Courts > % of managers surveyed lacking confidence in courts to uphold property rights 20.83 % [14th of 39]
Courts > % of managers surveyed ranking this as a major business constraint 8.79 % [15th of 39]
Drug offences 53,810 per 100,000 people [4th of 46]
Frauds 56,232 [6th of 48]
Frauds (per capita) 1.51263 per 1,000 people [14th of 61]
Gun violence > Homicides > % homicides with firearms 59.2028 [2nd of 32]
Gun violence > Homicides > Firearm homicide rate > per 100,000 pop. 74.5748 [1st of 32]
Gun violence > Homicides > Non-firearm homicide rate > per 100,000 pop. 51.3901 [2nd of 32]
Gun violence > Homicides > Overall homicide rate > per 100,000 pop. 125.965 [B][1st of 32]
Manslaughters 11,202 [2nd of 42]
Manslaughters (per capita) 0.247181 per 1,000 people [1st of 43]
Murders (per capita) 0.496008 per 1,000 people [2nd of 62]
Murders with firearms 31,918 [1st of 36]
Murders with firearms (per capita) 0.719782 per 1,000 people [1st of 32]
Police 101,582 [8th of 47]
Police (per capita) 2.7668 per 1,000 people [22nd of 48]
Prisoners 181,944 prisoners [2nd of 168]
Prisoners > Female 2.2% [107th of 134]
Prisoners > Foreign prisoners 2.1% [55th of 86]
Prisoners > Per capita 402 per 100,000 people [10th of 164]
Rapes (per capita) 1.19538 per 1,000 people [1st of 65]
Robberies (per capita) 4.4434 per 1,000 people [4th of 64]
Sentence Length 48.08 [13th of 21]

Total crimes 2,683,849 [5th of 50]

Total crimes (per capita) 77.1862 per 1,000 people [10th of 60]

[gushungo]

Best:
1) World class private education at rock bottom prices - less than R100k per annum for something that you would pay GBP25k for. Just Google St Marys in Kloof in KZN and dailymail to see what I mean - I remember reading a story there about British parents sending their daughters to SA because they couldn't afford private education in UK but for less money they could pay for a top class school in SA and boarding fees and flights
2) Great weather
3) Domestic/garden help is so cheap that you can live like a real lazy bum if you want to

Worst:
1) Approx 1 in 1000 South Africans actually know how to drive properly. Immigrating here from Germany, which probably has the best average level of driving skill in the world, I get so frustrated by the incompetence. And I don't mean the minibus taxis - they are bad but predictably bad so you can compensate for them. The problem is the random, unpredictable, uncompensatable incompetence of everybody else.
2) Crime
3) Shopping malls closing so early - I thought Germany was bad, but 17:00 on a Saturday and some shops are closed?
Bonus number 4) Koeksisters - uuuurggghhh, the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten