Joburg

[lynns]

My husband is considering taking up a job in Joburg working for a diamond mining company. I know absolutely nothing about SA and the little bit of research I've done so far seems quite negative which is a shame as I am an adventurous person who would be up for a challeng. The crime reports and personal safety issues....are they as bad as they seem? I know you get lots of threads like this on these sites so I would be very grateful if you could help even if you've said it all before!! Thanks.

[synthia]

Welcome to the expat forum, lynns. I haven't lived in South Africa for a long time, but there were great suburbs back then, pretty much isolated from the crime in the city. I'm not sure how that plays out now.

Will your husband be working in a downtown headquarters building or out on one of the mine sites?

[lynns]

Thanks for getting back to me!! So kind. He would be in an office outside the city. I am a teacher here with quite a good career and he has a great job in London but we are both pretty bored with UK ( I was brought up in Hong Kong). We also have an 11 year old daughter so that makes decision making more complicated! My only real concern is security. I don't mind taking risks on myself but obviously you don't want to put kids in danger esp when they have quite a nice lifestyle as it is. Must admit though the idea of it really appeals to me.....

[synthia]

I lived in Welkom, down in the Orange Free State. One of the things I remember was being only 1 1/2 hours from a small game reserve that had a baby hippo. Being American, I was thrilled with my six weeks of vacation per year and made good use of it traveling around the country. I'm not sure I'd go driving around on my own now the way I did then.

[clantry]

Hi,Most of the expats that work in joburg, live in sandton. The area has great international schools and very good security. Type in your search bar....sandton south africa, then after doing some research there, you can type in international schools south afria, and again for real estate. Hope this helps you in making a decision as wether or not to go. This is how i found out most of the information that I was looking for when my husband was offered a contract in Joburg. Heaps of expat children do grow up in the area.

And After living in different countries for the past nine and a half years, I am happy to say that my children are very lucky to have had the chance to grow up with different cultures. I would suggest that if you have any doubt at all to the safety of your child (which must come first) take a quick trip over there and see what you think before commiting. Goodluck.