is moving to Durban safe?

[PDR]

The company I work for has a project in Durban port. I could request being sent there, but as I am travelling with wife and kid (6y) I was doing some checks. There is a lot of mention of violent crime and such, so I was wondering if it is feasable to live either north or south of Durban and do a daily commute. I assume I will have a car to do this commute, the only thing is that I don't want to land my family in isolation.
I looks like Umhlanga is livable but I would appreciate some insights from other expats living in or around Durban.

Thanks

[Steve1967]

Ive heard their are some nice parts of Durban, i think its just the speculation of South africa overall.
I think people just think its all the same as Cape town but im pretty sure ive heard nice things about Durban, ill check up about the north and south parts for you.

[clantry]

Hi Steve,
I am currently in the midst of doing an awful lot of homework to find out where I will live with my 6yo girl and my 3yo boy. My husband and I have been based in sth east asia and europe for the past 9 years. We are currently back in oz and in the near future he will be starting a new contract in J burg.

My neighbour here in oz is from sth africa, and tells me the best and safest place for myself and the children to live is a village called Umdloti Beach, it is about 20 to 25 minutes from central durban.

She also tells me that my husband would be better off to leave us there and come back on the weekends, as Like I said before, he will be in J burg and she says I shouldn't take the children there. I have no problem with this. The homework I have done so far makes me think that she is right. The only thing is, education, I am yet to find out about that. I think maybe we may have to go to durban for schooling. Good luck, I do trust this person immensely, hope this helps you a little.

[Peterc]

There are some decent places in and around Durban, you would be better off staying outside of Durban and drive to work. The roads are not that busy. There are certain areas you should stay away from at night time though.

[synthia]

There used to be some really great suburbs outside Johannesburg. They aren't safe now either?

I've heard Hillbrow, in the city, is really bad. That's a shame, because it used to be a kind of cool, funky place.

[patman]

Hi Clantry,

I lived in Johannesburg for 30 years and Durban for 3. Unhloti Beach and Umhlanga are both very good places to live - good schools too. I would live there if I returned to SA.

You could also consider places like Kloof (it is more inland but really nice - 20 mins from Durban).

[synthia]

I was just talking to someone from the Netherlands who travels to South Africa all the time. He thinks the city of Durban is just as dangerous as Johannesburg, and that they are both very, very bad. So if you settle near Durban, you might want to avoid actually going into the city.

[apricot]

Umdloti Beach and Umhlanga Beach are wonderful places and certainly better than living in Durban. Another wonderful place to live it Ballito to the north of Durban. My alltime most favourite spot in the world!

[gkloken]

Originally Posted by ExpatForum

Hi Clantry,
Welcome to the site and thanks for sharing this.
Hope to see more of you here.
Regards

South Africa in general is a safe place, crime is similar to being in Atlanta New Orleans etc. I choose to disagree about Johannesburg. Naturally there are certain suburbs that are less safe than others like in every big metropolitan city.
You can live in so many surounding suburbs of Johannesburg where you are safe and sound . If you let me know where his new job is located I might be able to give you options to look at regarding suburbs.

[synthia]

Even 25 years ago, downtown Johannesburg was a dangerous place, deserted at night, and frightening if you had to stay in a downtown hotel for business reasons. Hillbrow was OK back then, though.

It's more like Detroit, I think. Downtown usually doesn't figure so much in people's lives.