South Africa

[Onthemoveagain]

My husband has been offered a job in Johannesburg.  Having never been to South Africa I would be interested to hear from anyone that has lived there and could provide me with some information.  I have a 9yr daughter and 7yr son.

Many thanks for your help

[Durbanmanjames]

Nice city and country. Low HIV rates, low crime rates, safe area, high wages, lots of jobs, and nice pleasant people.

[LOCAL SING]

My husband has been offered a job in Johannesburg.  Having never been to South Africa I would be interested to hear from anyone that has lived there and could provide me with some information.  I have a 9yr daughter and 7yr son.

Many thanks for your help

I was just there in Dec for a 2 week holiday. Nice country with great natural wonders; but

1. Super high crime; johannesburg is known as the rape capital of the world!
2. Car jackings; never stop at the traffic light at night; just drive thro even on red.
3. There are good areas and bad areas; you must know which is which.
4. Gov corrupt like crazy.
5. Lock yourself and family inside your house at night.

Dont believe; just google Joburg and crime.

[Concur]

PP has hit the nail on the head.

[Didisa1]

Nice city and country. Low HIV rates, low crime rates, safe area, high wages, lots of jobs, and nice pleasant people.

Sorry - had to laugh. Which South Africa are you talking about?

[NotSingapore]

It will be very different from Singapore, so the more prepared you are mentally, the better.

As mentioned by the previous posters, it has a far higher crime rate and has enormous disparity in terms of income levels. Your company will very likely take you through an orientation course to get you prepared on the do's and dont's.

While you will hear a lot of shrieks and gasps about how bad Jo'burg is from a crime perspective, the fact of the matter is that people, including tons of expats, live there without any issues. You just need to stay in the right expat "bubbles" and don't do anything extraordinarily stupid, e.g. flash your wallet and camera when you know the neighborhood is seedy, or drive out to a place that you know you has a crime issue.

Look out for an area called Sandton - if you stay there and work in the vicinity and mostly hang out in the malls etc. in that area, you could be mistaken for thinking whats all the fuss about!

The people are friendly, the country is beautiful, you can go down to one of the best national parks in the world (Kruger), enjoy some really beautiful cities like Cape Town or even the beachfront in Durban, some great wineries, etc. It's also a great place to explore some of the other parts of Africa including the Victoria falls, Namibia, Madagascar and more.

With the enormous disparities of income, you will be at the top of the income curve, and will have your pick of domestic helpers to choose from..you can keep a couple or even three of them if you so want!

Cheers

[Old Mike]

You will probably want to send your children to private schools. They are expensive.
Public transport is non existent. You will need 2 cars.
The crime scene is bad. Preferably live in a flat ( condo) or gated community.
People are friendly and tend to entertain in their homes.This means that there are fewer eating out places than you might expect, and there is nothing like a food hall where the food you buy is probably cheaper than you could cook at home.
As PPs have said, you will almost certainly live in the suburbe, shop in malls that are as good as anything in Singapore, and socialise mainly with expats.
The climate encourages outdoor activity.The state institutions are inefficient and, in many cases, corrupt.Banks are innefficient. Electronic banking is well developed, but expect anything that needs human intervention to take 3 to 5 times longer than it does in Singapore.

Domestic help is NOT cheap, and the laws are framed to protect the helper, not the employer.These days the tendency is not to have live in help. Most modern accomodation is built without servant's
 quarters.
It is true that the game parks and some coastal areas are awesome, but they are a long way from Johannesburg. The closest town on the coast is 600 Km from Johannesburg.
Food is cheaper than in Singapore but the quality, especially of vegetables and fruit is nowhere near so good. If you enjoy Singapore seafood you will be bitterly dissapointed by anything dished up in a Johanneburg resturant. The choice is not so wide as Singapore, though it is improving. There is no equivalent of a wet market.

If you have specific questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them.

[Simple Simon]

In a nutshell, it's diametrically opposite to Singapore in everything. You couldn't have 2 more opposing extremes if you tried. Depending on how long you lived in Singapore, in Jo'berg you're lambs to the slaughter. I wouldn't go, no matter how much danger money they paid me.

[Old Mike]

It is not as bad as that, Simon.
It is certainly much less safe, but if you are careful you will be ok.
Millions of people live there for years, in my mother in law's case, 93 and she has not been killed yet.

[geert devild]

well dodgy.

I am a SA citizen

[Rachel SA]

 but the quality, especially of vegetables and fruit is nowhere near so good.
[/quote]

What about the Cape fruit? Cape apples and grapes are delicious.
Find it hard to believe about the fruit & veg Old Mike

[geert devild]

eh? it's not the quality of fruit and vegetables you need to worry about....

["necklacing"]

eh? it's not the quality of fruit and vegetables you need to worry about....

nuff said.

[Old Mike]

The best fruit and veges are exported. The quality you see in the supermarkets is nothing like as good. Woolworths is the best, but expensive. There are a few vfarmers markets, the quality of stuff varies.