Personally for me - This exactly.
But i have also met a lot of SA expats here that have nothing positive to say about SA which is a real pity.
I tell people exactly how it is back in SA when they ask, positives and negatives. You get an amazing lifestyle (lets say you live in CPT, as thats where 90% of the people i speak to want to go), freedom, big houses, lekker outdoor activities, incredible places to see, great weather generally.
Then the usual suspects come out to play: Crime, economy, corruption etc.
That's the thing, though: going to CPT on a nice holiday, experiencing the wine route, possibly even going up to the Kruger for a safari is NOT an accurate reflection of day-to-day life for the man on the street in SA. It's well masked as soon as the tourists walk through customs. All warm smiles and safety with beautiful weather.
I lived in CPT for over 20 years, and JHB for almost 10 - they're night and day. I wasn't personally affected by crime, but my younger brother has been mugged at gunpoint, my mother has been the victim of smash and grab, my aunt has been hijacked, and close friends of mine were tied up at gunpoint in their home while the robbers cleaned out the house. People have been murdered for much less in SA, so I'm thankful none of them were physically hurt. Some of them have had to go for counselling - but that's the extent of the damage. The convenience store at the garage across the road from where my mom stays has been robbed 4 times - by guys with AK's. About 100m down the road from that a security guard was gunned down when he tried to stop guys robbing the corner shop.
Crime IS a reality in SA. It IS a way of life now. People denying that simply haven't been affected by it yet themselves or had a family member affected by it. The reality only ever sinks in when it happens to YOU. The thing is in SA you're already constantly in survival mode whether you realise it or not.
In comparison, England is a walk in the park. My Mrs loves how safe it is here. I've been desensitised for years now, but I notice the differences now and then. Yes, there is crime here - it's everywhere. But it's not the violent, hateful crime that exists in SA.
I guess the same could be said of England, though, and I think a LOT of people make this mistake: come here on holiday for two weeks, see all the sights, go back home and decide that you loved it so much that you want to immigrate. Only to find that it's also been masked over, that Notting Hill is actually a bit of a ****hole and not anything like the movie was, the people aren't as friendly as they were when you were a tourist. You leave SA on a warm summer day and land at Heathrow where it's 4 degrees. Most of the people you encounter for the first few hours aren't even English - like you, they've been sold a dream. They left their home countries for a better, safer life in country that WORKS. At that point you either realise that things in England are VERY different and get on with it in your new home and make your new life work, or you sulk about it and start pining for SA until you eventually get on a plane and go back.
Yes, it IS very different. It's NOT SA, and if you expect it to be and to mould around you, you're going to have a very bad time, m'kay? When people ask about the bad stuff in SA, yes, I tell them - they surprisingly know quite a bit already, and they ususlly ask long before I've mentioned anything anyway. They say bad news travels fast. But I enjoy telling them about all the good things, more than anything.
