Scared, depressed and concerned. Anyone else?

Griz said:
Your white daughter has better chances of being promoted now than she would have had during apartheid. Its us white males that are at the bottom of the pile now.
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c

That 'prize' clearly goes to 'coloured males'- assuming as you say females have it better than males
 
SoulTax said:
Sure its the made up doom and gloom in the news that makes people in SA spend hundreds of millions per year on private security. Its the media that spews, story after story of some "rare" occasion of rape, or home invasion and brutalisation of the residents, even children, for the sick entertainment of the assailants. Nobody on this forum knows a friend who knows a friend who has been a victim of some kind of very violent, very brutal attack on their person.

We don't need the media to know that crime and violent crime in SA is a scary and very real thing. We don't need the media to know that the odds say that in a medium sized family, at least 1 of those women will be raped at some point in their lives. We don't need the media to know that our kids cant play on the streets or in public parks Except in seriously well off areas that are cordoned off and made "Secure". We don't need the media to know that 95% of the middle class has no idea what their neighbors names are, what they do for a living etc... Simply because our homes are our castles, our supposed safe havens. You look over your shoulder when pulling up to your gate in "off peak" times, whether in the middle of the day, or late at night. But you are happy to live in a society like that.

You make excuses to yourselves about it being media hype, to make you feel all warm and cozy at night. But you know the truth, you know that before you die, someone close to you will be the victim of one of these horribly over-exaggerated crimes. And facing that possibility, scares the **** out of you.
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+1

Just yesterday I heard that a distant relative was murdered while preparing to go on holiday. The people that worked for said relative knew that they were going away and assumed that they keep lots of cash/valuables at home...
 
ghoti said:
For sure this time? They been saying the same thing since 94 :( My stockpile of cans of food needs to be used before they expire.
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12 December, the mayans said so... And I believe they are the people that knew everthing...
But I'm ginger.. I'm not worried :D
 
Mila said:
12 December, the mayans said so... And I believe they are the people that knew everthing...
But I'm ginger.. I'm not worried :D
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Im double dead. No ways I have enough cans of food for a mayan end of the world AND the imminent destruction of South Africa :(
 
empirex said:
Always been optimistic and defended the new SA; must admit this is the lowest I've ever felt about our situation though.

I think we will continue on as per usual; only if some kind of outside force (global financial crisis) were to impact us would I really start to worry.
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I feel the same, was always optimistic but these day's I'm not so sure!
 
SoulTax said:
Sure its the made up doom and gloom in the news that makes people in SA spend hundreds of millions per year on private security. Its the media that spews, story after story of some "rare" occasion of rape, or home invasion and brutalisation of the residents, even children, for the sick entertainment of the assailants. Nobody on this forum knows a friend who knows a friend who has been a victim of some kind of very violent, very brutal attack on their person.

We don't need the media to know that crime and violent crime in SA is a scary and very real thing. We don't need the media to know that the odds say that in a medium sized family, at least 1 of those women will be raped at some point in their lives. We don't need the media to know that our kids cant play on the streets or in public parks Except in seriously well off areas that are cordoned off and made "Secure". We don't need the media to know that 95% of the middle class has no idea what their neighbors names are, what they do for a living etc... Simply because our homes are our castles, our supposed safe havens. You look over your shoulder when pulling up to your gate in "off peak" times, whether in the middle of the day, or late at night. But you are happy to live in a society like that.

You make excuses to yourselves about it being media hype, to make you feel all warm and cozy at night. But you know the truth, you know that before you die, someone close to you will be the victim of one of these horribly over-exaggerated crimes. And facing that possibility, scares the **** out of you.
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^ THIS, all of it.
I don't see what the problem is with accepting that the Country is circling the drain.
 
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noxibox said:
I don't see why there is always such a fuss about bursaries. They can borrow money and work to pay their way through university like most people do.


No, but people everywhere work themselves into a lather by reading the incessant bad news in newspapers. Hence we have people even in first world countries whose children are as near as possible to 100% safe out on their own, but they panic that there are predators at every turn just waiting to pounce on their offspring.
Yes but here statistically it's a reality, I am not talking about other countries as I live here and not elsewhere.

This is also why people think there are more disasters, war and death than ever before.


How do you come to those figures? I don't see escalating hatred. All we've had is the standard rhetoric from those who want to get themselves into newspapers.
scc.ukzn.ac.za/GenderBasedViolence/Stats.aspx
sorry she has a 25% (1 in 4) chance of getting sexually assulted by age 16

Sure the instability is a valid reason to go elsewhere if it's not for you. There's nothing really unique about how things have gone in Africa, but there are other countries around the world that most likely have the bulk of any serious instability behind them. African states are obviously barely infants in the scheme of things.

Things like affirmative action and black economic empowerment are necessary. They've been poorly implemented and also can't work on their own, but there's no reason to think we'd be in a better position if white male dominated companies had been left to remain so. And they would because businesses are made up of people and thus they reflect those people's prejudices.
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Things like, but not things based on Race, things based on a person's situation in life would work better and not create more polarization, laziness and prejudice.
 
Redeemed said:
The people who treasure peace and harmony are the very same people who rabidly oppose efforts of social and economic transformation. They somehow want the dangerously imbalanced situation to gradually "resolve itself". They want stability but they reject reform. :wtf: You can't eat your cake and have it too at the same time. Boris Becker, what you are saying is very correct but you are not going to change people's entrenched mindsets. You run the risk of being labelled "The Rooster" and banned.
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You could go about it the right way.
Instead of race, base EE/AA on social status.
 
@ OP - I have to say, I feel pretty much the same way too... If you asked me a year back if I would ever leave SA, I would have told you "Hell NO" ... However, all the negativity in the media and violent crimes happening around us, makes it incredibly hard to ignore. I read just the other day another guy got stuck on the N1 highway outside of CT in one of the suburbs, with a flat tyre...He was attacked and mangled by robbers with multiple knife wounds. Now I cant help but wonder, what if this was me or you... Or even worse if this happened on the N2 there @ the squatter camps which is now-days known as a guaranteed death scenario should you get stuck there at night. This happened pretty much 8 / 9 km's from where I live, and I travel that road often.

Are we so conditioned to all this violence and murder around us, that we just throw a blind ignore (just because it hasn't happened to us or someone close to us ?) A month ago I just started chatting to one of my friends on Facebook, and out of the blue we started talking about the Political climate in SA, and before I knew it, he mentioned maybe I should look at living in NZ. I didn't think much of it, until I suddenly found myself lined up for a interview and from there things just spiralled crazy out of control. Now I am sitting with a job offer in front of me, and I have to weigh up all my options on whether or not I should stay or go... And to be honest its looking like a damn attractive offer currently, especially after my house was burgled three times in the last 6 months.

I am flying Sunday night over to Auckland with my girlfriend, to evaluate the country / people / living conditions etc. as I have never been that side of the world. Now many people may regard me now as traitor to SA if I should accept the offer and jump ship, but the sad reality is, the Rich wont care about moving, they will just build their walls higher, beef up their security, and they are scared they wont have the same lifestyle abroad. The poor cant afford to immigrate, so they are stuck here in any case. Its the middle class with a bit of savings who can afford to move. But you have to consider things like family + debt obligations keeping us here.

I just don't want to wait till I am another victim of violent crime before I do something about it... I really hope this trip abroad will be a worthy option to consider seriously...
 
daveza said:
So.... if JZ is replaced ( 'redeployed' ) do you think things will get better ?
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Nope, with every "re-deployment" since Madiba things just got worse. Maybe one day they will have someone with some minuscule capability of brainpower in the top position.
 
Pornolio said:
@ OP - I have to say, I feel pretty much the same way too... If you asked me a year back if I would ever leave SA, I would have told you "Hell NO" ... However, all the negativity in the media and violent crimes happening around us, makes it incredibly hard to ignore. I read just the other day another guy got stuck on the N1 highway outside of CT in one of the suburbs, with a flat tyre...He was attacked and mangled by robbers with multiple knife wounds. Now I cant help but wonder, what if this was me or you... Or even worse if this happened on the N2 there @ the squatter camps which is now-days known as a guaranteed death scenario should you get stuck there at night. This happened pretty much 8 / 9 km's from where I live, and I travel that road often.

Are we so conditioned to all this violence and murder around us, that we just throw a blind ignore (just because it hasn't happened to us or someone close to us ?) A month ago I just started chatting to one of my friends on Facebook, and out of the blue we started talking about the Political climate in SA, and before I knew it, he mentioned maybe I should look at living in NZ. I didn't think much of it, until I suddenly found myself lined up for a interview and from there things just spiralled crazy out of control. Now I am sitting with a job offer in front of me, and I have to weigh up all my options on whether or not I should stay or go... And to be honest its looking like a damn attractive offer currently, especially after my house was burgled three times in the last 6 months.

I am flying Sunday night over to Auckland with my girlfriend, to evaluate the country / people / living conditions etc. as I have never been that side of the world. Now many people may regard me now as traitor to SA if I should accept the offer and jump ship, but the sad reality is, the Rich wont care about moving, they will just build their walls higher, beef up their security, and they are scared they wont have the same lifestyle abroad. The poor cant afford to immigrate, so they are stuck here in any case. Its the middle class with a bit of savings who can afford to move. But you have to consider things like family + debt obligations keeping us here.

I just don't want to wait till I am another victim of violent crime before I do something about it... I really hope this trip abroad will be a worthy option to consider seriously...
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Good for you, grab the opportunity while you can,I lost my chances a few years ago when I decided to rather stay and I regret that decision now.
 
@ OP - I have to say, I feel pretty much the same way too... If you asked me a year back if I would ever leave SA, I would have told you "Hell NO" ... However, all the negativity in the media and violent crimes happening around us, makes it incredibly hard to ignore. I read just the other day another guy got stuck on the N1 highway outside of CT in one of the suburbs, with a flat tyre...He was attacked and mangled by robbers with multiple knife wounds. Now I cant help but wonder, what if this was me or you... Or even worse if this happened on the N2 there @ the squatter camps which is now-days known as a guaranteed death scenario should you get stuck there at night. This happened pretty much 8 / 9 km's from where I live, and I travel that road often.

Are we so conditioned to all this violence and murder around us, that we just throw a blind ignore (just because it hasn't happened to us or someone close to us ?) A month ago I just started chatting to one of my friends on Facebook, and out of the blue we started talking about the Political climate in SA, and before I knew it, he mentioned maybe I should look at living in NZ. I didn't think much of it, until I suddenly found myself lined up for a interview and from there things just spiralled crazy out of control. Now I am sitting with a job offer in front of me, and I have to weigh up all my options on whether or not I should stay or go... And to be honest its looking like a damn attractive offer currently, especially after my house was burgled three times in the last 6 months.

I am flying Sunday night over to Auckland with my girlfriend, to evaluate the country / people / living conditions etc. as I have never been that side of the world. Now many people may regard me now as traitor to SA if I should accept the offer and jump ship, but the sad reality is, the Rich wont care about moving, they will just build their walls higher, beef up their security, and they are scared they wont have the same lifestyle abroad. The poor cant afford to immigrate, so they are stuck here in any case. Its the middle class with a bit of savings who can afford to move. But you have to consider things like family + debt obligations keeping us here.

I just don't want to wait till I am another victim of violent crime before I do something about it... I really hope this trip abroad will be a worthy option to consider seriously...
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I have been a victim of crime since I was 7yrs old, I now have a son turning 2 in January, I realistically fear for his future.
My wife often has to travel to off the beat locations and even main roads by herself, I constantly fear that she gets a flat Tyre and becomes another statistic, SA has so few real men these days in the new SA.
 
Mila said:
That easy? I'm petrified of debt :o. Is it just as easy as getting student loan and doing it? What if you can't pay it back?
GhostSixFour said:
+1. My wife finished her studies last year and we are paying back the loan. However, the terms from the bank is such, that if she were to try and do it on her own, she wouldn't have managed between rent, food, petrol and the loan repayments. Luckily we're paying it off together and this makes it much easier. Still though, sets our house buying plans back a year or so..
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Exactly, that's why we as a family lived at margins to get my one daughter through varsity. Her debt is quiet manageable as we paid for her lodging. We recently got a sponsor and now it's loads better but still a burden at best.
 
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