Scared, depressed and concerned. Anyone else?

AstroTurf said:
The average for an African state before it goes to hell is 30 to 40 years. Is it worth keeping her here or should we just up and leave to the rainy island?
At least my wife and daughter can go without hassles.
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I know that history repeats its self but the world is a dynamic place. Its constantly changing.

There is no way of saying what its going to be like in 30 years in any country in the world.
We could be on the brink of WW3 and then it wont matter where you are... only that you are close to your friends and family.

That said. I was always that type of person that said I would stay here till the end.

I'm not that person anymore.
 
Pornolio said:
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.
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Go check it out. Nice country, from what I hear. But don't go with an attitude of running away or despair, you won't see things clearly. Go with an attitude of exploration, hope and curiosity.
 
Pornolio said:
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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The Missus and I moved in '09 and settled in Auckland. No regrets, absolutely none.

You're coming right into spring, even in Auckland (which is very different from the rest of rural NZ) there lambs in scattered paddocks and the bird life is starting to be vocal. The common suburban mower is very active on the weekends.

PM me if you have any questions about Aotearoa, I'll try and answer them.
 
@ Geriatrix : You are 100% correct with your comments. I have to view this trip in the correct context ...
The company in question was nice enough to give me a salary breakdown on a estimated "take-home" figure. So the plan is to actually go into grocery stores, do a dummy shopping spree, and just compare and see how far my money takes me from a food buying perspective. I was told from various sources its a very good salary offer, but its very hard to get a accurate assessment on what exactly can be regarded as a good salary... Eg. thumbsucking figures ...ask someone that earns $60 000 per annum if a $100 000 per annum salary is good, and they will say hell yea... ask someone that earns $120 000 per annum and you get a different answer.

@alloytoo - Awesome and thank you very much for the offer, I will most definitely fire some questions your way soon via PM :) I really am doing my homework well on this possible relocation, so the more sources of information I can gather from the better. Its just the analytical side of me going into overdrive.

For me the biggest concern is the monetary offer @ hand, because I will be giving up a pretty well paying job this side... Well at least I think it's pretty damn good. I have NO idea just how good or bad the offer on my plate is in terms of NZ value. I am fortunate enough that my car + motorcycle is paid for, I was planning on buying a house this year so I have around R160 000 saved up for a deposit on say a house of 1.6 Mill here in SA. If I sell my car + bike, I can safely buy a car cash that side, would even be the same car I own here. Cars are way cheaper that side by the look of it... I have been hanging out on www.trademe.co.nz

Anyway, sorry for the thread hi-jack :)
 
Pornolio said:
@alloytoo - Awesome and thank you very much for the offer, I will most definitely fire some questions your way soon via PM :) I really am doing my homework well on this possible relocation, so the more sources of information I can gather from the better. Its just the analytical side of me going into overdrive.
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This is arguably the biggest decision you'll ever make, and it's certainly I know we tried to cover all our bases. We did it the hard way, I didn't have a job and had to find one in the middle of the GFC.



For me the biggest concern is the monetary offer @ hand, because I will be giving up a pretty well paying job this side... Well at least I think it's pretty damn good. I have NO idea just how good or bad the offer on my plate is in terms of NZ value. I am fortunate enough that my car + motorcycle is paid for, I was planning on buying a house this year so I have around R160 000 saved up for a deposit on say a house of 1.6 Mill here in SA. If I sell my car + bike, I can safely buy a car cash that side, would even be the same car I own here. Cars are way cheaper that side by the look of it... I have been hanging out on www.trademe.co.nz
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Lifestyle is difficult to quantify in monetary terms. The reduction in stress levels is priceless.
 
I feel the same way about this country. I will not have my kids grow up in this abortion of a rainbow nation. Hopefully the visa gets sorted out soon..... happy my SO has 4 degrees and scored very highly on the Canadian immigration requirements.
 
My wife and I are also standing at a crossroads now regarding SA. We started saving up now and it's either going to a deposit on a house or a one way trip out of SA.

We want to have a kid as well, but I'm very cautious about raising a kid in this country. Don't want to send my kid to school for twelve years just so that he/she can get a piece of paper saying they passed that isn't even worth the paper it's written on.
 
Cube3 said:
I feel the same way about this country. I will not have my kids grow up in this abortion of a rainbow nation. Hopefully the visa gets sorted out soon..... happy my SO has 4 degrees and scored very highly on the Canadian immigration requirements.
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have a nice trip
 
Sly21C said:
In the USA, poor people and people on main street are blaming rich people for their problems. They blame Wall street bankers and other rich people. The poor in the USA are white and the rich are also white, so racism isn't a big issue there, just strictly a war between the different classes.

In South Africa, most people that are well off are white, while most poor people are blacks. Considering our past, it is very easy for opportunistic and ruthless politicians to always blame whites for the country's problems. Whites are blamed for being rich and not sharing their wealth with blacks. In South Africa, a war between the classes is a war between blacks and whites.......unfortunetely.
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^I agree with this
 
alloytoo said:
This is arguably the biggest decision you'll ever make, and it's certainly I know we tried to cover all our bases. We did it the hard way, I didn't have a job and had to find one in the middle of the GFC.

Lifestyle is difficult to quantify in monetary terms. The reduction in stress levels is priceless.
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I was in exactly the same boat. Best decision I ever made though.

And the reduction in stress levels, things to worry about etc... Is seriously priceless. Even if my lifestyle was less extravagant outside of SA, I would still be happy just for that one factor alone.
 
our neighbor across the road`s daughter was found the other day stabbed to death ritually in her home in Johannesburg. Absolutely brutal and senseless. I have to admit I thought pretty hard about whether I wanted to stay in the country after that moment.
 
Griz said:
Just need to add:

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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White female law student on the Deans Merit List at UCT every year cannot get a job at some Law firms because they only employ previously disadvantaged people.
 
Wrt the original post: I'm a white male getting research Bursaries from a gov funded organization. it's tough, trust me, but not impossible :)
 
SoulTax said:
I was in exactly the same boat. Best decision I ever made though.

And the reduction in stress levels, things to worry about etc... Is seriously priceless. Even if my lifestyle was less extravagant outside of SA, I would still be happy just for that one factor alone.
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Where did you end up?
 
Grimlock said:
We want to have a kid as well, but I'm very cautious about raising a kid in this country. Don't want to send my kid to school for twelve years just so that he/she can get a piece of paper saying they passed that isn't even worth the paper it's written on.
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That was our reasoning.
 
alloytoo said:
Where did you end up?
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The northern rainy Island. I miss the friends in SA of course, still keep in contact with them all the time. Online gaming has its perks I guess ;) But I don't miss anything about SA itself. Not even the weather tbh. People can complain about the weather in other countries, but honestly. What is a few degrees colder and a couple of extra weeks worth of rain per year, when weighed against education, safety, security and piece of mind?
 
SoulTax said:
Sure its the made up doom and gloom in the news
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The doom and gloom is not made up, but how do we make a real risk assessment based on news stories or even knowing someone who has been a victim of crime? Both of these have a known distorting affect on our risk evaluation. It's compounded when it involves our children.

If the media is balanced between good and bad news then where are all the reports about the people who were not victims of crime that day? All the stories about children playing outside, walking and cycling to school, travelling on public transport and miraculously surviving? To say that the content of news does not have influence directly contradicts what we know about human psychology.

Security is largely an arms race, much of it with our neighbours rather than criminals. You put in burglar bars, which makes your neighbours' houses easier targets, so they put in burglar bars. And so it goes, all the time trying to make someone else's property a more attractive target, because none of these countermeasures can stop a criminal, particularly not a violent one. Sometimes the measures are even counter-productive. High walls don't really keep criminals out, but do provide them with useful cover. Vehicle kill switches don't prevent hijacking, but make it essential the hijacker take the driver with them.

It's simply an excuse to say we don't know our neighbours because we have high walls. You want to know your neighbours go knock on their door (so to speak). That's how it has always worked. Everywhere I've ever lived we've known some neighbours and not others, high walls or not.
 
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