A day in the life of a South African techie living in Australia
Senior business analyst Robert Clayton relocated to Melbourne, Australia, to assist in leading a team for an Entelect client based in the city.
He joined thousands of South Africans, including many IT professionals working in Australia. The country is a popular destination for South Africans for several reasons.
According to the latest statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, approximately 214,790 South African-born people resided in Australia as of June 2023.
Australia’s Department of Home Affairs said the figure was almost 25% higher than on the same date 10 years prior.
“This figure positions the South African-born population as the seventh largest migrant community in the country, accounting for 2.6% of Australia’s overseas-born population and 0.8% of the total population,” it said.
Australia also provides clear pathways for visa-holders to achieve permanent residency, making long-term settlement possible.
The nation is also known for its high standard of living and its high-quality healthcare and education system.
A critical aspect of the high standard of living is Australia’s low crime rates, which many South Africans likely desire, given their home country’s high crime rates.
Australia also has a warm climate and landscapes similar to those found in some parts of South Africa, making it easier for many expats to adjust to.
Clayton holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Information Systems and Economics and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Information Systems, both from Rhodes University.
His time at Entelect began in August 2022, after a three-and-a-half-year stint as a programmer and analyst at Singular Systems.
He joined Entelect as an intermediate business analyst, a position he held until July 2024. He was then promoted to senior business analyst — his current title.
Clayton moved to Melbourne because of an opportunity within the Entelect group, for which he had been working in Cape Town.
“There was an opportunity within the Entelect Group that I thought would be a long shot,” he told MyBroadband.
He added that he applied for the position as a “shot in the dark” and, to his surprise, he secured the position.
Life in Australia
MyBroadband asked Clayton various questions about his experience living in Melbourne, Australia, including the aspects he likes, what he dislikes, and what he finds better than living in South Africa.
He said the feeling of safety is one of his favourite aspects of living in Melbourne. He recalled narrowly escaping a mugging attempt after a night out in Cape Town.
“The feeling of safety, being able to walk at night without worry, is unreal,” Clayton said.
He’s also had to transition from driving his own car to commute around Cape Town to using an efficient public transport system in the Southeastern Australian city.
“Access to affordable and convenient public transport is another incredible benefit of living here,” he said. Clayton also highlighted the efficiency of service in restaurants, describing it as a pleasant surprise.
“One thing you rarely hear about is how quickly food is served. I’ve sat down, placed my order, and received my meal within 10 minutes at a restaurant,” he said.
“On average, it seems to take about 20 minutes. It was a pleasant surprise.”
As an avid gamer, Clayton also appreciates that many online games have servers hosted in Australia, resulting in significantly lower latency than he experienced in South Africa.
However, the opposite is also true. When gaming with his friends in South Africa and the UK, finding a suitable server where everyone has a playable latency is challenging.
For those interested, Clayton runs a built-tower PC with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 10GB of video memory, two sticks of 16GB DDR5 RAM, and an AMD Ryzen 5 9600x processor.
When asked about what’s worse, living in Australia or living in South Africa, Clayton said the people he’s engaged with in Australia have been friendly.
However, he said he misses the “Ubuntu” aspect that South Africa is famous for. He also highlighted the price of beer as a shock, being significantly more expensive than in South Africa.
Clayton said he has a lot to explore in Australia, which is exciting, as each city has its own identity and unique attractions.
“It always feels like there’s more to explore and experience. I’ve barely scratched the surface of Melbourne, let alone Sydney, the Gold Coast, Perth, and beyond,” he said.
When asked if he’d consider moving back to South Africa, Clayton said he would do so for his friends, family, and loved ones.
“But I feel I’ve yet to truly begin my life in Australia, having only been here a short while,” he added.
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