I love this country. I really do.

Not many countries around the world can boast having two oceaens, dams, a rain forest, national parks AND a desert.

But what is the point of all this beauty, when it is tainted by so much evil and bad?

I am consiedering leaving SA. Not sure for which country yet. The problem is that I so love being a south african. I can honestly say that I am proud to be a South African, but just once, I would love to drive around at night, and not at the back of my mind think about getting hijacked, shot and killed.

Just once I would like to walk around at night and not worry about some psycho scum appearing out of nowhere and shoot me in the head for the measly R20.00 that I have in my back pocket.

Just once I would like to go into a shop to grab some bread quickly, and not have to lock my doors, and put on the alarm.

Just once I would like to leave the house unattended, and not have to worry about it being broken into, and lose all my hard-earned possessions.

Would it be nice to not have to watch the news, or read the papers, and hear about yet another family that was held hostage in their own home. To hear about how the father had to watch while his wife and 13 year old daughter were gang raped?

I hear the stories about the cop shops in New Zealand closing for the night. How grand isn't that? Here the cop shops are open all night long, and yet crime is still a problem. People tend to blame the cops, but how can thye survive when they don't even have the resources to do their jobs properly?

I hear about how people can sleep with their windows open at night as well - without there being burglar guards.

We also have these hypocritical politicians, who were a part of the struggle, and were supposed to make a "betterlife for all", yet all they do is defraud the state/tax payers, and those whom they said they would help are still living in poverty - without much hope of things getting better.

We are made to look like fools as well, with the president stating that HIV does not cause AIDS - poverty does (was Freddy Mercury poverty stricken?).

On the one hand, I might leave this country, but on the other hand, I love it so much.

Also, who knows, maybe the grass is only greener on the other side, because there is more manure.

Maybe, i would only leave if there was nothing keeping me here anymore, at this stage there is still a lot to look forward to in South Africa.

I feel exactly the same way you do! Im South African right down to my very core and the thought of me leaving the beautiful county causes a great battle to wage inside of me!

I have been seriously considering leaving SA for not necessarily greener pastures, but, for safer ones!

Your post struck a chord! I have been thinking the exact same thoughts recently. I feel unsafe driving to work in the mornings, when I go out to so grocery shopping......

So to answer your question, Would I leave???
YES, if this rampant, nutcase driven crime wave continues. As much as it would pain me to go, I would have no choice!!!

I will be out of this country with my sister by the end of 2008.
Luckily my GF's family is also leaving for Australia at around that time so things couldn't be better.

I hope to return one day. When the country wakes up and gets rid of the ANC who are slowly turning SA into Zimbabwe.

I will go wherever my son's mother goes.

I guess when you start thinking in along the line of "I should be leaving this country" then you are not really focusing on the bigger picture. There are still good people in this country worth living for. I make ridiculous generalisations everyday about people everyday, usually unjustified. There is still a lot to live for in this country.

Rather the evil you know, than the evil you don't.

No thanks... I'd rather go to a place where I will get a job because I am the right person for the job...
I'd rather be in a place where I don't have to phone my sister every 30 minutes to see if she's safe.
I'd rather be in a place where I don't need to live like I'm under house arrest all the time.

Yes, you'll never escape crime, but the crime we have in SA is utterly ridiculous. And now that they've strippe me of the right to defend myself whats the point in staying?

I won't get a job because I'm white - no matter how hard I've worked and studied for it.
I'm not safe, again because I am white and a target because of apartheid - even though the people doing the robbing now are often my own age and barely felt what apartheid was really like.

You might not know this but in 2004 my family home was robbed a total of 6 times. Once every 6 weeks.
NO thanks, I'm not staying to get a repeat of that.

I prefer no evil at all, thank you!


True, there is but for how much longer? I wont wait untill someone I love becomes a victim of this madness!!!

I was on my way out, but actually decided to stay on for longer.

I am trying to be an optimist in thinking that things can just get better, but reading newspapers (i don't watch news) and hearing people's opinions, it does not sound like anything is changing.

I am still hoping though....

This country still has quite a bit going for it, the economy is the deciding factor in my case.

If this place starts going like Zim and prices start rocketing i'll be out here in a flash. Prob keep my house and pay it off in a month when the R-->$ goes like 1000-->1

I'll be leaving in a few years because:

1) I won't live somewhere where I feel unsafe and I have to constantly watch my back
2) I want to give myself and my family the best opportunities
3) I work too hard to have my stuff stolen
4) I won't let my girlfriend/wife/daughter live and work in the rape capital of the world

Australia > *

I have been to Australia, and it isn't all it is cracked up to be. It very much depends on where you go there. At least IMHO, that is the case.

Where can I buy a foreign passport?

I am looking to leave within the next few months, just waiting for acceptance letters from some universities in the UK.

I'm not going to wait til I'm raped, or until I lose a family member before I leave - the sooner, the better as far as I'm concerned. I will effing miss the weather, but I'm sure it'll be a good holiday destination (just think - P.O.U.N.D.S!).

** racial slurs removed **

That attitude is NOT welcome on V9, and is a violation of board rules. Watch your mouth in future please.

Dude, I rate that's the dumbest thing I've read in years. I hope you get hijacked for saying that...

Is that the best you can do? I'd hoped for some meat on that bone. The fact is, it's true. Name one African nation that isn't all screwed up. Kenya basically hangs on because they were smart enough to incorporate a lot of British help. But Kenya is facing hard times because it is an embarrassment to the others and folks in the ANC, Zimbabwe, etc. would like to see it fall and become a "success" like them. I guess Kenya is just too white - for a black country that is. The dream of Africans has become a nightmare for them. The people they believed in delivered nothing but crime, genocide, corruption and poverty. And that's it my friend, if you can point to any other benefits to black rule other than the people now killing and oppressing Africans are the same color I'd like to hear it..

If JZ becomes president in 2008 the first flight to Taiwan will carry my entire house in it... ok maybe not my entire house... but hell I'll pack my bags and head straight out of this place!

I would. If I had a EU passport I would currently be living in Irl. No question.

Thats our worst nightmare come true. I sincererly hope that that corrupt piece-of-krap NEVER becomes president. That itself would be reason enough for thousands to flee SA!!!

How about an opinion from someone who has actually left the country?

First of all, let me clarify that when I left SA, it was completely against my wishes, but I respected my parents decision and went along with it, eager to make the best of whatever I found, knowing that I would be back in SA in a couple of years. Here I am 5 years down the line, still in Dubai.

Everything that you have said has a vein of truth in it. Living here, crime is virtually non existent. I leave my front keys on the outside of my front door soo many times I can’t even remember now, and it’s never been a problem. Ok, I know it stupid, but it’s really just how absent minded you become in a place like this. People leave their cars running outside supermarkets when they do their shopping so that they can have the air conditioning running when they are finished. Tell me how much you all want that?

I love this place; it gives me all of the freedoms that I couldn't get at home. After university, I intend to come back here to work if I can, just because the lifestyle appeals to me so much.

However, I am still proudly South African. I get home sick, I go home for visits, I have a flag on my car, as well as a shark’s sticker (NATAL FTW!!!), I have loads of South African friends, and when we get together we all talk about how much we miss home.
I am actually going back to SA in January 2008 for university. Am I worried about the crime? Yes. But I love the country enough to come back. If I was married or had kids I think my perspective would be very different even though I want my kids to be South African more than anything.

I have been to Australia, its nice, its ok, its much like Dubai in many respects in some places, and I could live there, but I could never make it home. I have also been to many places in the states and stayed there for a while, and I am going to Atlanta for 6 months at the end of 2007, because I like it so much, but again, I could never make it home. There are many many South Africans living all around the world, but very very VERY few of them lose their South African identity or never return home, (*cough* rory sabatini is an idiot *cough*) So don’t be scared of becoming un-South African.

If I can guarantee that my kids won’t get raped, my house won’t get robbed and my wife won’t get hijacked, I will be home for good in a flash, but I don’t see myself doing that anytime in the near future, even though not a day passes without thinking about how much I miss home.

Your decision has to be for your own reasons, and yours alone, all that I have said will probably mean little to you all, because it is my unique outlook, so take everything that I have said with a pinch of salt, and make your own choices.

Conclusion: Would I leave this beautiful country = Yes in body, but never in spirit, and I will return as soon as I am able.

If the opportunity presents itself, I'm gone. Enough is enough.
I want to go to Cananda or California.

Adieu

Yeah I am leaving in 12 days, been given the opportunity of a lifetime in the US.

I'm pretty positive about SA most of the time, but I have never been one of those ppl that have blind loyalty to a country just because I was born there. I will go where the best opportunities are for me and my family

Well said, Gitano. I believe most people share this same sentiment!! I know - I DO!!

I will stay here for as long as I can maintain a comfortable and safe life and do the things I want to do. I things ever got too bad (subjective) I would pack up and go play golf in ireland

Ireland - nice place - but it rains a lot!

Your fotography paying off?

All the best

For Job, Safety, Tax, then yes i would.

The only thing still binding me to South-africa is friends and family really....

Tax! Key word!
Dubai
Is there tax in Bahrain? I suppose not, seeing as though its Sharia law there as well!

No tax, no crime, loads of jobs
Bahrain > 3 ftw

True, but watch out for the occasional suicide bomber!

I've been considering working overseas for a while now and the middle east hadn't even crossed my mind.
I was thinking along the lines of Canada or the UK.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain could be another set of options for me!

Time to research, research, research!!!

Vastly different culture
No religious freedom (all's fine if you're muslim)
No alcohol

Anywhere BUT the middle east FTW x 3

I not very religious, so that not a problem.

I dont drink alcohol, again no problem.

The culture, I can adapt to!

Working there for a few years, earning foreign currency wouldn't be so bad.

Let me know what your research reveals.

My reserach may take some time. It involves using various sources to obtain information.

I like to be as informed as possible before I make a decision. Leaving the country to go and work elsewhere is no exception.

I will leave nothing to chance.

Will keep you posted though!!

Well I mean hey, if you want to ask me any questions, just shoot. I have been in Dubai for 5 years now, and I have been working for about a year, other than that I was at school.

I didn't expect it to take quick. If it did, I would be worried.

There's a lot of talk here @ home.
The elders have almost gotten their Aus citizenship (or so I understand)
My Sister and her love is thinking about NZ

I dunno... I just get the feeling it's not going to go all so well here in ZA.
But I have no real "official" education (other than Metric), sure I'm about 8 hours away from my PPL(H)
- Don't think that really counts. Nor does having a forklift license.

sigh

8 hours? That's pretty awesome.

What avenues would that open up for you?

Well there's talk that companies like Netstar ect. take PPL(H) people and let them fly for free (hours to your CPL and they get heli's in the air)
But I understand it's more of a who you know type of thing. If I want to "walk into a job" as a heli pilot it's gonna cost about R500K out of my pocket.
There's now way. I can't even afford the PPL on my own let alone a CPL with 4 times the hour req.


Let's say that I somehow got a CPL(H) then there are quite a few jobs out there.
Tourism, conservation, transport for the rich...

OK I've decided that this year I will start my application to either go to Australia or Canada... let see how many years I'll have to wait, I'm tired of the crime and horrors of MDK each day. I do not wish to see that happen to any of my family or friends. So it's high time I make the plunge!

good luck dude

Bit hard to answer when you've never even been to SA

I suppose you could answer the question based on where you live now.

Question whether that would be any good. he he

Wherever my family goes (esp my babe), I will go.... What sort of peace and happiness can you truly have if you not surrounded by the people you love and that supports you...

So I would stay right here if my family stays. And besides, CT is waaaaay too beautiful to leave... unlike the more, shall we say: "urbanised, fast paced, soul-less cities, that only have bush and wild life (no beach)"

The kryptonite in the mountain is effecting your brain. You need to move.

I'm not superman.. last time I checked I was a super-woman (parts included) so therefore, forthwith and in conclusion.. kryptonite has no effect on me!

But the changing of the moon does... *runs and hides*