Emigration Curiosity

Hey guys where is the best place to get info on immigration. I have been teling my family for at least over 5 years now that we should all book it.
The next elections will be my deciding factor. Really don't want this thread to turn into a political debate but there's no way this country can survive another 5 years of ANC rule.

The thing is my family are staunch Coetzee's and we flippen love this country, despite its failings. I can see us hanging on till things come right or we turn into a failed state. If that day comes we will probably go on an epic road trip and seek refuge in Namibia :D
 
bradbear117 said:
Hey guys where is the best place to get info on immigration. I have been teling my family for at least over 5 years now that we should all book it.
The next elections will be my deciding factor. Really don't want this thread to turn into a political debate but there's no way this country can survive another 5 years of ANC rule.

The thing is my family are staunch Coetzee's and we flippen love this country, despite its failings. I can see us hanging on till things come right or we turn into a failed state. If that day comes we will probably go on an epic road trip and seek refuge in Namibia :D
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Depends where you want to go. There are lots of helpful sites for a country, but I'm not sure if you'll really find one that lists all of the different sites. Look at SaAustralia.org for example.
 
I'm from the States and have been living in South Africa for a few years now. I definitely would not want to live in SA permanently, but I've enjoyed most of my time here so far.

I'll probably be going back home next year or the year thereafter.
 
Kimitar said:
I'm from the States and have been living in South Africa for a few years now. I definitely would not want to live in SA permanently, but I've enjoyed most of my time here so far.

I'll probably be going back home next year or the year thereafter.
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It's interesting hearing that from a different perspective. Are your reasons for not staying similar to those of us leaving?
 
Wyzak said:
It's interesting hearing that from a different perspective. Are your reasons for not staying similar to those of us leaving?
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I didn't come to SA to live here, it was always going to be temporary.

There are things I really like about South Africa, such as the fairly temperate climate, the food, the wildlife (yes, I've been to the Kruger National Park and it's awesome) and the inherent natural beauty of the place, but the poor service, poor infrastructure (particularly with regards to the internet and the constant power outages) and the crime (or at least the threat thereof, as I haven't personally been a victim of crime in SA, but it's almost tangible in the sense that you can't just walk around wherever you want without worry, the way I did back home) all come together to make it really hard to want to stay for any longer than is strictly necessary.

That said, the relative freedom of religion here, in the sense that people don't make a big deal out of what religion you do or do not adhere to (at least in my experience), is a really cool benefit for me personally, as I'm an atheist and I come from a southern state, where atheists are ostracized, and in some cases, barely tolerated. People seem really chill about religion in SA, which is nice.

Like the old adage says: nice place to visit (if you can avoid load shedding... I can't even begin to imagine how that must affect tourism), but not a place I'd want to live.
 
Kimitar said:
I didn't come to SA to live here, it was always going to be temporary.

There are things I really like about South Africa, such as the fairly temperate climate, the food, the wildlife (yes, I've been to the Kruger National Park and it's awesome) and the inherent natural beauty of the place, but the poor service, poor infrastructure (particularly with regards to the internet and the constant power outages) and the crime (or at least the threat thereof, as I haven't personally been a victim of crime in SA, but it's almost tangible in the sense that you can't just walk around wherever you want without worry, the way I did back home) all come together to make it really hard to want to stay for any longer than is strictly necessary.

That said, the relative freedom of religion here, in the sense that people don't make a big deal out of what religion you do or do not adhere to (at least in my experience), is a really cool benefit for me personally, as I'm an atheist and I come from a southern state, where atheists are ostracized, and in some cases, barely tolerated. People seem really chill about religion in SA, which is nice.

Like the old adage says: nice place to visit (if you can avoid load shedding... I can't even begin to imagine how that must affect tourism), but not a place I'd want to live.
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Thanks for the informative reply :)
 
Kimitar said:
/snip
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Judging by your rant & raves during Dota games, I almost thought you we're definitely going to mention that SA has the worst Dota players :P


Anyway... in light of our beautiful country's amazing leadership, I'm considering exploring career options overseas. I am currently busy studying part-time during full-time employment, which is not really a fun thing :( but once I am done with some of my certifications, I might take a look at what availability there is in my field, overseas and I'm also highly interested in further education abroad.

Then of course there's the aspect of leaving your friends and family and almost 30 years of your established roots behind to start a new life.... I still need to put a lot of thought into all of this, but overall, being forced to go look for opportunities in another country I can only blame on this country's disgustingly inept government.
 
to0kenZA said:
Then of course there's the aspect of leaving your friends and family and almost 30 years of your established roots behind to start a new life.... I still need to put a lot of thought into all of this, but overall, being forced to go look for opportunities in another country I can only blame on this country's disgustingly inept government.
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I don't think it's an easy decision for anyone to make, it's a decision of necessity.

We are flying out on the 3rd of July.
 
If all goes according to plan I will be in Denmark come September.

SA is in the stone ages with regards to work-life balance, maternity / paternity leave etc etc. There are lots of problems in the country at this stage, some of which are within our control, many which are not, but the single most important motivating factor for leaving is the violence. I realise every country has its problems, but the crime, violence, rape in SA is like a war zone. Combine that with all the other issues and it's a no brainer.
 
HavocXphere said:
Don't be so sure about that. Im working about double the hours as I did back in SA. (avg 16 hrs a day now). So work life can be very dependent on the specifics.
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Oh for sure. Lots of places are like that and as you say it depends on your job as well. That's just not what I want from life. I don't mind working hard, but it all needs to be balanced out.

From what my European friends tell me you are compensated fairly for your time though, which in my experience does not happen here in SA. Either way, like I said the violence alone is enough reason to leave.

Whereabouts are you based? I'm on tapatalk so can't see location.
 
shibobo said:
Oh for sure. Lots of places are like that and as you say it depends on your job as well. That's just not what I want from life. I don't mind working hard, but it all needs to be balanced out.

From what my European friends tell me you are compensated fairly for your time though, which in my experience does not happen here in SA. Either way, like I said the violence alone is enough reason to leave.

Whereabouts are you based? I'm on tapatalk so can't see location.
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Yeah I wouldn't be working such hours if I hadn't thought carefully about it. In my case I can accumulate the hours and use them to travel Europe. I guess there are going to be more chilled jobs out there but those won't get me to where I want to be fast enough :D

As for location - I'm UK side.
 
HavocXphere said:
Yeah I wouldn't be working such hours if I hadn't thought carefully about it. In my case I can accumulate the hours and use them to travel Europe. I guess there are going to be more chilled jobs out there but those won't get me to where I want to be fast enough :D

As for location - I'm UK side.
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Colour me slightly green right now.

Scratch that, I'm hella jealous right now.
 
Touched base with 3 more peeps who recently made the move out to the UK and they all have jobs already ..... guess the horror stories of jobs being scarce are just that. Unless it's coming from people who don't wanna make an effort of course.
 
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