Considering moving to SA...advice out there?

[Natykabi]

Hello people!

I'm a female Belgian citizen considering a move to SA (Jo'burg) I hold a Master's in Foreign languages and translation (French, Englishn Spanish). I 'm planning a six week visit soon, I'll be staying with relatives. ANY testimony or advice as where/how I should start my job search would be very welcome.

Thanks a bunch!!

[ches]

Originally Posted by Natykabi

Hello people!

I'm a female Belgian citizen considering a move to SA (Jo'burg) I hold a Master's in Foreign languages and translation (French, Englishn Spanish). I 'm planning a six week visit soon, I'll be staying with relatives. ANY testimony or advice as where/how I should start my job search would be very welcome.

Thanks a bunch!!

Natykabi,

Welcome to the forums. We answer questions like yours all the time, so please read the advice we've already given and then ask us any further specific questions you may have.

Ches

Hi,
I'm new to this forum thing so please bare with me if I'm in the wrong spot. I'm looking for some advice from saffers back home. We are thinking of going back but I have my reservations. But I do wonder if taking my family and seven year old back to SA makes any sense. I'd really apreciate any view points you may have. I miss home terribly and want my child to have the same quality of life instead of growing up in a concrete jungle where people would rather die than treat eachother with mutal respect. I know that SA still has its problems but I feel that if people like my self don't move back we are adding to it.

Anyway look forward to hearing you views

Robyn

[ches]

Robyn,

I'm still living "in exile" in the USA. I would like to go home, but I'm married to a US soldier and we both have student loans, a mortgage, a car loan, etc. so financially we have a long way to go before we can move anywhere, let alone to another country.

My parents and extended family (many my mother's relatives from England who have emigrated, some as recently as 2004) live in Cape Town and they just love it. My brother and sister-in-law moved back to Cape Town in '04, too, and are very happy with their decision.

My husband and I went to Cape Town in 2005 and it was a completely different place to my previous visit in 2001. My parents' house didn't even have burglar bars and they never set the alarm! Yes, crime is still higher than anywhere in the western world, but there are so many positives with being home IF (big if) you have the skills to be able to get a good job. If you are unskilled and white, you will struggle, but if you are an affirmative action candidate and/or you have solid, in demand skills (SIL is a teacher, brother is a web designer) then you will not have a problem.

The housing market has boomed a lot in the past 5 years and it's hard to find anything for under $500,000. I would not personally make the move without capital to invest in a home (getting a mortgage without a recent credit history will probably be difficult) and a car, and enough money to live unemployed for 6 months.

Ches