About richard1972

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Some Forum Posts:

South Africa: What I can do with this offer there?:

This is a decent salary for a single person. If your monthly salary is R33,000 you will take home about R26,000 to live on. For a single person, you can easily rent a nice 2 bedroom place for around R5-7000 a month in a good area. A decent car can cost you another R4-6000 a month depending on the choice of car, food maybe R1500 a month. Fuel will depend on how far you drive to work each day, but work on at least R1500 a month for Joburg. The price is around R14 per litre. Clothing will depend on how you dress. A pair of jeans will cost between R120 (Mr Price) to R700 (Edgars) or more at a top brand shop. Yes you will be quite comfortable as a single person on this package.

South Africa: Moving: Germany to Cape Town:

Welcome to South Africa! Cape Town is a fantastic city to live in, I lived there for a few years. There are many good suburbs and the choice will depend on what you want to be near to - school, work, church, shopping malls, etc. Also depends on your budget, as some suburbs are very expensive. The Atlantic seaboard (Camps Bay etc) is very expensive and the main selling point is sea views. The southern suburbs such as Rondebosch, Claremont, Constantia (behind the mountain) are also popular and quite expensive. The northern suburbs are the most spread out and range from lower middle class areas like Parow and Bellville to very upmarket areas like Panorama, Plattekloof and Durbanville. Bloubergstrand and Milnerton to the north of Cape Town are also nice areas. Panorama has some of the best views in the suburbs, overlooking all of Cape Town and Table Mountain. Traffic is an important consideration. If you need to be in the city everyday, I would avoid the outlying areas because of traffic congestion. It normally takes 30 minutes to get from Durbanville or Bellville area to Cape Town via the N1, but in peak hours it takes an hour and a half because of congestion. I would not want to be further east than Panorama if I have to drive in to the city everyday. Same with suburbs like Hout Bay or Llandudno to the south - great if you work there, but not great to live there and work in the city.

South Africa: Is this salary enough...:

R13000 is rather little. As Dave said, a small 1-2 bedroom flat is already R4000 a month. Commuting, food, clothing, medical, etc means that you will be financially a bit tight on 13k a month. If that is a base salary only and you can earn decent commission on top of it, no problem. R13k is a salary for a admin position or junior technical position, or the basic salary for a commission-driven sales position. Depending on your line of work, I would aim for at least 20k a month in order to be comfortable in Cape Town. Richard

South Africa: Family Life:

As a European, I've lived in Cape Town and the Garden Route and enjoyed both. If you earn well in SA, so you can live in a nice suburb and your kids can go to good schools, the quality of life and low cost of living (compared to Europe) is fantastic, especially in Cape Town. As you said, the climate is great, and the scenery and people also. Cape Townians are very culturally and racially tolerant in my experience. You and your children would be welcomed and easily make new friends. If you slot in by joining a local church, sport or leisure clubs you will fit in very quickly and make fantastic friends. Most South Africans are very friendly and hospitable. Richard

South Africa: possible move to Cape Town/UTC:

The crime is nowhere near as bad as some people make it sound. In Cape Town you can walk around safely, even at night, provided you don't venture into dodgy areas (same in any other big city around the world). There are lots of places around UCT and Rondebosch to hang out. If you speak English you are fine. Everyone can speak English, and most speak English anyway (even those who are Afrikaans or Xhosa as first language). I would say go for it and have fun! Richard

South Africa: Relocating to SA:

My view is that the Cape provinces (Western cape, northern cape and eastern cape) offer the best quality of life, lowest crime and lower cost of living. In particular the Garden Route area, very beautiful and safe but jobs are scarce. Yes Johannesburg has more jobs and higher salaries than Cape Town but Cape Town is safer and has better quality of life, in my opinion. The most scenic provinces with the warmest weather are Mpumalanga (main city is Nelspruit) and Kwazulu-natal (main city is Durban). Overall SA is a great country to live in, very affordable especially with the exchange rate as it is now. If you are going to earn local currency, a decent salary is R20,000 a month, and an excellent salary is R40,000 a month. Most middle class people earn between R15,000 and R30,000 a month. A 2 bedroom flat or townhouse costs around R550,000 and a small 3 bedroom house with single garage in a reasonable suburb will cost R750,000. A nice 4 bedroom house with two garages in a good area will cost over a million. Vacant plots in a suburb costs about R500 per square metre and building costs are around R5000 per sqm (or less if you build yourself). I find the biggest misconceptions is about crime and infrastructure - it is a lot safer to live here than most people abroad realise, and the country is a lot more first world than you might think (far ahead of other African countries). Hope this helps and good luck with the move!

South Africa: Cost of living + GCSE ALevels:

Cost of living in SA is very reasonable, if you convert to other currencies. I moved from the UK to SA and found SA to be cheaper. If you are going to earn South African Rand, live in Bryanston and want to send the kids to a good private school, I would say you need to earn at least R25,000 a month to live comfortably, depending on what benefits you get. If you will be responsible for your own medical insurance, own vehicle and petrol (no company car), own mobile phone contract (not a work phone) etc you will want to earn a bit more, say above R35,000 a month to enjoy a good standard of living. Many families of 4 survive on less than R20,000 a month combined income, but then your monthly budget will be rather tight, you will be limited regarding rent you can afford, and may not be able to afford private schooling. Top professionals and executives earn well above R40,000 a month, typically.

South Africa: moving:

You will enjoy South Africa and be pleasantly surprised. In Johannesburg the most popular areas are the northern suburbs, and many families opt to live in a secure estate, there are some excellent lifestyle estates with 24 hour security which offer great quality of life. I have many friends and some family who live in Johannesburg (by choice) and are very happy there. Sure, people take precautions against crime for example avoiding certain areas, especially after dark, and installing decent security around their homes, but don't be put off. Johannesburg is a modern, vibrant and friendly city within easy reach of many fantastic holiday and weekend destinations in South Africa. If you are competent and qualified, you should have no problem finding work as well. Skin colour does not matter.

Date Joined:

11/15/2011

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