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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I'm curious as to what life for a wealthy South African, of any race, is like. I've heard it can be very dangerous, and it's easy to get car-jacked, mugged, kidnapped, broken into and worse. I've heard many live in gated communities, there was a film, I forget the name of, set in Soweto that depicted street kids robbing a wealthy household. Is it really that bad? If so you couldn't pay me to live there. Is the quality of life for the rich there similar to first world countries? Does it feel sort of like the wild west and are things improving, getting worse, staying the same?
Life can still be good if you are rich, but they do have crime problems there. So they have gates, cameras, security, and so on. You hear more about crimes happening to the rich, but so much of the violent crime is poor against poor. Very upsetting the murders and crimes against white farmers there. Have you read about that? "Dr. Gregory Stanton, head of the non-profit group Genocide Watch, announced his conclusions: There is an orchestrated genocidal campaign targeting whites, and white farmers in particular", from the second article.
I was there about 10 years ago, from all indications its seems things have gotten worse since then. "The unemployment rate, officially 25%, is probably nearer 40%; half of South Africans under 24 looking for work have none. Of those who have jobs, a third earn less than $2 a day. Inequality has grown since apartheid, and the gap between rich and poor is now among the world’s largest", this from the first article below.
Zuma has done nothing with regard to corruption and fixing the serious problems that exist. But he has used the race card so to speak as the other party's leader is a white gal. Zuma has done much for himself but nothing else. There seems to be hate among some, but not for Zuma, but for whites. I can't see things getting better with someone like this in office. They need a leader like Mandella again, but we all do. Its really sad, South Africa has so much potential, its so beautiful there. I hate to see things get worse as Zuma cares nothing about the severe problems that need immediate attention. He is just another greedy bloated gas bag politician, they come in all colors.
Wasn't it, at some point in time, the only majority black country that has the potential to become a non-third world country?
There are several Black Majority countries that are not third word yet they are Bermuda and Cayman Islands.
Yet for South Africa still has the potential to be a first world country. During apartheid it was still a third world country as a majority of people lived there were very poor and the areas they lived in was undeveloped.
These two don't really counts, as they are VERY SMALL, tourists attractions that keep them alive, and closely tied to USA.
Are there any majority black countries the size and economy of Japan, Nederlands, or even Ireland?
Ireland economy too is dependant on US economy as well even Europe. Micronesia is also closely tied to the USA and it was even a overseas territory of the USA up till the 1980s. Yet the GDP is US$3000.
Yes the Cayman islands economy do count. Besides the Cayman islands economy have the standard of living that is similar to Swizerland. The GDP is US43.000. Beumuda has the 4th highest GDP in the world and it is even higher than the USA. https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/bd.html
Bahamas is a bigger country than Cayman islands and Beumada yet it GDP is comparable with developed nations. Yet it has a black majority population.
The Seychelles has the highest GDP in Africa. Like just about all African countries it was occupied by European powers yet when it became independent it was very poor yet these days its GDP is on a similar level to Malta and New Zealand. Anyway Malta and the Seychelles is similar in size in geographic area. https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/se.html
Yet Netherlands, Japan and Ireland developed centuries ago and became fully developed countries long ago. It not fair comparing developed countries long ago to African countries that have only started to develop industurally 50 years ago.
Anyway Botswana which is a Southern African country was one of the poorest countries in the world when it became independent from the UK yet its economy is the envy of all of Africa now. Anyway Botswana is one of the best places to invest in the world now.
A report by the US think tank, Foreign Policy has ranked countries by their attractiveness as investment destinations. Southern Africa’s Botswana, East Africa’s Rwanda and West Africa’s Ghana have all been listed among the 10 best places in the world to invest. This is based on the ease of doing business, the return on investments and the stability of the country.
In first place on the continent and second globally is Botswana.
Botswana is one of Africa’s least populated and wealthiest countries.
Investors flock to Botswana for the country’s high quality minerals, textiles and agricultural resources.
The government has also been praised for its prudent management of these resources.
To answer the OP's question and not to go down relevant economic and political tangents. Rich South Africans of all races live lifestyles of the rich and famous, and would have to be MUCH MUCH richer to replicate those lifestyles elsewhere. Huge "custom" houses with their own swimming pool, tennis court and a staff of 3 plus to maintain it all, world class private schools, some of the most upscale shopping malls in the world. Johannesburg is not known as Jobai for nothing. Beverley Hills/La Jolla lifestyles, and those are the parts of the U.S. that have the highest concentration of South African emigres, along with the fancier suburbs of north Dallas. The trade-off is that they live behind huge security walls with alarms and often an armed guard on the corner.
The risk of random violence is real, but even middle class South Africans live a lifestyle that would not be replicable anywhere else except for the mega rich. I suspect that is a big reason why they put up with the threat of violence and stay.
Then, the big cities of South Africa: Johannesburg, Cape Town, even Durban and Pretoria have spectacular weather: tons of sunshine, no real cold - mostly coastal Southern California weather. Generally, South Africans cannot handle a real winter, so Australia has been a prime emigration destination. The eastern suburbs of Sydney are full of wealthy South Africans. With money, you can have a sybaritic, cosmopolitan and sophisticated life in quite an extraordinary way. On the other hand, you will be a victim of crime at some point, just hope it is not violent.
In short, rich South Africans enjoy a lifestyle that is somewhere between a rich person's Southern Californian life and a rich person's Mexican or Brazilian life. I have family there. I visit annually. It can be scarily seductive.
Poor South Africans, on the other hand, live in some of the worst squalor I have ever seen, but you asked about the rich.
Maybe an emerging nation would have been a better term. However, with elected officials more concerned with lining their own pockets than producing solutions to major problems, I doubt things will be heading in the right direction anytime soon.
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