South Africa for retirement (standard, visit, experiences, country)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No one is painting anything with a rose colored glass, every place has crime. You clearly didn't read prior posts where I was asked about Rwanda and other countries in Africa? Had anyone criticizing So Africa been there or lived there that could actually give informative advice, state the positives and the negatives, or presented accurate information to the poster all of this back and forth wouldn't be necessary. I could talk about Ireland's crime but that would be silly because I've not been there and don't have a direct relationship with it. The USA has a crime probably similar numbers to SA but like SA it is specific to areas and is not wide spread.
There aren't sketchy videos you do realize people post videos of their visits and experiences and news media outlets also post to youtube. If you think it is sketchy I guess PBS, CNN and the BBC are sketchy too as they also post to youtube!
You do realize that the farm attacks have gone down? You do realize that Asians and SA blacks also died related to farmland attacks. The attacks were for various reasons the primary one being robberies and bad employment treatment rather than a racial conflict. Most of the white people own farms so if they are attacked it isn't necessarily because they are white. I've posted statistics to the matter already!
I can understand hard truths if there were actually presented. Are you part of the Suidlanders group? You guys specifically have an agenda that is going on deaf ears. Apartheid isn't coming back in SA so get that out of your head. SA is growing and changing for the better!
No my information doesn't come from the internet, youtube but from friends and family and my personal stay. My brother-n-law is SA. One of my dearest friends lives in SA and her family moved there 30 years ago and she married a SA her family are WHITE farmers (French) and she married a white SA who's family own several businesses and a lot of farmland. The people I know have unique experiences specific to them.
my54ford,
Why would you show a video of gang activity in the poorest areas of cape town? Who will retire there? Are those the areas I offered as advice. These would be good areas to point out for people to avoid! I can post random videos of bad areas in the USA should I do that? I can show videos of elder abuse, rapid crime, drug ridden areas where people are overdosing, or police brutality or police killings of unarmed men right in the USA, should I post that?
Anyone that is seeking areas to retire should do their homework and research which has been my position from the beginning and I recommend SA as well as several other countries in Africa. Specifically in SA the art scene is amazing, people are nice, the food is amazing, architecture is also amazing,you can't beat the panoramic views of the country, the beaches are nice, you can't beat the weather, prices are low, heathcare is good, you can have a gatesmen, maids, drivers, and world class amenities.
Hope this video is helpful to those seeking information about SA, please use youtube! The SA news channel, home finding, design channels and everything else is right on youtube!
No one is painting anything with a rose colored glass, every place has crime. You clearly didn't read prior posts where I was asked about Rwanda and other countries in Africa? Had anyone criticizing So Africa been there or lived there that could actually give informative advice, state the positives and the negatives, or presented accurate information to the poster all of this back and forth wouldn't be necessary.
My observation of this thread is that you are interacting with a number of people who actually live in, or from South Africa. I've seen their names post on other South African-related threads on this forum as well.
I've also been to South Africa, and what they say is based on first-hand information. (This is my first post in this thread, but i've shared my own experiences/observations of visiting there). I once thought that I wouldn't mind living in S. Africa until I visited. But the crime is very different than the United States or other countries.
For one, the poverty is a completely different level than the U.S. There is a large portion of the population that makes just a couple dollars a day if they are lucky. The car jackings, for example, is insane. I've driven around Detroit plenty of times and if I was in a car, I just felt safe about it. But, South Africa is just different.
For example, I went into Cape Town Flats, on what I thought was a major thoroughfare, and suddenly you are in a 'frequent smash-and-grab' area where signs are everywhere warning you. Smash-and-Grab means that it's an area where a large number of people experience their car windows being smashed, and everything in sight will be grabbed, or your car will be carjacked. But meanwhile, unlike the United States, plenty of people cross streets absolutely everywhere in South Africa, right next to your windows. So, it's not like you can see it coming clearly. For example, in Detroit, if I was at a stoplight in a bad neighborhood, there would be so few people in the middle of the street to even think they were going to suddenly smash my windows. But it's a frequent occurrence in S. Africa, and J-Walking is extremely commonplace so someone walking next to your car while you are 'in traffic' isn't an alarm bell like in the U.S., it's just 'the norm.'
Speaking of which, I was also surprised to drive national highways in S. Africa, feeling like I was in the middle of nowhere with few houses anywhere, but see people just walking to who-knows-where for who-knows-how-long frequently. So many people are so poor, they'll walk who knows how many miles along empty expressways to get from Point A to Point B. They'll not only follow the roads, but sometimes cross the roads going + way, and you are wondering where they are coming from and going to, as you just don't see anything anywhere. (That's not a safety issue, but it's just a different level of poverty altogether).
Hotels/B&B's/etc. The level of security is insane. I stayed at dozens and dozens of them across South Africa but everyone had the same characteristics. First, the house (B&B) or hotel, was surrounded by a fence with hired security. Then you went into the house, and you'd see more security, then you went into your bedroom, and more security around that. I was in one B&B and my bedroom had two 'gates' I had to pull across and another button to push in case someone got through all of them. It was just layers upon layers of security, and many people lived like that.
I also stayed at a friend's house in Port Elizabeth. Talking to his family and extended family, they were sharing the amount of break-in stories so matter-of-factly. How they kept adding more security because people can finding new ways to break in their houses. Again, fences, and this and that, and alarms and cameras, and just layers upon layers. The security industry is huge, and every single person in S.Africa seemingly could tell go on at-length of tons of first-hand experiencers of home robberies/break-ins/catching criminals in-the-act, and on and on. Again, I'm from the U.S. originally, and just 1 experience like that for most Americans would be traumatic. But in S. Africa it just seemed so commonplace.
I could probably share a half-dozen stories but this would be a super-long post if I did. But, in short, South Africa is just another animal when it comes to crime. I also lived in Brazil/S.America (predomininately Sao Paulo) for a year, and I grew up around Detroit - so it's not like I wouldn't have any barometer to judge crime issues. (I also lived in New York City for 2 1/2 years - and in both NYC and Sao Paulo - I partied late at night all the time, and walked around late at night. In fact, in NYC, I lived on 168th Street in Washington Heights (a known bad area of NYC. I had to have my wits about me walking around Washington Heights at night, but I did it frequently). I'm just saying that so you know my own exposure to 'crime' would be some safe small town or suburb and nothing else.
But...South Africa is just on another level altogether even compared to Detroit/NYC/Sao Paulo...when it comes to security/safety/crime. After visiting South Africa, there is no way I would want to retire there and live there as an old person. You need your youthfulness to deal with the issues there. I'd also hate to be locked up under levels of fences/bars/alarms well into my 70s and 80s that would probably take me 10 minutes to get through (as an old person), and it would make it real hard to fend off someone who followed my car into my garage, kind of thing.
Regarding Rwanda...that's probably best for another thread, but it's very high on my list of places to visit next in Africa. It's actually THE safest country in Africa (although Eritrea might be a close competitor).
I've also heard that not only is Rwanda the safest in Africa, but heard it comparitively much safer than most American cities as well.
Thank you for posting and I really appreciate it. I'll have to disagree with you on the matter that most of the posters lived or visited SA especially when they have said on the thread that they haven't been to Africa. You've given posters interested in SA a good perspective with examples and I know that will be appreciated as it is very helpful.
Where did you go besides the Cape town flats, how long were you there for and when did you go? Poverty in SA is on another degree I would agree with you but I believe it is on par with other neighboring countries it is something people do grow accustomed to though. I was not trying to compare homelessness in African countries to that of the USA it can't be compared or described in words. I've also lived in Brazil and can compare poverty to SA to that, the only difference is the population and access to guns but I would take SA over Brazil (I've been robbed going and coming from the airport in Brazil).
The communities I've been to I've not experienced issues. I really like Johannesburg but have had many issues there and known countrymen to have been car jacked and stores broken into so I've not recommended it and haven't objected to another poster's comments about this city. Give it time those areas will change.
I really like Port Elizabeth and the family I mentioned lives right outside of it. They don't have armed security upon security and they have 5 kids. A lot of people do hire security companies. White farmers and people are not targets though as other posters have communicated.
In addition I suggested other African countries to a poster who said all they were interested in was SA. SA if you have $$ is not a bad option. The homes and amenities are some of the best in Africa.
Also, in terms of Rwanda Kigali you will love. People visit the gorilla sanctuary a lot and hope it is on your list of places to visit. It is VERY clean. Was surprised of the milk and tea drinks. The food is really good too! The shopping is really nice. There are so many things I wish Ethiopia could learn from in Rwanda (cleanliness, traffic improvements, ease of doing business, architecture, technology advancements, etc but topics for another thread). Of course if you go outside Kigali the experience is fastly different (village life). Also be sure to visit the King's Palace and of course museums.
Anyways, some people like to retire in NY some like FL or AZ, Europe or Africa it all depends on preference and how one see's themselves where they want to be. It's funny a poster that has never been to Namibia said they wouldn't go there. It actually would be perfect for retirement. It is all built up, has great amenities, it is really BEAUTIFUL and there are hardly any people that live there.
Last edited by bayarea-girl; 07-17-2019 at 11:35 AM..
...Thank you for posting and I really appreciate it. I'll have to disagree with you on the matter that most of the posters lived or visited SA especially when they have said on the thread that they haven't been to Africa. .
You asked me if I had been to South Africa, I told you I had several times. I told you I had a bodyguard assigned to me by my employer.
I've been all over the world and that's the first time I have been subject to that level of security.
That's just one perspective I know but we have to acknowledge all these different views and balance them together (including yours of course). The conclusions here are that there are specific security and safety issues that in no way compare to places in the US that must be considered and addressed if one is to consider retiring in South Africa.
No one is saying don't retire in SA, just to take safety and security into consideration and factor into the decision.
SA and the USA can't be compared two different countries on two different continents offering total different experiences. If people want to move to Africa or Europe they can't expect to have the American experience that is why I mentioned to go visit. The OP was in Durban she/he found something about it intriguing enough to move there so they would have seen the levels of poverty and security in addition to things that make it good.
I wish others offered perspectives on what they found good about it in addition to the negatives. All for balanced but when you have people on here that have said they haven't even been to Africa make comments rather than inquiries its just odd to me. Many people travel to SA and other parts of the continent without bodyguards.
Regarding Rwanda...that's probably best for another thread, but it's very high on my list of places to visit next in Africa. It's actually THE safest country in Africa (although Eritrea might be a close competitor).
I've also heard that not only is Rwanda the safest in Africa, but heard it comparitively much safer than most American cities as well.
There is a big difference is simply holidaying in RSA or even going there as a relatively young person and seeking retirement there. Really no comparison. I'm sure there are similar areas in The States, but plenty more areas where safety is pretty much more guaranteed. Obviously nowhere can be 100% but RSA is another dimension. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the fact when ageing makes you more vulnerable and as such more likely seen as an easy target. Why move to a place where constant surveillance is a way of life? As beautiful as RSA is, and it is, I suspect one would desire a greater piece of mind in the age in the sense that can go most places when and when wanting.
Coming from another country, one would need a degree of street smarts , largely entrenched within the host population , in order not to set yourself up for crime or indeed to flounder in fear and not going out further diminishing life quality.
Thank you for posting and I really appreciate it. I'll have to disagree with you on the matter that most of the posters lived or visited SA especially when they have said on the thread that they haven't been to Africa. You've given posters interested in SA a good perspective with examples and I know that will be appreciated as it is very helpful.
Just to add here but I am a born and raised South African Born in Durban, grew up in Johannesburg and lived in Cape Town for a few years. My experience with this forum is I try share my experiences often but most of the times my posts seem to go overlooked and people prefer links from youtube and other places on the internet which isn't necessarily a bad thing either since facts and research is always a good idea
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Born in Durban, grew up in Johannesburg and lived in Cape Town for a few years. My experience with this forum is I try share my experiences often but most of the times my posts seem to go overlooked and people prefer links from youtube and other places on the internet 
which isn't necessarily a bad thing either since facts and research is always a good idea 
