Living and working in South Africa

South Africa may be considered the first world of Africa. From personal experience, it's not so different from Europe or America. And no, we do not have lions as pets! We have zoos just like you do:-) And yes, we do wear clothes and not loin cloths, and live in brick houses and not huts:-)

The main language in South Africa is English, but there are 11 official languages, which not everyone speaks (Afrikaans; Ndebele; Xhosa; Zulu; Sotho; Ttswana; Swati; Venda; Ttsonga; other Indigenous creoles and pidgins (e.g. Khoi).
Afrikaans stems from Dutch, but sounds and is understood more like Flemish.

Race groups in South Africa are made up of four main groups, Black, Coloured, White, and Indian. For foreigners to understand a bit better, Coloured people are of mixed race and descent, such as European and Indian, etc, and not a black and white mix as many believe. Coloureds all look very different, and some you may even think are White or Black, because skin colour differs, eye colour differs, hair colour and type differ, etc. They're a very diverse looking group of people, from different backgrounds and ancestry. The Chinese have also made up a large population in South Africa, but are not recognised under a specific race group.

South Africa is a Christian country, with many church denominations, so you will feel welcome. We also have a large Muslim, Jewish and Hindu population in all our cities and we cater for all, especially in terms of food. Traditional cultures play a huge part in South Africa, but there are too many local (mainly "black") cultures to mention and explain. It's a very interesting country to learn from. Whomever you are, and whatever you believe, you will feel represented here:-)

South Africa is known for apartheid and the 27 year jail term of Nelson Mandela to fight for freedom and equality of race, a time when Whites rules and segregated everyone else, the worst for Black people, and now since it's first democratic elections in 1994, has been trying to redress those race issues, through Employment Equity - where they try to give job preference to Black, Coloured and Indian (of course based on skill and qualification to ensure fairness).

Don't worry - white people still have jobs, and still occupy most top positions of management. Its not been perfect or easy, and there's a very long road ahead to fix things, but we're trying, one step at a time. For the most part, everyone gets along and makes it work. Tolerance is very important in South Africa, so racism and discrimination is very taboo!

Cape Town is world famous, for Table Mountain (which was voted one of the new 7 Wonders of the World), and is probably the most cosmopolitan and "Euro friendly" city in Africa, and South Africa. It's very mixed race and mixed nationality (many foreigners live here, many from within Africa, like Congolese, Angolan and Somalian), making it very diverse. Despite this, "Capetonians" still tend to be quite cliquey in their groups, so don't take offence - it's not you:-)

Cape Town has also become more Euro-centric with brands, so you'll find your Louis Vuitton, Mango, Gap, etc stores in the main shopping malls. And, of course, the beaches are awesome (but the water is very cold)!

Contrary to belief, the crime in South Africa is not as bad as outsiders make it to be. Yes, some cities like Johannesburg are known for hijacking, but the crime is no different than other countries where much weirder crimes occur. Just be vigilant, and make yourself stand out like a typical tourist with a big camera around your neck and waving wads of cash from your wallet when buying things from vendors (hawkers), and you'll be fine. Street smarts and common sense goes a long way in any country you visit.

South Africa is quite cheap to live in compared to other African countries like Angola, and cheaper with most things than Europe. It is like any other country, where you have good areas to live, and some dodgy areas to live (poorer).

An average 1 bedroom flat (apartment)with kitchen and bathroom  in a middle class area in Cape Town, for example, will cost you from about R3500 (approx. $350) per month, besides your electricity (± R200 or $20).
Going out for meals is also fairly cheap, depending of course on whether you prefer fancy places or not, but the average meal at a steakhouse will set you back about R200 ($20) per person for a couple of beers, plus a steak and chips and dessert. We have good quality red meat too.

South Africa is also known for its sports, the main being Rugby, and also Soccer (football), Cricket and Golf.

We're also known for our "braais" (barbeques), and not Euro/Birtish/American style with gas and burgers - here we rough it, and make fires traditionally with wood and coals, slap on those lamb chops and boerewors (direct translation is "farmers sausage" but that doesn't work so well - just know it's good!), and enjoy a cold beer around the fire while socialising with family and friends. We don't care whether it's summer or winter, but a braai is a favourite pastime here:-)

To buy a brand new car will probably cost you the same as elsewhere, but for a second hand car (± 5 years old), like a Hyundai Getz 1.4, you're looking at about R65,000 ($6,500), which I think is a bit more expensive than overseas... A brand new car, Like a VW Polo 1.6 will cost about R200,000 ($20,000) with all the trimmings.

Petrol is expensive and goes up more than it comes down, but that, unfortuntely is out of our hands and is the same all over. Currently (April 2013) is costs about R12,80 per litre, and a 50L car, like a standard VW Polo 1.4, will cost you about R640 ($6.40) to fill up, and depending how much you drive, you'll have to fill up 2-3 times per month.

Transport is the only really disappointing thing here - the busses, trains and taxis aren't very reliable, are usually very full and unclean, and sometimes even unsafe. Cities are working on that, and new bus systems have been tested (e.g. Cape Town's MyCiti busses), which are very nice, and very similar to European and British type systems. Transport from the airport is very easy, but quite expensive, and taxi drivers etc will try to rip you off, but that happens everywhere! :-)

Salaries aren't very high compared to Europe etc, mostly because our cost of living isn't as high...

If you work here, income tax (PAYE - Pay As You Earn) is payable by all, and is annually reviewed. It's not as high as countries like France and Germany, but the higher you earn, the more tax you will pay. Tax ranges from 18-40% of your income, and is only charged for earnings higher than R6000 ($600) per month. Bonusses are also taxed unfortunately. Foreigners may claim some tax back when they leave. You will have to ensure your employer first gives you your IRP5 document to submit to SARS (South African Revenue Services) - they're quite fast and effective.

Other taxes include your road tax, wihch you pay if you own a car (your annual car license renewal) and Rates (paid to the local municipality for your water usage, and to keep your area tidy, and collecting your refuse, etc - if you're renting, this is usually included as the owner is liable to pay it).

Laws have become stricter with foreigners getting visas to come work here, because of our high unemployment rate due to unskilled labour amongst the poor which still makes up the majority of the country, so you can understand why the reluctance to hire from outside when the need for jobs is greater within...

You can never get bored in South Africa, especially Cape Town, as there's so much to see and do, so it's a great place to live.

There have been more and more job strikes in the last two years or so, which hasn't been good to experience as it can get quite rough and affect other businesses, transport etc. Which is an annoyance more than anything else, but hey, if people feel they are being treated unfairly, who am I to say they can't stand up for what they believe in.

Summers are very hot, but weather difefrs from city to city in South Africa. Johannesburg, for example, experiences a lot of summer rain and thunder storms, whereas Cape Town is very hot, and often exceeds 35°C on most summer days... so wear sunblock of at least SPF50 (tanning without it is not recommended - you will burn!!) Winters are opposite, Johannesburg tends to be dry, but cold, and Cape Town very wet and windy. Average temperature in a place like Cape Town over winter is around 8°C, so not as cold as Europe and only snow on the mountains really.

South Africa is very techno savvy, so you'll generally find many people with a cellphone (Blackberry and Iphones are big!!), a laptop, ipad, and any other latest gadget out there. Internet is available everywhere, with many restaurants and cafés offering free wifi. Our internet speed isn't as fast as overseas yet, but it's fast enough. So feel free to use Skype, Twitter, etc. Our gadgets are just more expensive than yours though...

All in all, South Africa, with its politics and crime at times being a pain in the butt, is still an awesome place to live, diverse, with friendly people (mostly)... don't be alarmed - we like to hug and ask questions:-) LOL

I think I've covered most of what I'd like to know if I were a tourist coming here... Maybe too much:-)