Your views on the riots in South Africa

Hi Veedushi,

As an expat who actually left South Africa because of the riots (my husband who is the one working there stayed) and still have a lot of contact with friends there I thought I'd share my views.

Short version: it was awful but all is back to normal. Long version follows below.

The riots were certainly scary for us, we lived in Durban, where it all started and the area that Jacob Zuma comes from and lives. He has several grand children at the school my children attended. We received threats and plenty of buildings were burning, and stores looted. Our neighbors, many of them with weapons at home, quickly formed a group that guarded all streets with access to our area. Police or military were no where to be seen in the first days. We were advised by the security expert at my husbands' company to make plans on how to hide and get out of the house quickly. They even made a plan to fetch my husband by helicopter should it be necessary, after I and the kids had already fled along burning roads to the airport. The airport was kept safe, no one was allowed to come near that didn't have plane tickets. To see the strength of most of the South African people and how people were sharing food (there was not much left) with each other and offering help through What's app groups was heart warming. But we felt we needed to take our children to safety. Had it not been that my husband's contract ends soon, we would however probably go back. According to my friends, now, only a few weeks afterwards, all is back to normal. It all just seems like a bad dream to them. But it did happen very quickly and showed that underneath the surface it's a fragile country. That said, I love South Africa. I'm so happy I got to spend a few years there and would definitely do it all over again, despite the difficulties that knocked on the door with the pandemic and the riots during our time there. You have to be aware of the safety issues, but South Africa has so much to offer. So many different cultures, so much life and laughter, great food and amazing climate and beauty.