Deciding Whether To Move And Live In South Africa

Despite some its well-known issues, South Africa remains a popular tourist destination, and sometimes tourists love their visit so much that they decide that they’ve had enough of their home country and would rather live in a sunny and cheaper place.

And while there’s plenty of news of people leaving South Africa, there isn’t that much coverage on all of the people that are doing the opposite: moving in. Before moving to any country, however, it’s a good idea to have a look at the general pros and cons of the country in question.

The Pros

First, let’s take a look at some of the pros of living in South Africa.

1. It’s Extremely Cheap

Many studies point to depression and anxiety being closely linked to finances, and as more and more people around the world begin to struggle with bringing in enough money at the end of every month, it’s tempting to instead move to countries where the cost of living is much lower. South Africa boasts some of the lowest cost of living figures in the world, especially when it comes to food.

2. The People Are Friendly

The majority of South Africans are friendly and welcoming people that are more than happy to share their cities and towns with foreigners wanting to move in. Socialising is common, usually done around the braai, and it doesn’t take much to go out and meet new people and make friends. Of course, this can vary from place-to-place, but for the most part, South Africa remains a largely friendly country.

3. Incredible Nature

One of the main reasons that people visit South Africa is to see the nature, and there’s lots of it. From amazing nature reserves to untouched beaches to unforgettable mountain ranges. If nothing else, it’s the nature and wildlife alone that should be enough for people to fall in love with the country.

Cons

1. High crime

While a lot of the average crime statistics of South Africa are skewed because some regions are much more crime-centric than others, there’s no denying that the country has some of the highest crime rates in the world. This is definitely something that should always be kept in mind before moving to the country.

The poverty rates are high, and this has led to a lot of desperate people willing to commit crime in order to feed their families.

2. Load Shedding

Perhaps the single biggest drawback to South Africa at the moment is the load shedding. A combination of corruption, mismanagement, and lack of maintenance has caused the country’s national power grid to become unstable, and load shedding is implemented to remove the possibility of total grid failure.

For those that are able to get their power off of the grid, then load shedding is not nearly as much of an issue, and they can continue to watch TV, work, and check out Australian betting sites, but otherwise it can cause serious financial drain.