Not diving related: job relocation

[maged_mmh]

Hi mates,
Just thought to ask for opinions, since more of you had their fair share of traveling around; here is the deal:
little intro: working for telecom company; like myself, includes a lot of hopping around: I've started off in Egypt (home country), transferred then to UAE - Persian gulf, Qatar, Malaysia, France, Saudi Arabia, then back to Qatar. now it is time to move for permanent relocation to either New Zealand (Wellington) or South Africa (Cape Town), due to recent market share loss in Qatar.
I'm in a real need for objective evaluation for both choices; pro/cons, lifestyle, family-friendly-ness, education reviews, nominal household income for 3 pax family (including diving pie share), cost of living, hazards ...etc.; I would appreciate feedback from who are living/natives/ been there for long term (especially about South Africa - since majority of the info I got from surfing is quite repellent, it seems nice country though from governmental websites).
any thoughts are welcome.

 

[Deefstes]

Of course, if you look at governmental websites, it will look like a nice country

But seriously, South Africa is a wonderful country with lots of opportunities and possibilities. What you will find is that the population is often very polarised on the matter of South Africa's future, some being hugely optimistic, some having no hopes a all. I fall in the first category and love living in South Africa.

Sure, we do have our challenges and the damage done during the apartheid era will take generations to resolve but I do believe it can be overcome. Crime is also a point of concern but, as with just about every other country, some street savvy will go a long way.

Enough about politics though, as for practicalities, maybe a word or two from my perspective. South Africa has really only three business centres, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg with the latter being by far the stronger. If you are in telecoms, chances are you'll end up in Jo'burg. The nearest coast to us here in Jo'burg is a good 7 hours drive which is quite doable but it means that we pretty much need a long-weekend to go diving.

Second on the list would be Cape Town which is a wonderful city (although their weather can be pretty silly - rain and storms in the winter etc.) I don't know much about diving around Cape Town and AndyT will probably be able to tell you much more about that. From what I hear and read it sounds pretty good but bear in mind that there are no rich coral reefs down there. Sounds like the wrecks and shark diving are the bigger diving attractions when in Cape Town.

Lastly, Durban. This is only a chip and a put from the hot diving spots in South Africa but I don't know how big the IT industry (and telecoms) would be in Durban.

South Africa is a relatively affordable country to live in and if you're a qualified proffesional you should be able to live quite comfortably. Our currency is not particularly strong which makes travel abroad difficult. This is compounded by the fact that we are quite far fro the rest of the world. If you want to see Africa though, and it has LOTS on offer, South Africa is a brilliant place to be based. South Africa itself has a tremendous variety with scenery ranging from deserts to rain forests and lowland bushveld to 3000+ m mountains. The almost 3000km of coastline ranges from tropical waters in the Agulhas current to frigid waters in the Benguela current offering climate ranges and hence vegetation, wildlife and birdlife just as diverse.

What makes this diversity particularly enjoyable is the fact that it all fits into a country that's not even twice the size of Texas so everything is really accessible.

I have never been to New Zealand (and I'd love to visit some day) so I can't strike any comparissons. I have lived in Ireland though for two years and spent significant amounts of time in Holland, England and the USA and I can say without a doubt that I don't see myself living in either of those countries rather than in South Africa.

 

[viceroy]

Well put Deefstef...I don't think I could have put it better myself.

The only other piece of advice I can offer would be to pay us a visit, check out the job, housing, etc situation while you're here

 

[almitywife]

yes Sth Africa is a beautiful country but im guessing there are easier countries to live in - new zealand for one

watch the LOTR movies to see what you can enjoy plus they play rugby and its only 3hrs away from many tropical islands

cheers

 

[Deefstes]

yes Sth Africa is a beautiful country but im guessing there are easier countries to live in - new zealand for one

watch the LOTR movies to see what you can enjoy plus they play rugby and its only 3hrs away from many tropical islands

cheers

Can't disagree on any of those points Like I said, never been to NZ, desperately want to.

B.t.w, if you do settle in NZ you'll have to filter through some tips to us on how to play rugby.

 

[El Orans]

B.t.w, if you do settle in NZ you'll have to filter through some tips to us on how to play rugby.

#1 Wear all black clothing.
#2 Learn the haka.

 

[maged_mmh]

thanks all for the informative feedbacks,
however, my real point is, maybe i didn't make it very clear, how really hard (or easy) to settle down with a family in either places?
for the job, I won't be looking for a one as I'm being transferred by my employer; still I have to negotiate the package though; so what is, let's say, above average income there (for those who live there how much is your expenditure per week)?
for SA, I do not have a choice, since the office HQ is in CT not J'burg
One of my huge concerns as well is the education, although it is partially paid in my package, i would appreciate some suggestions in this regard.

 

[tos_pos]

i think they're both wonderful countries from what i've heard. i been to kenya and am going to uganda next year. i know theyre not the same but they are similar. south africa will have so mucht do and see. i've never been to new zealand though =/

 

[viceroy]

thanks all for the informative feedbacks,
however, my real point is, maybe i didn't make it very clear, how really hard (or easy) to settle down with a family in either places?
for the job, I won't be looking for a one as I'm being transferred by my employer; still I have to negotiate the package though; so what is, let's say, above average income there (for those who live there how much is your expenditure per week)?
for SA, I do not have a choice, since the office HQ is in CT not J'burg
One of my huge concerns as well is the education, although it is partially paid in my package, i would appreciate some suggestions in this regard.

Hmmm, Well I suppose it depends on how you want to live.
If you can give us a better idea of what sort of lifestyle you'd like to live (size of house, car, activities, size of family) we can help you better.

As for education...private schooling is really the only option unless you really cannot afford it...but then you really need to get your child(ren) into a top government school which is hard these days.

Just for examples, teachers earn between R5000 and R12,000 per month
IT people earning between R5000 to R50,000 or more per month, just depends.

A decent salary I suppose for a family of 3 or 4 would be in the R20,000 - R30,000 per month, but thats just my opinion. With that you would live in a moderate townhouse, drive an average car, school 1 or 2 children and still have some left over for a bit of a holiday each year to the coast...

 

[maged_mmh]

well, my present life style is like this; 2 beds semidetached townhouse, normal house hold appliances with little extras as for an electronics geek ; driving a toyota prado SUV (not to my liking though as i prefer smaller rides, but hey! I'm in the middle east where SUV are cheap as dirt )
activities are mostly limited to 2 days weekends where it is a mix between beach diving (mostly if cannot avail a boat) having dinner out with friends, social visits. during weekdays though every now & then go out for a cup of coffee (starbucks?); oh, and driving my kid to swimming & tennis lessons twice weekly.
my family size: me + wife + 6yo boy (which the main reason i left my home country to secure better education for him).
Viceroy,
when you said "moderate house" does this necessarily means it jeopardizes security?
cars i don't really care less as far as it is decent enough not to break down on me.
for diving stuff, i assume that ne reefs down there; any other available activities within reasonable reach or within the city?
how does it really look like to live there?
just 1 more thing, yes i'll be doing a preliminary visit before settling down there (company policy), to arrange for housing, schooling, bank account...etc.