Ive been meaning to bring this topic up…
I have been wanting to go for ten years at least.
we recently completed an assessment for NZ / AUS and my wife qualifies for immigration as a chef.
I qualify for vokol because all I have is experience in film and photo.
Timing is right for now, Im a few years short of 40 and my wife is mid 30’s. After 40 we are screwed. My kid is 3 and will adjust a lot easier now than later.
Its just our damn families we worry of missing.
I went to an imigration seminar. Its crazy how many people are leaving or want to leave south africa.
Mind boggling in fact.
Anyway we are thinking about it the rest of this year, prepping our minds… and will likely pursue it next year.
Cash in all policies and sell everything to go.
Not in the IT industry, it’s not. It’s well known that there is a mass skills exodus and we’re experiencing it first hand. We’ve approached countless candidates for work in the past years and many of them have declined the offers, stating that they’re in the process of emigration. Even looking at clients of ours who are actual development companies that are looking for local resources due to their skills exiting the country. It really is a huge concern for our industry and for the country’s economy as a whole…
It was a combination of factors for us. It mainly started with me being approached by a company in Ireland, up to that point I was not really actively thinking of leaving the country. So we started investigating schooling and other factors for the kid in different countries. I was quite happy in my role in SA and we were in a good space.
I decided to put my CV out there in the EU/UK market to see what would come up. The response was overwhelming, like actually way too much. Then an opportunity popped up which looked amazing. Not in the greater London area, decent package and in an industry I’m passionate about.
Then we did the heavy digging research into everything we needed to know about the UK and the area, etc. I went over for a final interview prepared with some knowledge. Everything checked out and they made an offer before I even got on a plane back to SA.
The big drivers, in fact the main drivers were :
Quality of education in the UK, specifically in the greater Cambridgeshire area
Further education opportunities for my kid (3 of the top 10 Universities in the world is in the UK, 2 of the top 3 are in the UK)
Safety and crime. Saying there is no crime would be a complete lie, the crime is just different. Violent crime is almost non-existant. I’m in a village 10 miles from the nearest city and we have 1 police station for the parish covering 5 villages, yet the response time is 5min
Economic stability, no wild fluctuations in the value of the Pound or fuel price month to month and the interest rate is fairly stable as well.
I’m not getting any younger and pushing past mid-30s made it a now or never decision. After 40 opportunities just seem to drop off.
See that’s where I am right now - having to make a decision before I’m too old. Being a late child of '83 means I’ll officially be on the wrong side of my 30’s at the end of this year. Having to balance owning a business in ZA vs gainful employment in another country is a really difficult decision. Especially now that our brand is established enough and my own personal brand is worth enough that people are contacting me directly based on references.
My mother-in-law being dependent on us makes it quite difficult to consider migration as well. She has another daughter here with another grandchild that she helped raise as well. If we didn’t have such familial ties, we would’ve probably packed our bags the first time we considered migration.
The whole leaving the extended family behind bit is the absolute hardest part. We discussed it with everyone, both parents and in-laws agreed that it will be tough on everyone, but it’s the best thing we can do for us, our wellbeing and the young one. Weekends are the hardest, as we usually saw friends and family over weekends and had huge braai/pool/jacuzzi parties.
For now we’re making new friends and the family all have travel plans over the next 9 months, so we’re ok. I also managed to braai.
It’s not easy leaving, will never be, but I’m really not positive about SA and the immediate future is not looking great either. People are leaving faster than they can be hired, and replacing a highly skilled individual is hard. The last two positions I left in SA they had to employ 2+ people to replace me simply because they could not find a suitable candidate. It gets even harder when the senior management insists that certain criteria needs to be met that have little to nothing to do with the person’s skills or ability.
Yes, looking towards greener pastures for my kids to grow up in a less hostile climate better suited for education. Those two islands to the east of Oz…
Just a couple of things with regards to NZ (and Aus), and this comes from a number of people I know that moved there. The time difference is really rubbish, you only have a small “acceptable” window of a couple of hours where you can communicate with people back in SA. Secondly, it takes forever to get there and nothing is close except Aus. Cost of living is also stupid.
I have a cousin and best friends both in Oz and NZ, i chat to them so often that it doesn’t seem like time zone is an issue.
I guess we all hardly sleep much
I will say this though: out of the 9 people I know over there, only one is not enjoying it.
None of the people in NZ that we know expressed any negative vibes about their stay. Contact these days are so easy and painless, it should not be a major issue any more.
Things are gathering momentum our side. If we can get our docs in and police done we might scrape a January start, failing that a March start. I’m still nervous but I’m 31 and never been on an adventure before.
It’s still not 100% but we’ve decided to go with Brunei.
Just out of interest for anybody looking
Teachers get a tax free salary depending on their experience
5 bedroom bungalow ( through the agency we are using)
Free or subsidized medical ( we just waiting on this)
Interest free loan of $10000 to buy a car
then there is a lot of softer benefits
Apparently food will cost us a lot, but its the western food that is expensive.
My mom did a 3 week cooking course around thailand and I have grown up on curries and eastern food so I am not to worried about local food.
Nothing is 100% official as we have to get our clearances to them, but we are getting closer than we have ever been.
I’m obviously keeping this hush off the forum as until it is 100% official I dont want to advertise it and put our jobs in RSA in danger
Thanks bud, I don’t know if I can but I am in a strange place, i am usually very analytical and I battle to do anything without all the info.
I have been struggling with anxiety and depression and this is making me excited so I’m going with it
Interesting…
I have 2 friends who suffered with anxiety and depression and have gone off their medication since leaving SA.
One friend in germany and one in NZ.
Im not saying you will be magical cured but it can shine a light on the causes.
They both reckon its because in SA you are always living looking over your shoulder with high levels of cortisol.
I was sceptcal but then I was asked what my first thought was when hearing a strange noise outside in the middle of the night?
If I left, Id miss the living dangerously aspect haha. South Africans are hardcore.
I have a funny story. We live in a small village and behind our property is an open field.
So having lived in JHB for a while and knowing what gunshots can sound like. We’re watching TV and we hear a loud bang. Then another. I tell my wife to switch off the lights, get on the floor and get to our son’s room. I keep my head down and move to the study to get my hammer. Then another bang and a flash of light. And then I realise it’s fireworks.
With Guy Fawkes and bonfire night coming up the people were setting up and testing fireworks. Not that we knew, nice having a little bit of SA agst.
