Also search for South African support groups. They often have great advice and help for people wanting to start the process.

I agree with you that Cape Town is fabulous. In fact we still have property in Table View. And a lot of family and friends all over the place. On the other hand it’s truly scary in SA now. I foresee pockets of white and black middle class settlements, people migrating together, because they will need to take over their own services – go off the grid – such as electricity, water and refuse removals as the municipalities fall apart. They are already doing it with security and gated communities, so might as well take the next step.

Leaving your home country is incredibly hard. Never underestimate how difficult it is. But sometimes one has to do it. My family immigrated to SA from Germany just after the war. So did my husband’s who came from the UK. Now we are back in Europe.

But then, Germany recovered from the war and is now pretty awesome. Perhaps South Africa will grow through these pains and eventually recover too. One never knows.

Having said all of the above, I wrote this article in 2007. And things have not gotten better, that’s for sure.

Good luck to you and your family with your decision about your future.

my name is sarah, im 31 with cerebral palsy. Moved to the uk 5months ago – very homesick and loney. Miss my family, constantly wondering if i made right decision. Its safe here, but I miss home..

Sarah

A long message, but would appreciate some input.

We are in process to make the move to the UK on Anchestral Visas. We have been planning this for about 6 months now and me and the wife did go over to London a few years ago for a week to have a look. Over the last few weeks I have been talking to a number of people about the UK, and have received some very different responses. Also reading the newspapers, there seems to be a lot of gloom regarding the economy. Granted I mostly read the Sun and Dailymail online, so I can only base my observations and questions on this. I would like to hear from people on the forum, Saffas and others, that is living there now and specifically some details on the following:

1\I understand the economy is recovering slightly, but also that unemployment is now sitting at around 2 Million people – do you guys think this is because unemployed citizens get benefits and can be choosy, or is it really that bad? I will specifically be looking at IT and Solution sales, but wiht expertise in selling to African and Middle East countries, so not a specific displine like doctor, lawyer or engineer.

2\Crime is obviously rampant in SA, but reading the UK news it seems there is a lot of petty crime in the UK, and violent acts from teenagers like gang attacks etc. Obviously security and safety is a main concern, but for me it seems my kids will be exposed to a different type of criminal activity. On the other side, I must admit it seems the police at least take all cases seriously and makes work of it to catch the guilty ones.

3\Schooling – I don’t really believe the standard of schooling is that much different to SA? My main concern is when can I enter my kids into a new school (June, July, August??) and is there some kind of test they need to write to qualify for admission and continuing the year?

4\Work – Again from talking to people in the UK, they seem to agree a salary of about 35 000 a year before tax will be enough for a fairly comfortable life? What would this be after tax, and how does the tax work? Would this allow a family of 4 to do some travelling into Europe as well? Also, what would be the normal working hours in the UK – it woould seem a number of companies work on Saturdays, or is this not true?

I would appreciate your feedback here. We plan to stay in Essex the first month and from there look at a place to stay close to where I can find a job. We also plan to come across in May 2013 as I was informed the 2 weeks before and after Easter weekend is not the best time to find a job?