Living in South Africa: an expat guide
What to expect when moving to South Africa
Is it safe? This is generally the first question on most people's lips when you say that you are moving to South Africa. And it's no surprise as the country's high level of crime is well documented, though the car-jackings and murders of tourists that make the news outside the country are very much in the minority.
Most crime is gang- and drug-related and takes place in townships where you would never step foot. Having said that, you should take sensible precautions; don’t wear flashy jewellery or use your phone in the street; don’t drive at night or walk on your own in unfamiliar neighbourhoods; keep your car well-maintained, the petrol topped up, and the windows up; tell someone where you are going; don’t take diversions if you can help it; and carry a personal alarm and/or pepper spray (legal here for self-defence).
What language do they speak in South Africa?
Three decades after the end of apartheid, the country is a complicated, diverse mix of cultures, religions, races, and languages. The 12 official languages now recognised in the constitution include the wonderful addition (in 2023) of South African Sign Language. Although only one in 10 of the population speaks English at home, most can communicate in it. Afrikaans is the first language for around 40 per cent in the Western Cape, where many schools still teach in it, so in Cape Town don’t be surprised if someone starts speaking to you in a guttural, unfamiliar tongue (they will soon switch when they realise you don’t understand, though if you know Dutch you can almost certainly get by!).
Tipping
In restaurants, waiting staff will always introduce themselves and ask how you are. It’s polite to ask them back. And at the end of your meal, don’t forget to add a tip for service (at least 10 per cent, more for a particularly pleasant experience). You can add it to the bill and pay by card but, of course, cash is appreciated. Minimum wage is shockingly low, even taking the relatively low cost of living into account. Also tip hairdressers and beauticians, Uber drivers, and have some coins and small notes for ‘car guards’ — people who direct you in and out of parking spaces along the road or in free car parks, and may make it less likely that someone steals your car while you’re gone (but don’t depend on it).
Where to live in South Africa
Most families opt for a standalone house with elaborate security (high walls topped with electric fence, remote-controlled gates, CCTV, alarm, outside lights, burglar bars) or a house in a secure estate (all the security is on the perimeter, with gates manned 24/7; your visitors will need a code and often ID to enter). Many have decent gardens, perhaps with a pool. Property 24 is the place to start your online search.
You need generators, battery-powered invertors, or ideally solar panels to keep your lights and everything else on when load-shedding hits (planned rolling power cuts to prevent the national grid from collapsing after decades of underinvestment, theft, and corruption). People are increasingly opting for solar power plus a borehole to live off-grid, even in the city.
Living in Cape Town, Western Cape
The V&A Waterfront, Green Point, Sea Point, Clifton, Camps Bay, and Llandudno (known collectively as the ‘Atlantic Seaboard’) are popular, chic (and expensive) areas with luxury apartments facing the sea and the sunset. Houses are generally on small plots, as land is at a premium this side of the mountain. The MyCiTi bus along this route is considered safe and an effective way of getting about.
For more space and less traffic, consider Hout Bay, a beach town with a distinctive vibe, or the ‘southern suburbs’ including Newlands, Constantia, and Tokai. Alternatively, head over the mountain into Nordhoek, with its fabulous white sandy beach popular with walkers and horse riders.
Out of the city, the winelands (Franschhoek, Stellenbosch, Somerset West, and Paarl) are becoming increasingly popular for those able to work remotely and are well served by schools.
Living in Pretoria, Gauteng
Waterkloof, Waterkloof Ridge, and Brooklyn are full of diplomats and other international families posted to the city. In October and November, the blossoming jacarandas create the famous sea of purple. Although several enclaves have been created (with traffic restricted to minimal and fitted with ‘boom gates’) they are not secure estates, and some say the lack of through traffic has made theft from properties and vehicles worse. Silver Lakes Golf and Wildlife Estate in the east is different, here the security around the perimeter creates a sanctuary of sorts, where kids play in the street and teenagers hang out at the clubhouse, but it’s quite a commute from the centre.
Living in Johannesburg, Gauteng
Avoid the CBD at all costs, and head instead to the northern suburbs of Park, Sandton, Rosebank, Houghton, and Melrose for safer, leafy streets, upmarket shops and restaurants (check out Rosebank Mall or the newish Melrose Arch). Further north still, well out of the city, are the sprawling campuses of Dainfern College, Steyn City School, and American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ), with many of their families living in the surrounding secure estates.
While public transport is not advisable, the Gautrain is a safe, fast underground train linking Sandton to Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo International Airport or taking you from Park, Rosebank, and Sandton all the way to Pretoria. The double-decker open-top Red Bus has a great tourist route to take your visitors around the city and all the way to Soweto.
Getting started in South Africa
With sky-high unemployment throughout the country, it’s understandable that work visas are like gold dust. Unless you are transferring with your employer, your options are a critical skills visa (if you qualify) or the new digital nomad visa to work as a freelancer or for a foreign employer (but you must prove income of at least R650,000 per annum). Foreign children need a student visa to attend school, and most schools will help facilitate this.
You will want to take out health insurance for your family to cover the excellent private healthcare available (and it’s a requirement of the student visa).
As soon as you have a visa you can open a bank account, though strict banking regulations mean the process can be tortuous. Getting a mobile phone contract can be a struggle with proof of residency and bank statements required, but pre-paid is easy, once you’ve worked out the difference between the data plans (extra data for streaming, day and night data?) and airtime (for calls and texts).
Day-to-day living in South Africa
South Africans are generally friendly and welcoming. There are plenty of ways to make friends with outdoorsy locals through padel classes, tennis clubs, and walking and hiking groups. Or join an expat network, if that’s more your thing, particularly in Cape Town (check out International Women’s Club of Cape Town or Girl Gone International for the younger crowd). Then there’s all the friends you will make through your kids’ school. Some, particularly the American schools, have fabulous parent activities and social events.
South Africans are generally friendly and welcoming. There are plenty of ways to make friends with outdoorsy locals through padel classes, tennis clubs, and walking and hiking groups.
Shopping
Food shopping is a relative pleasure — local chain, Woolworths, is like Marks and Spencer or Waitrose in the UK (for around half or two-thirds of the price). Pick n Pay and Checkers are cheaper and a little more basic; you’ll find one in every shopping mall. For toiletries and medication head to Clicks, for sporting goods to Sportsmans Warehouse or Total Sports, and for wine head to… any supermarket, liquor store, or better still a wine farm if you’re in the Western Cape, for unbelievably high quality and low price.
Eating out
For those who can afford it, eating out is a national pastime and the restaurants are phenomenal. Sadly, driving along the N2 from Cape Town’s airport towards the city you get a bleak reminder that South Africa has the highest income inequality in the world, with around 12 per cent of its population living in ‘informal settlements’ or townships, according to the government.
The last word
Some risk-averse friends and relatives will look at you with concern, if not horror, when you mention moving to South Africa. But most expats here, or certainly those who have the money for private schools and security, and enough disposable income for travel, safaris, and eating out, would not live anywhere else. And your friends will soon come and visit once they see the photos.
