Thread: Anyone want to know anything about South Africa

Originally Posted by basurero

Oh yeh, the crime in South Africa is crazy (even worse than in Russia). I knew a chick from Durban who's family left after they were caught in the middle of a gun battle.

Yeah it really is, they really work hard to make it seem like a friendly place for tourists.

When I got back, a friend of our family who lived there years ago asked me whether I felt 'safe' there. They left because of similar reasons, I think it was some kind of gun battle over the items in their house someone tried to steal or something.

We didn't have any trouble on our trip there, the only thing that happened was a shoot-out on the highway we travelled a lot on (not at the time) and when we were interviewing a man in the Cape Town Green Market we heard a noise and questioned it and he replied 'Oh it was just gunfire', I suppose they get that all the time.

I agree with mooman that you really have to go there to see the differences for yourself. It's a very different way of living that you start to see when you experience it, seeing people carting scraps around the city in shopping carts while the white communities on the other side of the road cart back expensive electronics for their homes.

I agree volk , but i disagree with the whites only perception for that is changing , I grew up dirt poor and always moving around from one place to the next the levels are balancing out u see more and more white people now becoming poorer. In cape town a lot of the properties are actually owned by rich europeans and not the south african whites. Im a plumber and the most work i ever did was for overseas clients and it is becoming worse as people are buying more of our property up at there international prices and to actually enjoy our national heritages becomes ludicriously overpriced in the fight to milk tourists for everything they have. Did you catch the cable car up to the mountain I have caught that once on a school trip when i was 6 years old and all my friends have never caught it , who has that kind of money to throw around on cable cars when you can just walk. Its hard In Cape Town because the mountains and the seas lock in expansion the face is changing more in both Joburg and Durban where I have friends in shantytowns who earn more than i ever did but choose to stay there beacause thats home to them. Its a culture clash , give it time when the apartheid generation on all sides are pushing up daisies then things will be very different.

what i really miss ( other than walking around barefoot) is the noise. When i went back to apply for my visa it was so much different from the UK people where whistling in the streets people would speak to you when u approached them talking on the trains , singing sometimes lol the african spirit is a lively one. I really miss that and Cape Town is even more laid back , in Joburg you speak to someone and they will speak to you instantly , you want to know whos around you who your neighbours are who you are talking to. There is a also a big russian and international community in Joburg and the ones that come over seem to stay. Although it seems there is not so much of a divide between ukranian, moldivain, bulgarian , russian...they all sort of get together although the jokes still fly.

moldovian sorry

Originally Posted by mooman

take offense if u want Taty and insult me more for you will only understand once you have been there and I was referring to the UK. People agree with me here they are soft and spoilt and they still complain even though they have it very easy.

Taty IS from the UK. London to be more precise.

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Originally Posted by mooman

take offense if u want Taty and insult me more for you will only understand once you have been there and I was referring to the UK. People agree with me here they are soft and spoilt and they still complain even though they have it very easy.

Taty IS from the UK. London to be more precise.

OK I got it confused, I thought you were born in SA and now live in the UK, but it's the other way round isn't it?

Still, you say you've been mugged loads of times and your friend had a gun pulled on him. I agree with your comment that we moan about crime here, but I am not one such person. I have lived in London my whole life, in the suburbs for the first 18 years, and for the last two years almost in the centre of the city. I have never been mugged, heard or seen a gun, been burgled, my parents cars have never been stolen, seen a knife outside of the kitchen, seen anyone getting mugged or attacked, and hardly any of my friends have either. So you may have a more of a sense of community in SA because of it? Is that a stronger sense of gated community :P I'd rather live in a country with less community, but safer society. Of course there is a lot of crime in the UK, especially in the cities, but it's no worse that in other European countries, and much better than parts of America. It is true, Brits like to moan about things. If you read the British press they make out that the country is in turmoil and in ten years time will cease to exist.

lol Taty its true, I am from South Africa half and half , my mom and family are up here my dad and family are down there. There are good and bad aspects to them both. London is different though in London i feel like im in another country not the rest of the UK lol , by the way you never replyed to my question to you about whats the differance with Ukranian and Russian speech?? thanks and hey im here arent I , lol , english are very patriotic lol just check out the world cup all my mates swear this time they will win but they said that last time too But its good still

Lol I thought Russians were the kings of moaning about everything.

Originally Posted by basurero

Lol I thought Russians were the kings of moaning about everything.

R and B, they should get married

That's why there are so many mail-ordered brides.

i take that as a no