# Info on Pretoria, Crime and wages



## ukENGINEER (Aug 16, 2008)

Hi

I have the oportunity to work in a research institute in Pretoria. Its a good opportunity for my career but obviously the crime situation seems to be a concern.

Does anyone here know 
which areas of Pretoria are safer to live in? 
what kind of salary is required to rent relatively safe accomodation in such an area?


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## jrjvr0220 (Aug 29, 2008)

Crime in South Africa is not as bad as generally indicated by media. We have been staying is Centurion, next to Pretoria for 4 year now and so far incountered only minor incidents (theft at a shopping mall and 2 breaking into our car). 

However, the South Afican motto is generally "rather be safe than sorry". The general practice here is to stay in a Security Village - an area with limited access, controlled by a security company. A rental unit in these areas varies in price from R3000 to R4500 per month for a two bedroom flat or small townhouse.

Centurion is generally a good area to stay in if you do not mind travelling to Pretoria.

Other areas in Pretoria include: 
- Garsfontein
- Hatfield (Student area near University)
- Waterkloof
- Moreleta Park

Stay away from areas such as Pretoria West.

You are welcome to ask any more questions and I will help as far as possible.

JR


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

What I'm having difficulty understanding is why a number of posters on here say that crime is not as bad there as "the media" says, whilst others who live / have lived there say it _is_ bad!!


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## acassim (Aug 1, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> What I'm having difficulty understanding is why a number of posters on here say that crime is not as bad there as "the media" says, whilst others who live / have lived there say it _is_ bad!!


If you have been a victim of crime then you will say that it is bad. If it hasn't yet knocked on your door then you will say that it ain't that bad. Go figure. 

I say bad and that is why I am no longer living in SA.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

acassim said:


> If you have been a victim of crime then you will say that it is bad. If it hasn't yet knocked on your door then you will say that it ain't that bad. Go figure.
> 
> I say bad and that is why I am no longer living in SA.


Yes agreed, but living there you must be aware of what is going on around you. In Spain I have never seen any crime since I've been here but I'm quite aware that down in the Costa Del Sol they are gassing people in their bedrooms and breaking in to burgle uninterrupted.


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## acassim (Aug 1, 2008)

At least they are gassing the people and not harming them. I have heard horror stories of how they make sure you are at home so that you can point to the valuables and then hurt you or even worse, kill you off! 

I just could not sleep with one eye open anymore. not to mention the fear of what they might be doing with your car outside. Its just ridiculous now. 

One has to be on high alert at every traffic light. They come to your window posing to be beggars and then when you do give them something, they actually rip your sunglasses off your face (happened to me!) and run. Madness I say and there is nothing that the government is doing with the current situation. Even Nigeria is safer than SA these days. 

They even killed a well known singer recently - Lucky Dube (and he was black). So nobody is safe from these criminals. It does not hit any race... you can be a victim no matter who or where you are. A friend of mine got robbed in her home in Soweto. Another friend in Sandton... so yes you can be a victim anywhere, anytime. I love my home but I am not proudly South African anymore as it is an embarrassing to come from such a crime ridden country. The only thing that South Africa can offer me right now is the perfect weather.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

acassim said:


> At least they are gassing the people and not harming them. I have heard horror stories of how they make sure you are at home so that you can point to the valuables and then hurt you or even worse, kill you off!


No, I wasn't comparing crime in Spain to SA .... just illustrating my point that I dont understand how people can say that crime isn't an issue in SA, even if they haven't been effected by it


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## MichelleAlison (Aug 25, 2007)

People keep saying that crime is not as bad as the papers say, but surely when you read that you need to live in a secure village, with 6ft walls, barbed wire on top, alarms, security guards to see you to and from your car, security guards at the supermarkets to look after you when entering and leaving your car etc. etc. to me, this is like living in a high security prison. If it was safe like some people say, why then do South Africans need so much security.?


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## MichaelJ47 (Sep 5, 2008)

*Crime in SA. So Sad but it is a Brutal Fact of Life we live with Daily*



Stravinsky said:


> What I'm having difficulty understanding is why a number of posters on here say that crime is not as bad there as "the media" says, whilst others who live / have lived there say it _is_ bad!!


Maybe because we have become inured to it. It's only when you travel outside SA and enjoy the personal freedom's again that you realise how much crime is affecting you or when you personally experience it. We stay 45 km outside Cape Town in Somerset West. It is beautiful here . Awesome mountain and sea views but in our street more than 30% of the residents are immigrating this year . Young and old. Because of the crime rate and more specifically the fact that little is being done to stop it.

Hijackings are still a monthly occurence as are robberies with violence, rapings, drug sales of Meths Amphetamines (TIK) , hold ups, murders, etc. Some choose to vociferously object, others just shrug it off and try to get on with life. We are all affected, we have all lost friends and / or relatives and the situation doesn't show any signs of improving anytime soon.

Those of us who can leave are doing so and those who can't try to put it behind them. It is difficult living in a self-imposed jail, 6m fences, electronic gates, Armed response, watch dogs, car immobilisers, defensive driving, ferry the teenagers to their school 800m away, don't allow the daughters to walk down to the shops. 4 hour response times from a Police station that is just 1km away. Police who don't have sufficient patrol cars or petrol even to run them.
Who really wants to live like this out of choice ?

It is so sad, South Africa has enormous potential yet it is sliding into a morass of criminality and the judicial system is not helping at all.


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## ukENGINEER (Aug 16, 2008)

*carjacking*

Hey Jr

Cheers for the advice on the houses, the wages they offered seem like more than enough for that so I took the job

To anyone who can help

I've been reading up about the carjacking situation and was wondering if you can lower the probability of this occuring by just buying a really crap old car? 







jrjvr0220 said:


> Crime in South Africa is not as bad as generally indicated by media. We have been staying is Centurion, next to Pretoria for 4 year now and so far incountered only minor incidents (theft at a shopping mall and 2 breaking into our car).
> 
> However, the South Afican motto is generally "rather be safe than sorry". The general practice here is to stay in a Security Village - an area with limited access, controlled by a security company. A rental unit in these areas varies in price from R3000 to R4500 per month for a two bedroom flat or small townhouse.
> 
> ...


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

I agree with Michael. I lived in Japan for more than a year. It was wonderful to not have to worry about being robbed or attacked, even if I was out late and walking alone. I didn't realize until then what a strain 'being watchful' was. I now notice it when I get back to the US from countries where robbery and bag snatching are common.

When you only know one way to live, it is hard to understand how it feels to live differently. It applies to other things besides crime. People from poorer countries where everyone who has a job has servants (my South African maid had a maid) really have a hard time grasping that in rich countries, most people do all their own cleaning and gardening, and that live-in servants are very unusual. It's so much a basic concept that money means servants, they can't grasp a different situation.


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## acassim (Aug 1, 2008)

ukENGINEER said:


> Hey Jr
> 
> Cheers for the advice on the houses, the wages they offered seem like more than enough for that so I took the job
> 
> ...


Nopes... they will steal your car for the parts. The good news is that since its an old crap car they won't have to hijack you! Yipee... you won't get a gun pointed in your face so that some 16 year old can just take it away from you.
They will just steal it when you are not in it because chances are that they know how to get into the vehicle without having to overide some sophisticated electronic system. 
The more sophisticated the anti-hijack/immobiliser/gearlock/alarm system in your car, the more the risk of getting hijacked. 

p.s. I had all of the above fitted into my car once after the previous one was stolen twice (almost stolen the third time but I caught him in the car), radio stolen twice... or was it 3 times? Hub caps stolen maybe 4 times. Drivers and passenger windows broken when stealing small items from the front seat (like sunglasses/jackets etc). All this in 3 years. It was a 1992 model mazda sting. I guess more valuable for the parts since it was an old ugly looking car.


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## Daxk (Jan 20, 2008)

UKEngineer, its not just getting your car stolen, old crap cars break down more often and you DONT want to be stranded on a highway at night, The Criminals have become capitilists,they wish to maximise the profits from the encounter.
As Acassim said, Hi-Jacking grew as a result of sophistication of anti-theft devices,which has now grown into take you home for the contents of the safe,take you to a ATM to withdraw all they are able to, lock you in the Boot(trunk) while they have a shopping spree with your credit card.
Quite often, you wont survive that encounter.
There's an Aussie (supposed to be a Homecomer with an Oz Passport) missing at the moment, they are still using his Credit Card but no-ones heard from him since he went to the bank last week.


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## Ancilla (Oct 19, 2008)

*Pretoria SA - work?*



ukENGINEER said:


> Hi
> 
> I have the oportunity to work in a research institute in Pretoria. Its a good opportunity for my career but obviously the crime situation seems to be a concern.
> 
> ...


Hi there,

Salary R30 000 if you don't live in a security village (gross).

We currently live in Pretoria, East of PTA and have grown up here (bar a few years in Botswana). Crime is a major concern in RSA in general. You can live here comfortably as long as you have a 6ft wall, electric fence, armed response, pepper gas for your jogs, a vicious dog, and dont' talk to your neighbours, don't roll your windows down at robots, and pull a long face at anyone who looks like they want to communicate, incase they want to beg, or sell something.

Ok I feel better now that I said that, it seems a bit extreeme, but that really is the extent of it. Like any thing else - you get used to it though and then it becomes the norm. It's also ok if you don't have a family, or intend having a family. You could live in a security village after which at least R40 000 would be useful as you now have to pay for all the security etc..(don't get friendly with the guards though - they may rob your house if you tell them too much).

Ok that's all really negative, there are the up sides - like the fact that you can go to game farms & hunting, great beaches as well and Cape Town is wonderful to visit for a week-end.

Well just some info from a local who has tried to be as unbiased as possible.

Pretoria is a beautiful town though and you would enjoy the change from the UK more than likely. The people are friendly and if it is the CSIR that you are going to work at - they house their expat employees in beautiful houses. There is a very large expat contingency and they live a very luxurious life in Pretoria, lots of travelling and very enjoyable out doors type life.

Good luck.


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## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

And, in August I think, the city turns purple when the jacaranda trees bloom. I got lost in Pretoria once, when the trees were blooming. I never enjoyed being lost so much in my life.


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## Martinw (Jan 2, 2009)

jrjvr0220 said:


> Crime in South Africa is not as bad as generally indicated by media. We have been staying is Centurion, next to Pretoria for 4 year now and so far incountered only minor incidents (theft at a shopping mall and 2 breaking into our car).
> 
> However, the South Afican motto is generally "rather be safe than sorry". The general practice here is to stay in a Security Village - an area with limited access, controlled by a security company. A rental unit in these areas varies in price from R3000 to R4500 per month for a two bedroom flat or small townhouse.
> 
> ...



I might be sounding like a broken record but maybe I feel that the few of us should inform people of the truth, and am so amazed by people like you who can sit there and tell someone that it is not that bad, but in the same sentence mention gated communities etc( not that helps these days as I have heard). I think I am going to keep on posting these statements, and if only one person reads it and it makes them think twice and they hopefully go somewhere else I would feel good.
I wonder how many of you guys have ever visited this website, because I have been looking for something like this for a while and was only told by another ex-south African I work with( his daughter stumbled on it) 
Anyway read it - very graphic, but that is exactly what these crimes are. Maybe you should tell all these people on this site, especially the young white girls that got raped by a black (for what) what a beautiful country South Africa is.
Die nuwe Suid-Afrika

I lived in Kloof, Dbn. I would have to say that we were "the lucky ones, because we were fortunate to escape viloent crime. The fact that my mother got stabbed in the neck with a knife( Ok now) is concidered "lucky" and that we were minutes away from walking in on a couple of blacks almost in my house, with a new born baby girl which would have been " heaven/honey" for them to take chances in raping my wife and baby girl - GRAPHIC enough, but is exactly what would have happened if I did not pay attention that day and when a women gets raped and lives to tell the tale she is concidered"lucky" because she is alive. How sick is that. You know about 2 years ago, at Bondi Beach, Sydney( i think it was there) anyway a guy stroked/fondled a woman's bum under the water. They made such a thing about it, and she said she felt violated etc. Now at first we went "such a pancy" - what about women, girls, babies getting brutally raped by the thousands in SA, but then you think - wait a minute - she is actually right - you should not have to tollerate a strange guy fonddling you without permission - you should not have to know what fear is - but yet some of you guys are telling people " hey these people are sour, telling all the negatives, Crime isnt that bad, just do this, dont do that etc" and how many people gets assaulted, again "the lucky ones", raped and murdered - Why, just because their skin is of a light colour, because the European race went to these countries and turned it into these powerhouses, beacuse we are perhaps prettier( and yes that is a fact and is something I used to witness all the time when working with the general black pouplation, is how they loved to look at all these white girls in the famous magazines, and flip by when a black girl was on the next page, but "yet they hate the whites" So if you are happy living in a filthy place full of hatred(black on white), violence, crime, fear, foul stench from the toilets(anywhere they like) than you go ahead, but at least tell this to the forreigners so they can at least maybe make a sort of informed decision. That is just plain wrong encouraging people to come and live in a place like that - I know I would never again.


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## buditau (Dec 31, 2008)

my dad drives a crappy old car too and sometimes he doesnt even lock it....hehehe good one.


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