# Moving to SA in January



## lavidarachel (Dec 26, 2012)

Hi, may be posting this in the wrong place, apologies if so (I'm new!) We are moving to somewhere near Johannesburg in January (still waiting for the location and date to be confirmed). My partner has a new job working from one of the power stations. Looking forward to using this site for advice and info!


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## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

lavidarachel said:


> Hi, may be posting this in the wrong place, apologies if so (I'm new!) We are moving to somewhere near Johannesburg in January (still waiting for the location and date to be confirmed). My partner has a new job working from one of the power stations. Looking forward to using this site for advice and info!


Welcome lavidarachel, hope we can answer all your queries.


I do not live near Johannesburg and do not know the area, but there will be someone that can assist you!


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

lavidarachel said:


> Hi, may be posting this in the wrong place, apologies if so (I'm new!) We are moving to somewhere near Johannesburg in January (still waiting for the location and date to be confirmed). My partner has a new job working from one of the power stations. Looking forward to using this site for advice and info!


Welcome,

I am in Joburg so if you have any questions, please do let me know. Happy to help.

Saartjie


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## lavidarachel (Dec 26, 2012)

Saartjie said:


> Welcome,
> 
> I am in Joburg so if you have any questions, please do let me know. Happy to help.
> 
> Saartjie


Thank you  We are still waiting for waivers to be sorted so that visas can be granted (I think I have that right!) The new company think it will be around the 21st of this month. Also we still dont know where we are going to be yet, though its likely to be Witbank, it hasn't been confirmed yet. I have so many questions, but I think they are too broad to answer properly - for example how does the 'atmosphere' (if thats the right word) of Joburg differ from Cape Town?

Now I just want to get there - we are all packed up here, so living out of cases (we are only bringing clothes etc, the rest we will sort when we get there!).

Rachel x

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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

lavidarachel said:


> Thank you  We are still waiting for waivers to be sorted so that visas can be granted (I think I have that right!) The new company think it will be around the 21st of this month. Also we still dont know where we are going to be yet, though its likely to be Witbank, it hasn't been confirmed yet. I have so many questions, but I think they are too broad to answer properly - for example how does the 'atmosphere' (if thats the right word) of Joburg differ from Cape Town?
> 
> Now I just want to get there - we are all packed up here, so living out of cases (we are only bringing clothes etc, the rest we will sort when we get there!).
> 
> ...


Joburg is like a different country to Cape Town. We love living here but our choice to live in Joburg was mainly due to work and earnings. IF I had a choice I would move to Cape Town in a heart beat as I think it provides a much nicer way of living. It's got a buzz to it that Joburg does not have. Saying that, I still enjoy living here and since my husband and daughter are also happy, we will stay put for the time being anyway.


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## lavidarachel (Dec 26, 2012)

Saartjie said:


> Joburg is like a different country to Cape Town. We love living here but our choice to live in Joburg was mainly due to work and earnings. IF I had a choice I would move to Cape Town in a heart beat as I think it provides a much nicer way of living. It's got a buzz to it that Joburg does not have. Saying that, I still enjoy living here and since my husband and daughter are also happy, we will stay put for the time being anyway.


That's how I imagine it to be. We love Cape Town, and ultimately our dream is to be there. My partner said the same - it would be much more difficult to get a job etc. In the meantime, I'm glad we will be a domestic flight away, rather than a 12 hour flight (with months of saving up beforehand to be able to afford it!)

My other concern us about meeting people - the other half will be working all the time, and I won't be able to get a job, so I'll have to find other ways to connect to people. I'm used to being in a very diverse community and family, (my Mum is African Caribbean), and neither myself or my partner would want to move to another country only to solely meet other expats (not that there's anything wrong with expats obviously!) I was thinking either volunteering, or getting involved in community stuff might be a good route.

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## DannyBoy (Apr 29, 2009)

I did a lot of investigating "How to meet people", as I was hoping to return to S.A in April and Cape Town is very CLIQUEY and it's hard to break into groups of already established circles. 

One of the things which you could check out and which you would probabaly enjoy and at the same time meet many locals and volunteer expats is - 
Little Eagles Educare Crèche in Vrygrond, Capricorn – a township near Lavender Hills.
They take volunteers and you get to look after and maybe even teach little toddlers.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post other web sites but you could try google 

Also there are web-sites in Cape Town where they have weekly "Meetups" to go see movies, go to restaurants etc.
So there are opportunities to meet folks. 
Check out the Little Eagles thing though, it sounds cool and you would be working with little orphans and kids who would appreciate your time and help.


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## lavidarachel (Dec 26, 2012)

DannyBoy said:


> I did a lot of investigating "How to meet people", as I was hoping to return to S.A in April and Cape Town is very CLIQUEY and it's hard to break into groups of already established circles.
> 
> One of the things which you could check out and which you would probabaly enjoy and at the same time meet many locals and volunteer expats is -
> Little Eagles Educare Crèche in Vrygrond, Capricorn – a township near Lavender Hills.
> ...


That's great advice - thank you. I've had contact with Cotlands before (a children's centre for children with HIV and or other needs), as when we went in holiday we always did some charity stuff, so I could contact them. I found people really welcoming to me if in the township, but much less so outside it. However, I'm a very sociable person, and not afraid to make friends!x

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## LegalMan (Dec 26, 2012)

lavidarachel said:


> That's great advice - thank you. I've had contact with Cotlands before (a children's centre for children with HIV and or other needs), as when we went in holiday we always did some charity stuff, so I could contact them. I found people really welcoming to me if in the township, but much less so outside it. However, I'm a very sociable person, and not afraid to make friends!x
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using ExpatForum


Lavida - yes, DannyBoy is right regarding meetup.com, some great meetups there and you can even start your own! I can also mention InterNations.org, although that site is mainly for expats. I've found their meetups to be very friendly, with similar-minded people and a great atmosphere.


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