From frying pan to fire?
- Sharon Gill
- Nov 28, 2011
- 7 min read
Relocating from one side of the planet to the other in order to reunite with family is one thing, but if you’re looking for a better life, it might be prudent to put a few things into perspective.
Six months ago, I looked at some of the factors that prompt South Africans to pack up their lives and move to a foreign country, and those that inspire them to come back.
Unemployment, unacceptable crime levels, widespread corruption, rising fuel costs and increasing prices for deteriorating public services are just a few of the factors inspiring so many skilled South Africans to leave the country in search of greener pastures.
But while many have settled overseas quite happily, others return to South Africa for all sorts of reasons: they miss the lifestyle, the weather, friends or family, or they were better off financially in South Africa.
Unemployment
Back in April 2011, when I first wrote this article, South Africa’s unemployment rate was around 24%, second only to Rwanda (30%), and slightly above Spain (20.33%). In comparison, the unemployment rate in the USA was around 8.8%, in the UK 7.8%, and in the Euro Zone 9.9%.
Crime
This is something of a can of worms, with some countries imposing a moratorium on their crime statistics, and political unrest in other countries skewing the total “murder” numbers.
Five or six years ago, South Africa ranked second only to Colombia on the “murders per capita” listings, with the USA at No. 24 on the list, the UK at 46, and Australia and New Zealand at 43 and 52 respectively.
But according to the UN’s latest stats, which are for 2008, South Africa and Colombia have moved down the list to 9th and 7th place respectively, way behind Venezuela and Honduras in Central America and Jamaica in the Caribbean.
In comparison, the USA appears at No. 52 on the list, with the UK, New Zealand and Australia not even featuring in the top 100.
Corruption
In 2010, South Africa was rated 4.5 on the Corruptions Perception Index – which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 178 countries around the world. This puts South Africa midway between “highly corrupt” (0) and “very clean” (10).
Clear leaders in the corruption stakes were lawless Somalia (1.1), and war-torn Afghanistan (1.4) and Iraq (1.5). The Nordic countries of Sweden and Finland (9.2) and Denmark (9.3) were beyond reproach.
But let’s compare South Africa’s 4.5 rating with the countries that are most often considered in the search for greener pastures: the USA (7.1) and UK (7.6) are hardly exemplary. Much better are Australia (8.7) and squeaky clean New Zealand (9.3).
Inflation
The inflation rate in South Africa was reported as 4.1% in March 2011.
Inflation in Australia and Canada was 3.3% in March 2011, compared with New Zealand (4.5%) and the USA (2.7%). In the Euro zone – despite bailouts for Greece, Ireland, Portugal and possibly Spain, as well as much speculation over the financial stability of Italy, inflation was 2.7% in March.
Inflation in the UK – a country that retains its own currency despite being an EU Member State – was 4% in March, just 0.1% lower than South Africa.
Interesting trivia: Zimbabwe’s inflation rate of 13.2 billion percent hit the headlines in November 2009, beating the previous world record set by Hungary in July 1946 when it had a daily inflation rate of 207%.
Fuel prices
It’s impossible to compare fuel prices by converting foreign currencies to SA Rands. The only way to produce any meaningful comparison is to use some kind of “universal currency”, so for the purposes of this exercise, we will use the Big Mac Index – a method devised by The Economist to measure the purchasing power parity of different currencies.
Today, South Africans at the coast pay around R10.47 per litre of unleaded petrol, which is equal to roughly 58% of one Big Mac, or 1.73 litres per Big Mac.
Americans get nearly twice as much petrol for their Big Mac: 29% of a Big Mac per litre, or 3.4 litres per Big Mac.
Petrol in the UK, Australia and New Zealand are pretty similar – roughly 44% of a Big Mac, or 2.25 litres per Big Mac.
However …
Property: If you sell a bog-standard 3-bedroom 2-bathroom house in South Africa, good luck trying to find anything habitable in the UK when you convert the proceeds to pounds.
You’ll have a similar problem in the USA, Australia and New Zealand, although there are bargains to be had if you’re prepared to clock up some home-hunting mileage.
Property prices in Europe are much more reasonable, especially some of the older houses in France and Portugal, although sellers tend to remove anything not cemented into the basic structure. I’ve seen places with bare wires hanging from the ceilings after the sellers took all the light fittings with them, and kitchen sinks propped up on bricks because they took the built-in cupboards.
There are bargains to be had in Spain, but beware: the Spanish property market is staggering in the aftermath of a property boom that saw unscrupulous developers building houses without permits, leaving thousands of illegal homes on the government’s demolition list with no compensation for the home owners.
Pets: The UK has always had strict quarantine laws, which means pets entering the UK from South Africa spent six months in quarantine kennels. This was not negotiable. A friend of mine who is blind was unable to take her guide dog with her when she went to England for a few weeks’ holiday. Australia and New Zealand also insist on six months in quarantine.
While the quarantine period itself might not be too much of an issue, the cost of kennelling is.
However, come January 2012, the UK is bringing its pet import policy in line with those of the EU and USA, which have always been more pet-friendly. Provided you comply with the pet import regulations, there is no need to quarantine domestic pets arriving from South Africa. And those same pets will be able to travel between the UK, EU and USA under the “Pet Passport” scheme.
It remains to be seen whether Australia and New Zealand will follow suit, although considering that every item of wooden furniture has to be fumigated on arrival, and they want to arrest you if they find so much as an apple in your handbag when you get off the plane – even if it was given to you on the flight, I can’t see them relaxing their quarantine regulations.
Climate: Durban gets an average of 320 days of sunshine per year, the same as Marbella in Spain.
San Francisco (USA), Barcelona (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Athens (Greece) and Perth (Australia) all get 300 sunny days per year.
Sydney gets 240 days of sunshine; New York is slightly behind with 234. Paris only gets 75 sunny days year, but Londoners count their annual sunshine in hours – 1,500, as do New Zealanders in Auckland – 2,000 hours a year.
The overall picture
While southern Europe does appear to offer a similar lifestyle to South Africa, it might not be easy to find work if you don’t speak the language.
In a lot of countries where English is the primary language spoken, unemployment is rising and housing is expensive.
In the USA the cost of healthcare could kill you, and in the UK the first winter might.
South Africa might not be utopia, and some suggest it might be a case of “better the devil you know”.
When this article was first published in The Crest Online, one reader who left South Africa a few years ago to live first in China, then Vietnam and now Thailand, offered a simple checklist to use when comparing your current reality with the alternative you have under consideration:
1. Will my children be better educated if I go or if I stay? (Go = 1, N/A = 2, Stay = 0)
2. Are my chances of excellent healthcare better if I go or if I stay? (Go = 1, N/A = 2, Stay = 0)
3. Will I feel less discriminated against if I go or if I stay? (Go = 1, N/A = 2, Stay = 0)
4. Can I prepare better or worse for a secure retirement if I go or if I stay? (Go = 1, N/A = 2, Stay = 0)
5. Will the security of my family, as measured by the fear of violent attack on a family member, be better or worse at my proposed destination than it is currently? (Better = 1, N/A = 2, Worse =0)
6. How easy will it be for me to turn my education and experience into an appropriately paid job once my skin colour is revealed to my potential employer? (Better = 1, N/A = 2, Worse = 0)
7. Will my proposed new country be more vibrant, beautiful or energizing than South Africa? (Yes = 0, N/A = 1, No = 1)
8. Will my proposed destination offer the diversity of cultures that makes South Africa such an interesting place to live? (Yes = 1, N/A = 1, No = 0)
The answers to the first six questions will determine your long-term happiness.
Question 7 is the main reason we ask ourselves the first six. If you choose to leave South Africa, get used to the fact that you will always yearn for home. It is beautiful beyond compare. It cannot and will not be replaced.
Question 8 is only relevant if EVERY culture is prepared to live alongside EVERY other culture without significant prejudice. Otherwise such diversity is a recipe for disaster. Ask the NP.
9. The overriding question: Can I secure the long-term future of my family better if I leave or if I stay (as far as I can determine, based on the policies of the ruling Party and/or the likelihood of regime change in the next 10 years)? (Yes = Go, No = Stay)
Note: The answer to question 9 depends a great deal on your ability to pay for the cost of solving the problems posed by questions 1-7, so please consider how fortunate you are compared to others facing the same dilemma before you throw any stones at those leaving. This is particularly so if you were able to answer N/A to any question.
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