Ask me about South Africa

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Ask me about South Africa

AtomD: May 3, 2009; Fun Shoe

Hi, I'm local to Durban and can probably help with any KwaZulu Natal specific questions.

Geriatric Pirate posted:

Also I'm flying into JNB, will probably book flights from there to CPT but any thoughts on taking the (cheaper) train instead?

I wouldn't really take the train, to be honest. It'll take a day and a half to get there, and it only runs three times a week. It's okay as an experience, but as a means to get from point A to point B, not so much.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2014 12:12

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 00:59

AtomD: May 3, 2009; Fun Shoe

goku chewbacca posted:

Describe the security measures you employ to protect your home and family. Personal firearms, security alarm, private security forces, walls and gates around your home. Do you live in a primarily white, affluent suburb? Is your entire neighborhood walled/gated with private entry? Do most middle class whites live in neighborhoods like this? Do most middle class people carry concealed firearms when out in public?

Gated communities aren't nearly as common in the Durban area, but crime isn't as bad here as in Johannesburg and Pretoria. For what it's worth I'm massively annoyed by them whenever I go to Johannesburg for work because it makes driving with GPS a pain in the rear end. Most middle-class homes will be at least walled and gated, but a lot of them will have alarms and rapid response security as well. I know of one person who carries a concealed weapon, and it's certainly not the norm, as far as I know. It's difficult to tell in public because in SA, if someone can tell you're carrying at all you're breaking the law. Getting a weapon legally is a pain in the rear end which requires affidavits from character witnesses and the like.

goku chewbacca posted:

Is white poverty a major issue, or have most managed to maintain a first world standard of living in the post apartheid era?

It's starting to become something of an issue, but it's dwarfed by the general poverty issue. Most whites are far better off than most blacks, for sure. Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) is a set of affirmative action policies which is supposed to help reduce this disparity. A big gripe amongst whites is that, in some instances, instead of taking advantage of economic growth to grow the black middle class, it relies on displacing whites. That's not at all sustainable, of course. It's not as big an issue as a lot of whites will make it out to be, though.

goku chewbacca posted:

Have you ever experienced violent crime or property crime like a break-in or carjacking?

Our house got broken in to about 5 times while I was growing up. I have some friends who suffered more violent crimes.

goku chewbacca posted:

Have you considered emigration to a first world nation? How many of your friends and family have emigrated?

Eh. I'm very fond of South Africa's multiculturalism. I don't think id like living in a country where there's a clear dominant culture, at least permanently. One of my friends immigrated to New Zealand but immigrated back after a year. It's a common story.

Saltin posted:

What are your thoughts on South Africa's pretty much world leading youth unemployment rate? I've visited your country twice and aside from how every white person seems to live buttoned up security-wise, the lack of jobs for young people is what really stands out to me.

As far as I can tell, SA is trying to be an economy in the vein of the USA and the UK, but the vast majority of the country doesn't have access to the educational resources required to get into service-based industries. Though universities aren't USA expensive, they're certainly not cheap in relation to the average household income. Government inefficiencies are loving these people over royally as well. Last year there was about a 6 month delay in getting high school textbooks delivered to an entire province. IT infrastructure is pretty good, but exceptionally expensive, so the more accessible tech industry you usually get in liberal market economies isn't growing nearly as fast as it could.
poo poo's hosed, to be honest. I'm upset about it and I'm not really bearing the brunt at all. As a pipe dream, I'd love to see a manufacturing industry following a more worker-owned model and catering to the socially conscious first world.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2014 11:49

AtomD: May 3, 2009; Fun Shoe

BlueBull posted:

I disagree with the poster above in terms of it being difficult to obtain a firearm permit, it's a matter of going to a range for 2 hours on consecutive Saturdays to complete a competency test a 6 year old could complete, and some money to buy a gun, that's it. Even the waiting periods have decreased, to me it's never been easier to obtain a permit.

Thanks, I was misinformed then. I've never looked into owning a weapon myself so I was going on second hand information.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2014 16:29

AtomD: May 3, 2009; Fun Shoe

I'm one of those weird guys who prefers pretty much any weather to the dry as hell weather in Gauteng.
The Durban summer gets so humid walking around technically counts as swimming and the Cape Town winter is so rainy and grey you'd just have to put out some marmite toast to make a Brit homesick, but man at least it doesn't feel like you're evaporating.
Tip for Gauteng: Take lip balm.

# ¿ Sep 25, 2014 20:03

AtomD: May 3, 2009; Fun Shoe

Original_Z posted:

What do you SA guys think about Orania? The community is pretty fascinating, and I wonder how locals actually view it.

I suppose it's nice that the people living there aren't living here.

Anti-Hero posted:

How's the internet in SA?

Oh boy, it's bad but getting better. You're either getting connected via ADSL or 3G/LTE for the most part. Roll-out of FTTH is starting pretty soon to "select" (rich) areas, coming in at 100 mbps.
It's still expensive compared to the rest of the world. A 4 mbps ADSL uncapped line will set you back about $70 a month, while 40 mbps will go for $240 a month. 3G/LTE data is sold by the gig at about $10-15 a pop. That's all bad, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was 5 years ago. While last mile is still controlled by either the four mobile operators or the single fixed line provider, we've seen a lot of new players in the backbone network business.

# ¿ Nov 19, 2014 13:11

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 00:59

AtomD: May 3, 2009; Fun Shoe

Lead out in cuffs posted:

The problem with the internet (other than being a long way from everywhere), is that in the 90s, the government sold the phone company (Telkom), which had a complete monopoly, to foreign investors. Those investors, unsurprisingly, proceeded to milk South African phone and internet users for all they were worth. I guess it's getting better now, though.

Oh yeah, the National Party knew they were likely to lose the 1994 elections and so quickly privatised a bunch of things because they thought the new government would gently caress it up.
Now Telkom isn't just bad, but expensive to boot! The miracle of privatization!

# ¿ Nov 22, 2014 16:27

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Ask me about South Africa