[brianw]

Good day everybody.

my name is brian and i'm a alcoholic...oops sorry wrong forum.

yes name is brian and i'm from midrand, joburg, south Africa and yes we (wife and i) are in the process of moving to NZ, at this stage it looks like it might be wellington as we both have possible job offers there. just waiting for the official job offers so we can submit our EOI's. Both of us in the IT world, she as a analyst programmer/team leader and me as IT manager.

So yes, been a heart breaking process to have come to this, to leave south africa, but yes most other south african's on this forum would know the reasons for this.

i'm 43, turned 43 in feb this year and wife is 40.

Well this is about it at this stage.

[kiwiroberts]

Hi Brian.

How far are you in the process? With all these groups and forums there is no way a question can go unanswered!

From another IT couple in SA :)

[brianw]

hi there kiwiroberts

well not very far at the moment. we had a break in 4 months ago, so both me and wife need passports 1st, and we all know home affairs. so we waiting for passports since beginning feb this year.

then we have send out our cv's/resume's and waiting to see if any jobs come along. it seems that i'm possibly getting a job offer next week, so yip thats about the status of things. i will then submit my EOI and see.

mean time i will have to apply for work visa and and.

in the mean time we have started selling our properties, we have sold 1 already in pretoria, next the plot in midrand, then the cars and bikes, then the pets, 4 dogs, 7 cats and a african grey parrot, and well think we just going to give the kids away to good homes !!!!!.

son of 23, son of 21 and daughter of 18 ...any takers ????


and yourselfs ????

[able]

Welcome to the forum Brian and well done on the possible job offers. How did you get them, if it isn't too sensitive a topic? I quite understand if it is.

[zardell]

Good day everybody.

my name is brian and i'm a alcoholic...oops sorry wrong forum.




:laugh :laugh :laugh

Hi and WELCOME to the forum.

Julie

xx

[Sam B]

Hi Brian

and welcome to the forum, your posts made me laugh. There seem to be so many people leaving SA at the moment and they all sound really sad about the situation there. Can you tell me, has it suddenly got worse or is it just a gradual thing?

Sam

[brianw]

Thanx to all for the replies.

About the job offers, am still in contact with and old boss of mine who has been in NZ for 4 years now. Large IT company (not going to name any names and places). well we have stayed in contact and when the subject came up he asked for my resume and about a week later informed me they are interested in offering me a job, and possibly my wife to. so yip looks good at this stage. now just all the logistics !!!!

about the situation in South Africa, yip my feeling is that is has progressively gotten worse. crime is out of control, corruption, bad ..err terrible service, high taxes, and you don't get anything in return from the government, nada, niks. the crime used to be over there, then in our town, then in our suburb, then in our neighborhood, and now lately in our street, and this is not petty crime, this is violent crime involving firearms, and we law abiding, taxpaying citizens are powerless to do anything about it. The blatant disrespect for the law and human life has pushed me and my wife to make this decision, and no it has not been a easy, on sunday afternoon over 3 beers sort of decision. i fear for my life, my wife's life and my children's life. few people know it but about as many people get killed in south africa in crime that gets killed in iraq and they are at war.

hey hey sorry about my ramblings !!!!

so i have taken leave and next week me and wife are doing paperwork, police clearance, home affairs, passports, and and and ....so we on out way.

depending on the job offers we might be in NZ by july or else end 2007 beginning 2008

hey hey NZ or broke !!!!

[kiwiroberts]

Wow Brian, we are concerned with how on earth we are going to make sure our children (2 rottweilers and 3 cats) go to good homes. I cant imagine what you are going to do! Its probably the biggest thing we are worrying about!!

Hey if there is more room at the company you are chatting to in NZ, ask them if they need a development manager/project manager/analyst!!! My hubby is going to be there next month just to have a look around but we thought he might as well get some interviews lined up while he is there. Might make our whole process go a lot faster, although thats quite a scary concept!

We have submitted our ITA and are now waiting to find out if we are going to be granted an interview in Cape Town when they come down from London. All this waiting kills me!

Good luck with the job thing!

[Brad77]

hey

know the feeling.

Lived in Glen Austin, Midrand for 1.5 years before moving to NZ. Crime is crazy. Friend's mum shot 3 times in her driveway a few years back (survived). Life in SA is fear. The wealthy are sitting ducks at the mercy of a criminal class who will kill and rape for nothing.

I suppose what I love most about New Zealand is that I no longer live in constant fear which for any sane South African is a reality.

[brianw]

hey

know the feeling.

Lived in Glen Austin, Midrand for 1.5 years before moving to NZ.

hi brad77.

we in president park, midrand, about 4 k's away from the squatter camp. cant remember when last we had a night without alarms, police sirens and gunshots.

yip, it's crazy, large part of our decision to get out.

[StevieD]

Welcome to the forum guys!

Steve

[Brad77]

one of the kids I taught was from P Park. Totally wild.

You wont regret it. SA was a great place. We need to forget the old days and face reality (most whites refuse to face up to it). Africa is going down the drain like Zim. 1980 Zim was great. Today it is disaster.

more whites and wealthy classes are leaving and more Zimbos, Mozambiqans are flooding in. Run while you can. There is nothing to be ashamed of. The way I see it SA is like a burning building and many whites (and Indians and others) are saying things will get better. Thats crap. The building will burn down, it may just take some time. I didnt want to be their at the end (which is still 10-25 years away). The white population has shrunk by a million since 94 and will only get smaller. By 2020 there will be 2.5 million whites and 55 million poor, uneducated blacks demanding more and more and wanting the whites to pay up yet again.

[Rhodan]

Good day everybody.

Hey Brian, I'm also in Midrand, and in IT :nice1 . Hows things going with your move ?

[Bruckner]

Welcome to the forum Brian!

Emily

[CuriousPTA]

Hi Brian

We live in Midstream Estate just down the road. We have been lucky that we have not been touched by crime directly, but the killer for us is the heavy implemetation of the BEE regulations in the IT industry. OH works for big IT Security Multi-National and I come from a big software house...but these days we do not stand a chance in senior positions - and I see Tswane have now decided not to support any non-BEE companies at all. It is becoming very hard to earn a decent living.

We are in process of selling our house, have sold one car, arranged for loving homes for the pets and all that is left to do it to get an actual job offer. You are very lucky to have contacts in NZ to assist. It seems like we are going to do it the nerve shattering way - Quit our jobs and go!

Good luck with all your arrangements and stay safe!

[annette]

Hi,
We are in Edenvale, and to be honest it's not much better here. Same thing, crime moving closer and closer to home. Many friends, neighbours, sisters that has been affected by crime..I have a job offer with a great company in Auckaland and we are submitting papers for work visas next week! Whoohoo! Leaving mid November, I cant wait, I am counting the days! PS - Good luck with the paperwork ie passports and police clearance..it's a bit of a pain...but that goes without saying huh??

[brianw]

hi all.

well we landed in auckland 15 aug after spending 5 days in singapore, 2 things about singapore, it is hot, and i had my fill for life of chinese food, and oh ja did i mention it being hot, but a very very clean city and friendly, and it is hot.

picked up a campervan and toered for 3 weeks till sep 8 in christchurch. we are now house hunting and i'm going for lots of job interviews this coming week.

we bough a car friday afternoon at around 3 ish and drove home with it at 4:15. yip registed, paid for and everything in 30 odd minutes, the dealer even took us to the bank to go get the money, amazing !!!!! 1998 honda crv with 44000 on the clock for 12900 all inclusive with wog for 6 months and and. we think it is a bargain ....

everything is so much easier here compared to back home, weel thats how it feels to us at the moment, maybe because we came here with very open minds and always remembering we are coming from a 3rd world to a 1st world.

yp, we did the LSAS trip (Look See And Stay).

[Steadybears]

Welcome from one South african to u all - all the best with your paper chasing - we have submitted all our papers and hope that we will hear something soon. Patience is whats needed - getting Home Affairs to hurry with anything is something else. To obtain full birth certificate for our 18 yr old took 10 weeks. To get a certificate issued from one of the Uni we have been told will take 4 months - just cant believe.

We left Zim in 1981 and how often we thank our lucky stars - old ffamily still there called last night to say they only have braaiwood on the shop shelves - breaks our hearts - and cant say I believe SA will be any different.

All the best to everyone - we might have to all get together when we all get there.

Regards
Jayne

[Steadybears]

Brian
have you found homes for your children!!!!! or will they be going with you? We have 24 yr old son - 21 yr old son and 18 yr old son. 18 yr old will be attending Uni and we so hope the others will follow very soon.

All the best with your venture.
Ian and Jayne