5 Misconceptions About South Africa (and the TRUTH)

Your doctor doesn't charge you for a follow-up visit? My doctor wouldn't be so generous. I'm in Durban. Never heard of a doctor not charging for every visit

I'm also South African, but I think there's too much 'white-washing' going on here.

The facts ARE correct: the US is definitely a far superior country in many metrics. Farm murders, violent crime, electricity supply problems, major water restrictions – ALL real here. No free speech, no gun rights also real. There's a reason Elon musk is over there, and not here.

The question is about scale – if South africa had 300+ mill population with our system, we would cease to exist as a country.

Live in the upper echelons of society here, of course you'll get away from many societal problems but what about the middle-to-working class?

What South Africa has to offer is a good culture, healthcare, healthier/cheaper food.

I want tourists to come through, but, please my fellow SA'ns, don't pretend the country isn't going in a wrong direction – Cape Town is more an exception than standard.

I am a middle class South African in the City of Ekurhuleni, not the magic safe Sandton.

Crime: The reality is I live behind 6ft walls with electric fence on top. Remote gate.

The are camera’s in the streets to protect from crime, not that it helps because criminals will come over walls in the daytime and attack residents. Those smash and grab signs you see at robots are real warnings to keep you aware of theft or highjacks. Crime in general is just reported if you insured for the SAPS number. Very little chance of any crime being solved. We have a private security to call for emergency since SAPS probably can’t or won’t respond. Most crimes murder and rape are simply closed unsolved.

Infrastructure / development did you see the potholes in all the roads? More than 40% of water is lost in leaks that dont get fixed. Sewage in the streets. Corruption has destroyed much of the country.

Health: Excellent if you have private health care but $1 = R18 so not cheap, if you paid in ZAR.

Minimum wage is about R4000 so that is $250 or so.

That being said I can’t imagine living anywhere else. The reality is that even though cANCer lost the electition they have corruptly ensured they have a greatly share of parliament than the vote gave them so corruption continues with little oversight.

The world is waking about to how we live here.

70 people are killed everyday in South Africa. Unsafe in the shanty towns.

You have your facts slightly mixed up. The richest square mile in Africa is within the suburb of Sandton. Because Sandton has it's own municipality, it is also regarded as a town and apart from Johannesburg ( Not to be confused with City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality or Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council.). Alexandra township which is highly dangerous falls within Sandton municipality.

I was in SA for several months. The sad part is that SA immigration is so disorganized do corruption and lack of work ethics

wOw! eYe am seriously considering moving to The Continent after viewing your site

As a South African I'm very protective about what people say about my country, unless it's Americans, they don't seem to have the knowledge to understand any better.
South Africa is as safe as you make it, and as you can afford.
Since your president called it a shit hole none of us care as far as I know

I live in Soweto and have been here for about 15 years. I can only remember one criminal incident that happened to me personally 7 years ago, other than that, I feel much safer

Every place anywhere there's crime it depends where you are and who you mix with. Some places are peaceful some places are rough. BASICALLY everywhere in the world.

Where are you going for health care? Since medical aid is expensive we go to our local government clinic we wait 3 hours to see a nurse about chronic medication, then they give us a doctors appointment in two week. Also if we are receiving medication on the same appointment then it's one to two hours more. Some people have to give up a days salary for a clinic visit. A normal flu cost about 30% (about 200 USD including medication) of our monthly salary if we go to a doctor without a medical aid. A pair of spectacles with frame included can cost 50% of our monthly salary.

Really enjoyed your misconception show. I came to Cape Town where I owned a home from the UK when I became too ill to work with a chronic meningitis. After almost 20 years working in London, paying I think it was 42%tax, outside national insurance and married to a Scotsman, I ended up in an enormous fix with seemingly no way out but returning to SA. With my SA education I earned double what my husband got and woth no family, etc to assist, we couldn't see how we could survive on his pay alone. Having come back had been exceedingly difficult. Again with no real support system, my parent have already died decades ago and almost my whole generation immigrated. (Back in the day SA ranked 7th in the world on education and all of us had been headhunted from a road like crazy-almost every doctor I knew now live in Canada! Engineer's to the US, etc.) The plan was that I would try to open a private practice, though I became sicker and many times nearly died, so that ne er happened. My hubby has also since died, however er I'm luck to have a son who lives with me to help out and one client only to survive on.

For it I live in a beautiful area (lower Constantia) just on the side of Table mountain and I can finally say I'm convalescing. That said, I want to share my own experience with the SA State Health. Obviously, when I left for the UK I had a medical Aid, something most employers provide. I found the UK NHS extremely useless, the London GPs hardly seemed qualified. I also found they're used to their patients not having a clue either. Through my husband's worked we moved to Surrey, on the border with Berkshire. This was also an affluent area and I could immediately see the local GP was more on par with what I was used to from SA. I'm convinced they have two seperate trainings going for GPs to the poor (obviously I didn't live in Kensington in London, though SW 19 which isn't the worst either) and to the more posh. Any wat, for years my life was living hell of I'll health. I had been diagnosed with chronic glandular fever (Epstein Barè virus) by a private GP from SA, but with that could not access anything on the NHS, nor would my employers buy it-in fact they openly questioned a GP from SA'a qualification. I stayed alive by reading Dr Atkins' book, buying the supplements he recommended and changing my diet. However it made general living better, also did get worse health wise and I had definite neurological issues. The NHS insisted on prescribing anti-depressants. Back in CT I ended up in the state health system where I was immediately diagnosed with an autoimmune chronic meningitis. I was in a coma for nearly a year. You know, for someone with "depression". From all the fevers I became blind due to a brain injury, which caused severe double vision. It took a year of waiting lists and test and seeing vonsultants/specialists before I got special prism spectacles. The reading of my eyes were so poor, there wasn't a test glass, so the guy had to build it from several other test glasses, etc. He wondered if he could obtain a lab and funding for building the prism, as it was outside the norm for eye care. While I waited he obtained both. I couldn't choose a pair of frames, as I had to go with what could carry the lenses and the whole ordeal took a whole day out of the eyes guy (and most the rest of the shop to fuss over frames, measuring my eyes etc), but two weeks later I got the specs, which includes bi-focals! I go every few months for my bag full of blood pressure meds and live quietly and feel I might live again.

For those who have the energy for this long comment. The chronic autoimmune condition is called ME and mine is probably from a tick bite as a child (Lyme disease). It's not easily diagnosed, but everyone here, I mean medical wise, at least have a grasp of what I'm talking about when I say I have ME. (Many people also got it from covid). I am on fb support pages where most the participants are from the USA. I don't know half the time what they're talking about, because it's just tests and abbreviations for results. Some of these people are even on valium (a tranquilliser) for it. Anti-anxiety stuff, which is extremely addictive and so bad for your brain health. It is an autoimmune disorder and really all you can do is live healthily and quietly. Sometimes I get severe infections and need a stiff dose of antibiotics. The test results are right, but they're all from the same "family" of a post viral condition where bacteria mutate, travel through your body, attacking different systems. The last thing I'd want to do is risk prescription meds addiction on top of it all, which might make you sleep through it all, but it takes about a year to detox from something like ativan.

Now from that, the ignorance I experienced for instance in Greece where the GP had never heard of ME and the UK, where they pretend it doesn't exist (I have a friend who obtained TB in London and only have a quarter of a lung left as result of, firstly never having had it diagnosed for probably two years, before she landed in a chest hospital and the piss poor treatment-for such a contagious disease, her husband was on a 3 month waiting list to be tested! This would NEVER happen in SA, who is leading at least in TB treatment, because it's so prevailent here). I am absolutely out of my mind happy with my state health in CT. My medical bill came to R90 (probably less than $8 for the specs, the blood pressure stuff is free). I can kiss my eyes guys' pair of black hands just every time I think of him, you can imagine! I cannot see that anyone in England would have gone out of their way for me like that. (You know how warm and friendly CT people are).

Good luck with your endeavours! I always listen to your show when it comes past my feed.

So now u see now it's easy to be a foreigner than a local , locals im pretty sure they can't afford living in santin

KENYA AFRICA IS DEVELOPMENT AND NIGERIA IS DEVELOPMENT AND EGYPT IS DEVELOPMENT…..😮😮😮😮 😮😮😮

They can sell the lies to Americans because Americans, for the most part, dont travel outside of their hemisphere, so they have no idea about the real world & if you dont travel, you dont know & its thats simple

My brother was car jacked in broad daylight on a Saturday at Geeenbriar Mall in Atlanta by gun point. This happened 3 years ago. Luckily he wasnt hurt.

I just stumbled upon your channel. I'm going to join and get in touch with you because I know that everything that you are saying is true. I haven't been there but I'm here in Washington DC and I have been studying this country so I know what's happening with this declining empire.

How do you get permission to live in South Africa? I am a single father with one child and I want to visit SA to make sure that it is a good fit.

Love the work you are doing for Afrika and South Africa in particular 🙌🏾

We are busy trying to get Zimbabwe in order so that we can accommodate our American Brothers and Sisters too (but Jamaican community has caught on early and is building with us). 😃 🫶🏾🇿🇼

Ash come to Durban, I'll show you your twin sister, but but but, you have to loose that accent sister 👍

Africa is most certainly not the most populated continent on earth. That honour goes to Asia whose population is roughly triple that of Africa. Just saying!

Have you been watching what south Africa themselves says about foreigners , ignorant is a disease 😂😂😂😂😂lol stay safe

You preachin tonight!