What is life like in South Africa? Another day… another internet question answered!
An anonymous user posted the question to Quora, a platform used to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other and to better understand the world.
They asked the simple question, what is life like in South Africa and users of the platform offered up some pretty inspirational answers.
Naasik, a born and raised South African pointed out that there is definitely something magical in South Africa, something that will make you never want to leave this place.
“Life in South Africa, like life everywhere else, has its ups and downs. Also one should note that people of different social classes will have different answers to this question. A middle or upper class person will not give the same answer as a lower class person since South Africa has one of the largest wealth divides in the world.
Anyways speaking as a middle to upper class South African here is my answer: life in South Africa is great overall.
In fact I will venture to say that there are very few countries in the world that can match the life that one can have in South Africa. South Africa offers the best of both first and third world countries… provided you can afford some of the first world amenities.
The weather is simply marvelous. The countryside breathtaking. The people are generally friendly. Food is of the highest quality. Access to first class education and healthcare is far cheaper than what is to be had in most first world countries. People in in South Africa seem to suffer far less from depression than in Europe or North America. The roads are marvelous (mostly). There is no shortage of adventure. I can go on and on.
However there are negative aspects as well. High crime rates. Political instability. HIV epidemic. Declining quality of government services in certain provinces.
However, despite all these factors, there is something here, a certain magic in the air, something that you feel most when you are sitting by the dying embers of a braai fire watching the sunset, that makes you never want to leave this place.
This very first home of mankind.”
Christel-Michel Kruger, a blogger from South Africa explains that South Africa is a land filled with possibility.
“For me, an Urban dweller in Johannesburg, South Africa….
South Africa is not a place. It is a feeling. Positivity pulsates through our veins. It is my beloved country.
We have a beautiful country with much diversity. There are so many places to go and experiences to have across the country. From Table Mountain to going down a gold mine shaft at Gold Reef City.
It is not all sunshine however.
Like everywhere else in the world we have serious, violent crime, petty opportunistic crime, rape, murder etc. Be vigilant, lock your car and house etc. I always wonder why we don’t have mass school murders like in America, but we have our fair share of crime, regardless.
Job opportunities for those who did not complete high school, and with little or no schooling or experience is not in overload. That said, many highly educated persons with degrees experience the same – unemployment. The divide between very rich and very poor is rather large.
We just had a general election and the major opposing party made some headway as people are starting to vote less out of loyalty to a party that it’s founding fathers would not even recognise, and more with their heads. We have already seen some, even if small and gradual, changes.
We currently in need of rain and plenty of it! We have no hurricanes or massive tornado issues but also no vast amounts of snow. We have plenty of sunshine and our winters are cold, but rarely harsh.
So….. life is just like anywhere else in the world…. Except you can hear a heartbeat if you walk barefoot in the sand.”
And we agree whole-heartedly. South Africa is a magical place. One filled with so much possibility.
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