Why Moving Countries Isn't The Solve For Everyone
As the turmoil in South Africa continues to degrade the country, more people become disillusioned with life here. It is not only the poor management of the currency, or the coronavirus restrictions but systemic corruption, theft, the expansion of the welfare state, and the failure to secure reliable energy that makes this country a hotbed for controversy.
As people become poorer and fall below poverty lines, as they fail to secure work and a livelihood for themselves, as they fail to access basic services that provide humans with a dignified living, they become angry. That anger manifests in gender-based violence, crime, racism, and populism giving rise to xenophobia.
This only adds further instability to the country that investors price in and reduces their exposure to South Africa. As you can tell there are more than enough reasons for people to jump ship, short of you living cozy as a 1%'r here you're feeling the pinch.
I feel like every week someone I know is planning or has moved to a new country to seek a better life. I honestly understand and I hope they do well, we all deserve the best life we can live.
Leaving your home country behind isn't an easy decision and you have embraced a lot of unknowns, unknowns that can be costly. This is especially true for those who leave developing nations for the developed nations.
Sure the standard of living is higher but so is the relative cost of living and if you're not able to adjust it can just mean trading one set of problems for another.
Family ties
Deciding to leave a country, you also make the decision to leave others behind. If relationships are important to you, then leaving your friends and family can be a tough decision to make. Ones many aren't willing to trade, as they find comfort in those circles.
Marketable skills
Leaving for a new country, you need to make sure you have skills that fit their job market. No sense in moving to a place where you cant find work or can only find work that puts you in a state of poverty. If you don't have marketable skills it would be wise to upskill before you move on.
Savings and resources
Moving ain't cheap, especially now with quarantine rules and with some countries asking you to pay out of your pocket, it surly rules out a lot of people. Short of a company willing to sponsor to bring you over, a lot of people are out of luck.
Business and investments
Having investments like a business or property can make it harder to leave. Either people depend on you for their job or the asset is so illiquid trying to sell it in the current climate to fund your move might be tough.
As governments look for revenue, any sort of large liquidation sales will be hit with taxes and therefore leaving you with far less to try and start a new life somewhere else.
A tough decision
I know a lot of South Africans are looking to jump ship and I don't blame them, the country is offering you less for your labour and productivity. Any rational actor would look elsewhere, as they say, go where you are treated best.
Have your say
What do you good people of HIVE think?
So have at it my Jessies! If you don't have something to comment, "I am a Jessie."
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lol Funny to see this post now because I was just going to talk about how Portugal's D7 visa might be the best for Africans in crypto looking for a fresh start
Lol if you have 350k to get into Portugal I doubt you have much of a tough life you running away from! I looked at a lot of these plan B passports they're all bullshit
Greece is a lot cheaper at 250k euros
I think that the Russian and Georgian one seem a bit more reasonable that you need to set up a business and employ 2 local people
Actually, the D7 visa requires you have like 8000 Euros. You just have to prove that your crypto activities can generate 8000 Euros per year(minimum wage in Portugal).
That's just a visa not residency, visas can be revoked for bullshit pretty quickly and younre at the mercy of a lot of rule changes
yeah all that is possible but I'll be willing to risk it regardless.
Lol let us know how it goes and if it works I’m happy to join! I hear there’s a Croatian one too, as long as you don’t earn your income inside Croatia you can stay for up to a year
With approximately 14 years in SA I can attest to the fact it not easy surviving in a foreign country, a lot depends on one's success, job, resident or work permit, you are some times second to be considered for a job unless you career is critical.
With SA currently being unfavorable resulting in myself wanting to move elsewhere, it is something I have been deliberating carefully about and haven't arrived at a decision yet.
Migrating is definitely no quick and easy decision.
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I have a friend from Nigeria that's been living here 10 years has a small business and his wife had a small business here and they also fed up man and leaving to Canada and I don't blame them
I just know it's not an easy decision if you have limited resources! Short of a job willing to sponsor you most people don't have the cash to move
Through a job is one of the ways easier to move otherwise the funds to move is just too much and not there.
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Especially with all this quarrantine stuff I've had friends who had to pay R40 000 just for the quarantine lol as if we have money just to throw around on hiding in a room for a week
40k just for being locked in a room ffs! There's no way I will be willing to part with such amount of money.
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After looking into passport renewal, it stunned me to find out that the Federal Government is demanding proof of da jab as part of the passport renewal process. Looking into an exception at the moment. The destination in mind is El Salvador.
It's a lot easier for me if a passport is issued to me or not, being retired. More of an inconvenience than loss of lively-hood.
I have not checked mine but I'm pretty sure is the same and since we on the red list travel is out of the question anyway
I think that this travel restrictions aren’t going to stop anytime soon and is going to be used to keep people from migrating if they have a lack of certain resources or opinions
My journey will be where non-vaccination takes me. Not an anti-vaxer; in fact had my 10 year tetanus booster just prior to the pandemic; yet don't like to be forced into anything.
I get You, like here we always have yellow fever and malaria but you only take the shot when you have to go into certain higher risk areas and it's still a choice! You can go without it and risk getting sick
It's not about what's healthy or not it's about you having the ability to make a choice! If you give up choice then why don't the government just tell us what to eat and drink too and let's stop having any choice then
Some of the things you mentioned plays huge roles in some of the reasons why I haven't left Nigeria. Although, i'll leave it's inevitable, one just have to be prepared and takes time, a whole lot of planning and resources. The insecturity here is arguably the worst in the world and the system fails in so many aspects. So its a another motivate to leave.
It's almost like a lottery, you never know where you'll end up, sure you can try and massage things by applying to certain countries and jobs but you never know where youll end up and if it will be better. As more people jump ship countries that receive people may also be come resistant or strict with who they let in too
I think every country has it quite bad and I have heard quite a few people leaving the state I live in (California) due to the taxes and policies for other states. Even the earning reports of various companies on the stock market have mentioned raising prices of around 20% just for general food prices. However I do guess that the US is doing slightly better on that end. It just isn't so easy to move over and settle down.
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Totally man like even in the US sure you can move to another state or area that’s cheaper but it’s not like it doesn’t come with its own costs
The options are there I guess for those who want it but I don’t like this idea that people say oh just move!
It’s not a one size fits all solution if it was the whole of Venezuela would be gone by now and in other countries
I am seriously considering this and all depends on what happens in January business wise. Everything is a gamble and it is about taking smaller risks. Have some ideas spinning in my head right now so not a certainty just yet.
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I can imagine, I don't blame you, this past few years have been rough for most south africans, a lot of my mates have already jumped ship with mixed results but at least they out of the line of fire which is what most seem to be interested in
Very true. I myself moved to a new country a few years ago. It was not too hard as I was hired by a company before I made a decision to move. Making sure that one can get a job is very important as you can survive with lease money for a few months in your home country as you will always get support from your friends and family but in a new country you won’t have that support. It’s also good if you know in that country already.
Good to see you back here mate.
!LUV 1
Oh completely agree, having an income and a support system makes a huge difference when moving, it's not just a financial thing but a mental thing dealing with all the changes and getting used to a different way of life