* personal safety. This is possibly the biggest factor in our decision to emigrate. For me personally, there was a particular incident that confirmed for me that emigration was a necessity - a house 2 roads away from us was invaded at midday by 6 armed gunmen. The police responded, a high-speed car chase and gun battle ensued and 5 of the 6 gunmen were killed on Fields Hill shortly after 1pm. My entire family drive up and down Fields Hill, so the thought of them potentially getting caught up in a gun battle was too awful to contemplate. And then the prospect of finding 6 armed gunmen at my door.... That was my personal turning-point.
* our daughter and her family are emigrating and we are a family with very strong bonds, we feel a deep desire to be close to our grandchildren as they grow up. We firmly believe in and embrace the concept of the extended family. Since we truly believe that there is no future in this country for our children and especially our grandchildren, it seems logical to move to the country and hopefully the town where they will be living.
* Education is a biggie. Our younger daughter, Paula, has just finished her Varsity degree, and although I feel she got a good education, the strikes, which often turned violent, that happened every year on campus made the entire 4 years of her degree quite stressful and we heaved a huge sigh of relief when her last day on campus arrived. Class sizes are increasing and the cost of education is rising. I also feel that the curriculum in our schools is not of a particularly high standard and seems to be changed willy-nilly by the powers that be. So as a grandparent, I'd be happier if my grandchildren had a brighter educational future.
* Job security - this is a huge concern for us. Grant is 50 years old, he is white and male and those factors are big red flags for future retrenchment. If he was retrenched the chances of finding another job would be very slim indeed. For our children too, BEE means that they are last in line for any employment opportunities.
*Racism - I honestly don't feel welcome in the country of my birth anymore. Roughly 90% of my family arrived here with the 1820 settlers, the other 10 percent were Dutch/French/German settlers who arrived in the 1600s and I am also very proud to count amongst my ancestors a well-known black slave-woman (Groot Katrijn) and also Krotoa, (a Khoi-khoi woman) so my ancestors have been here for many generations, but I feel like an "invader" as though I am an unwelcome visitor. I feel hated. Without getting into the political minefield that exists in this country surrounding race, let me just say that I can totally see why that feeling towards white people exists, I understand it, but as a "white" person from a family that supported Nelson Mandela long before it was a popular thing to do, it makes me sad and it leaves me feeling that the only option is to leave. I can't face spending the rest of my life apologising for my existence.
Political turmoil and economic uncertainty - For a number of years it has felt to me as though South Africa is on the brink of political mayhem and economic disaster. We're getting closer to retirement age and the feeling that at any moment all hell could break loose is not a good one!
Pension and retirement - we feel that if we are going to emigrate, the time is now (the time was probably 20 years ago, to be honest!), so that we can start paying into the UK pension fund and work towards some sort of retirement plan, even though it is very late in the day to have woken up to this fact!
England - we actually love England, even though it's frequently wet and generally rather chilly. We love the pubs, the green grass, the ancient buildings, the monarchy, the sense of history, the traditions, the villages, London, all of it really.
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