Forum South Africa

[EasyExpat]

Hi,

We are interested by your feedback on the cost of living in South Africa. With Easy Expat we have already a useful tool to compare the cost of living in some major cities in the world.

However we do not cover all the countries, nor all the destination where you can eventually decide to expatriate.

If you live in South Africa, you can help the community and give information about the cost of living in South Africa. You might be able to give indication and comments on the needs:
Food (what to expect, what to find).
Accommodation price in South Africa. Rent?
Transport (public transport but also the necessity and cost of using a car)
Services (gaz, electricity, telephone, internet...)
Tax
Health, Education
Entertainment (restaurant, cinema, theatre...)
... etc.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience with the community

[chriskayaks]

Allright. Lets see here. Hopefully this will help tourists and people that want to move to south africa. With the hype of the soccer world cup almost finished, there might be a lot of people that wants to come visit.

Cost of living in sa depends on the budget you have so i will give a rough scetch. This is just estimated prices. Some of this prices might be much more or a bit less.

Food
you can expect anything in sa and no we don't eat stuff that looks gross. You will find the normal stuff like hamburgers, pizza's (+-us$8), stews, sushi etc. And then sa favorite, "braai vleis" (almost like bbg - only better), biltong (dried raw meat), snoek (fish), crayfish, afval. The price of meat is low in sa - round about r30 - r80 per kg (roughly us$4 - us$10 per kg)
our alcohol age limit is 18 so if you are 18 or older, you are allowed to enjoy a beer, brandy or even whiskey and a few of sa shooters like (sowetan toilet, springbokkie, blowjob, jagermeister and many more). The price for shooters is roughly r6 (under us$1) and beers and brandy might cost you roundabout us$3 (double brandy and coca cola - sa tradition)

accommodation
we have a lot of types of accommodation. Renting a house: you can expect to pay between r2500 - r7000 (roughly us$320 - us$900) per month for a really nice house with anything from 2 - 4 bedrooms, depending on where you want to live.

Public transport
we have a lot of types and it can cost you anything from r150 - r350 (us$19 - us$45). Types is public or private taxis. Car rentals can be the same. Buying a car can cost anything from r100 000 - r350 000 (us$12 850 - us$45 000) although much cheaper and smaller vehicles are available.

Services
gas or petrol, as we call it = roundabout r9 (us$1.15) per liter
internet - we joined the world with uncapped internet and a 4gb line with telephone rental can be up to r1000 (us$128) per month
buying houses can be between r800 000 (us$105 000) up to r5 mill (us$641 000) - visit http://homeloans-sa.co.za for more details

flights:
flights ranges from roundabout r350 - r2500 (us$44 - us$250) depending on the airline you choose and from where to where you are flying. Visit http://bestflights.co.za for more information

this is just a few, but will be able to give a rough scetch of the cost of living in sa

regards

[EasyExpat]

Hunting for your dream house to buy is very exciting, but where to start? There are currently many homes for sale at bargain prices, as the property market is only starting to lift up its head again after the recession. Another plus is that interest rates in South Africa are currently at the lowest levels in years.

[jekalo]

If you are not a South African and want to buy real estate in S.A.you need to know that you may qualify for a loan at a South African bank but the interest rates are high, around 10 per cent, when compared to other countries with a rate of 3 to 6%. You must also pay up front at least 1/2 of the purchase price as they will only give a loan for 1/2 of the purchase price to foreigners. I just purchased a house within the last 12 months and it was a bit of a headache as there are so many hoops you have to jump through to get a loan and quite a bit of incompetence encountered along the way at many levels. Having said that, it is a relatively inexpensive place to buy property and there is a lot of availability along the coast as well as in the popular wildlife areas in the country. Where else in the world can you buy a home in a big 5 wildlife area for around 200K or a coastal property for a similar amount?

[property guru]

The best place in SA for entertainment it has to be Johannesburg!

[EasyExpat]

Hi

The food that you can expect to find in South Africa is similar to food you will find anywhere. There are pizzas and burgers and your normal meals. But if you are brave enough to taste our cultural food, there is African food such as tripe and mopani worms, Indian food such as samoosas and bunnychows and much more to be experienced. But there are international fast food restaurants such as KFC and McDonalds.

Transport services range from public buses, minibus taxis and trains. They are not too expensive and will range according to the distance you are travelling.

Accommodation prices can range from R200 a night while the more luxurious hotels cost up to R1500 a night. Accommodation ranges from bed and breakfast, hotels and lodges.
Accommodation in Cape town is more expensive than Johannesburg and Durban accommodation.

Services such as gas and electricity are readily available and although there has been a huge hike in electricity prices, it is easily available.

Entertainment varies extremely and there is something for everyone. There are cinemas, theaters, restaurants, parks, animal parks and nature.

[Merp]

it would also be great if some expats could post about some unseen costs and expenses such as insurance/security/etc...