On August 4, I left South Africa for Côte d'Ivoire, thankfully there was a direct flight, but it also took eight hours. There was no internet on the plane, no disturbance, and how close to the clouds, just to write about what I saw and heard in South Africa. I thought about it on May 26, when I came to South Africa from Kenya, and it was almost 70 days since I left.
South Africa is the regional division of the parent company in Southern Africa and has more than 600 Chinese employees. The office is not located in a building, but in an Office Park. Before I came, I didn't have any concept of "Office Park", because all the representative offices I went to before were one building or several floors, and it wasn't until I saw Office Park in South Africa that I really got a real understanding of this Park. This Park is actually the epitome of the environmental built environment in South Africa, and I will introduce it in detail later.
Inside the red circle are all parks, including ducks and rabbits in the park. The park is very beautiful, and it is often seen that family members come for a walk with small children
My first impression of South Africa - before entering the country
Although I have not been to South Africa before, I have been in Africa for so many years, and I feel that I should know more about South Africa than the public. But after coming, I punched my face, and in many ways I was surprised. Let me first talk about my initial impressions of the country before I came.
Once a developed country. I had heard before I came that South Africa was a developed country, and for some well-known (political point of view, I will leave it less to talk about), South Africa is not as developed as it has been in history. I saw a movie starring Little Plum in 2006, "Blood Diamond", and there were a lot of pictures of Cape Town cities on it, which is completely different from the Africa I remembered, and it is not surprising that you would say that he is European, and it is still a picture of the 2006 movie. It is also often through some news, chats between colleagues to get the understanding of South Africa, on the whole, it should be a very good urbanization development of the country.
Cape Town City Corner, if not stated, it is hard to imagine that this is an African country
BRICS. The five emerging market countries with the greatest potential in the world, Brazil, Russia, Leading, China and South Africa. South Africa, although it was the last to join, is also a testament to South Africa's potential. My understanding of brics is that the country is big enough, there are many natural resources, and the population should not be too small. I feel that these five countries account for half of the world's population (actually 42%), 1/3 of the world's land area (actually 26%), and 1/4 of the world's GDP (actually 25%).
Diamond. Not only by the film "Blood Diamond", but also by every aspect of life, I have heard that South Africa is a major producer of diamonds. Based on my science and engineering thinking, the diamond thing is the biggest lie in the world, so that if you don't buy a diamond ring now, you won't let you get married. In particular, "diamonds are eternal, a diamond is eternal" and DR advertisements "can only be bought once in a lifetime", capitalists and commercial markets can associate an industrial product with love. When I passed on this idea to my family, I was deeply despised, and as a result, I obediently bought a diamond ring with 2 months' salary, but it has been kept at home to eat soil.
Omicron. I have been working overseas for a long time, and my acceptance of the epidemic should be higher than that of my friends living in China. The outbreak of Aumi kerong in South Africa at the end of 2021 should also be a perception of the overall environment of South Africa by many people, after all, Omiljung originated in South Africa. At the end of 2021, I was in Côte d'Ivoire, and many colleagues bought flights from Côte d'Ivoire to Turkey to Guangzhou, all of which were cancelled after the outbreak of Omilon because of the direct flights from Côte d'Ivoire to South Africa. This Turkish Airlines is also really sensitive enough, and the brain circuits are novel enough to cancel all the countries that have direct flights with South Africa.
Mandela. The Godfather of south Africa. It is not enough to mark him as the first black president of South Africa, a person whose life is full of magical colors. He launched the anti-apartheid campaign, spent nearly 30 years in prison, won the Nobel Peace Prize, and overthrew apartheid in South Africa. It is not too much to use the name Mandela to represent the Country of South Africa.
Mandela's life full of magical colors
Tourist attractions. Although I have never been to South Africa before, the name of the Tourist Resort in South Africa is very famous. I've heard a phrase to describe South Africa as "a colorful land where God accidentally knocked over the palette" that made me look forward to visiting the country. For example, the kruger National Park, the world's largest, the famous headland - Cape of Good Hope at the southwestern tip of the African continent, the Garden Route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. If you still have a long time to stay in South Africa, you can ask a few colleagues to find a weekend or holiday to see it together.
Insecurity. At the beginning of the year, I told my colleague that I was coming to South Africa, and more than one colleague warned me that South Africa is not safe, don't run around, I have no concept. Whether it was Asia Pacific or West Africa, I was fine. Even in mali, the poorest, I feel OK and often go out for a run at night. No other colleagues reminded me that I was not safe. South Africa is currently the only country that has heard colleagues say that it is not safe and it is not recommended to go out (start and drive), and the specific reason is introduced later.
Basic information about South Africa
Overseas Investment Guide (http://fec.mofcom.gov.cn/article/gbdqzn/ Baidu Outbound Investment Guide, open the first search, select the country you want to know, and download it directly). This paragraph (before the weather introduction) is copied from the investment guide, I think it is written very realistically, the summary is very in place, and it is directly used.
Located in the southernmost part of Africa, South Africa is one of the most attractive countries in Africa with stable political situation, sound legal system, perfect infrastructure, beautiful natural scenery and rich mineral resources.
South Africa is one of China's most important investment destinations in Africa and the preferred location for the African regional headquarters of Chinese companies. By the end of 2020, China's direct investment in South Africa ranked first in Africa. In 2020, bank of Communications of China Johannesburg Branch was officially established, becoming the third Chinese state-owned banking institution to set up a branch in South Africa after Bank of China and China Construction Bank. SF Express, Didi Dache and other well-known Chinese enterprises landed in South Africa in the same year.
Bilateral trade and investment cooperation continues to maintain a good momentum. In 2020, China successfully hosted the third International Import Expo, President Ramaphosa recorded a congratulatory video for the opening ceremony of the conference, and South African Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Mayora attended the meeting online as guests. South African enterprises actively participated in the exhibition, vigorously promoting beef, wine, doctoral tea, abalone and other high-quality agricultural products, and the number of contracts signed reached a new high. China actively supported the Third South African Investment Conference and organized more than 60 enterprises to participate in the online conference. Since the first South African Investment Conference in 2018, Chinese companies have invested more than US$1 billion in South Africa.
South Africa's economy was hit hard in 2020, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling sharply by 7% year-on-year, the biggest annual decline since 1946. In order to promote economic recovery, in October 2020, the South Korean government announced the economic reconstruction and recovery plan, launched a series of new measures to stimulate the economy and increase employment, especially in the field of infrastructure construction, launched a number of new projects, providing an important opportunity for the in-depth development of pragmatic cooperation between China and South Africa.
Weather. The temperature in South Africa is relatively lower than in other countries at the same latitude in the southern hemisphere, but the average annual temperature is still above zero, generally 12 to 23 degrees Celsius. That's why I like South Africa so much. From May to July this year, there are high temperature warnings in various parts of the country, many places are more than 40 °, while south Africa is winter, and the temperature is generally between 8-18 °. And South Africa is in the southernmost part of Africa, ultraviolet rays are not strong, occasionally go out to climb a mountain, do not wear a hat and do not wear sunscreen is also OK. I haven't experienced the Summer in South Africa yet, but it's not very hot to hear from colleagues, which is more than 20 degrees.
Capital. South Africa has three capitals: pretoria (the seat of the central government) as Pretoria (abbreviated as Bito), the legislative capital (seat of parliament) in Cape Town, and the judicial capital (seat of the Supreme Court) in Bloemfontein. South Africa is the only country in the world with three capitals, and the place we often go to is Johannesburg (Joburg for short), which is not these three places. My understanding of the true capital of a country is that whichever city the foreign embassy is in is the "capital" recognized by other countries. Most of South Africa's foreign embassies are in Pretoria (40 minutes from Joburg), so it is said that Pretoria is the capital (although South Africa is probably best known for Johannesburg and Cape Town).
Environment. The environment in South Africa is so good that the model is similar to the European and American style (I haven't actually been there). The first is that the road is very well repaired, there is no road stall, there are no pedestrians, so driving is particularly cool, basically do not encounter anyone crossing the road. Except for some high-rise buildings in the city center, the other areas are basically villas or 2-3 storey buildings, each district has a swimming pool, and each house has a back garden. Take the Sandton district where we live, except for some high-rise buildings in the center of Thornton, the rest are villas or 2-3 floor apartments. Whether it is living or outside activities, there will be a comfortable feeling.
Basic necessities of life
Shopping. South Africa is also a shopper's paradise, and a colleague of mine bought a LV bag, which is about 3/5 of the price in China. Supermarkets and shopping malls, etc. to buy food and clothes, etc., the overall price is similar to that in China, and may be a little lower. We often visit the outlet or Mandela Square in Thornton, and buying luxury goods is much cheaper than in China. The gym in the South African company park is good, I went to the outlet here and bought two Under Armour quick-drying clothes for 500KES (200RMB) for running. On weekends, we like to cook our own food and pull our colleagues to do barbecues, and often like to buy lamb steak steak, which is about half the price in China.
South Africa's living habits should be similar to those in Europe and the United States, there are no street or community shops, all of them are driving to the mall on weekends to make big purchases. There are not only many shopping malls, but some are also very large, no less than the large shopping malls in China. Every time I drive out, I feel deserted, there is no one on the street, but when I arrived at the mall, I found that people in South Africa did not go out, but they all drove to the mall, especially the place to eat. I have come to Africa so many times, there is really no country's shopping malls that can be compared with South Africa, compared with the domestic comparison.
Dine. When it comes to eating, I think of the company's meal supplement, South Africa's meal supplement is the lowest in These countries in Africa, which also shows that it is convenient to eat here and the price is not high. For people like me who come here to travel and work, there are three main types, eating in the canteen, making it yourself, and eating outside. The ratio is 3:6:1. Breakfast and lunch were usually eaten in the cafeteria on weekdays, but due to the increase in the price of the canteen (breakfast rose from $3 to $5, lunch and dinner rose from $6 to $10), I only ate lunch in the cafeteria. On the other hand, my roommate and I still prefer to cook our own meals, so we don't eat much in the cafeteria as a whole. But in other representative offices, at least 70% of the week I still eat in the canteen.
Although there are many styles of canteen menus for the day, I still think that the quality of kenyan canteens is good, and South Africa can rank second
After talking about the canteen, say what you do. After all, it is 2 boys cooking together, so the basics are relatively simple, in the morning is bread milk plus their own fried eggs, in the evening is egg fried rice or meat noodles (my hometown is Henan, so I prefer to make noodles). Sometimes save a little and we go back to the cafeteria to pack. The canteen packing is still quite generous, we go to a meal back, enough for the two of us to eat two meals (the canteen packing only dishes, we cook our own rice or eat together below, at least enough to eat two meals).
The number of times I go out to eat is not much, but the price of eating out is relatively affordable
The habit here is to visit the door everywhere on the weekend, either you go to my house on the weekend or I go to your house. Therefore, there are many hot pots or barbecues at home on weekends. It is also because our house basically has a garden, which is more convenient for gatherings.
The happiest thing on the weekend is to call a few friends to have a barbecue together
Lodging. Again, this is something I particularly like about South Africa. In the past two months since coming to South Africa, I have lived in four places. The first time I stayed in an IHG hotel, just landed in South Africa in this hotel for three days, the overall is not bad a little expensive, about 500RMB a day. Later, the colleague returned to China for a vacation and lived with the colleague for two weeks.
Colleagues rent a villa, because it is particularly close to the company, so the community is particularly Chinese. The building we lived in had six occupants on three floors, 5 of whom were Chinese, except for an old white woman next to us. The whole community is a bit old, probably because the doors and windows are not tight in winter or a little cold. The overall feeling is still good, the annual rent is about 6W yuan (live for two people, two bedrooms and a living room, I think the value for money is quite high). Rented houses in South Africa are only houses without furniture, except for the bed, which basically has to be bought by themselves.
Since a colleague was coming back, we found a detached villa on Airbnb (recommended by a colleague, very very nice) and temporarily found an apartment because of the late order. The apartment is new and the location is good, 100 meters opposite the Oriental Mall (similar to Chinatown). All-inclusive, the two of us are about 400RMB a day. It is a little small, living with the domestic apartment is no different, until the single-family villa we are looking for is free, we will immediately move over.
Let's highlight this villa. The first floor of the living room + dining room + with two parking spaces + clothes drying room + laundry room + large garden, the second floor is the master bedroom + second bedroom + bathroom + large study, the rent is almost only 400RMB a day, I and my colleagues two people live too convenient. The owner is a white old man who is very enthusiastic, and there are 24 residents in the whole community, cleaning once a week for a holiday. Every weekend we invite colleagues to come here to do barbecue together, such a good garden is too wasteful not to do barbecue, directly on the picture.
The whole villa, 10 minutes drive from the company, the price is also appropriate
The accommodation in South Africa was excellent, basically all the neighborhoods had swimming pools and security guards at the door. Renting a house is not expensive, and many of the colleagues who came to work in the early days bought houses locally. However, because the price of rooms in South Africa has not risen much in recent years, and the currency has been depreciating, it is very affordable to live in, but if you sell it, you will not make much money.
South Africa's development model is constantly spreading to the periphery of the city, from the map of joburg area is very large, except for a few high-rise buildings in the city center, all living places are not more than 6 floors, on average, 2-3 floors are mainly. The whole city will look more comfortable, and I prefer the urban model of South Africa to the 33-story residential area in The country.
Travel. 90% of my colleagues in South Africa bought a car locally. The company has a designated apartment with a shuttle, but we can't live in it, and I am a bit embarrassed to travel everywhere. Just go around finding poor colleagues to borrow cars to use.
It was a real pleasure to drive in South Africa. Whether it is a big road or a small road, there are no pedestrians, the road construction is good, there are many lanes, and from the road, you can see that South Africa is really a developed country in history. South Africa's recent power supply is a bit tight, with three power outages a day, and if this is the case, everyone is alternately traveling at the intersection. Everyone is more humble, and the efficiency of commuting without traffic police command is also quite high.
Whether it is a large road, a small road or a community, there are basically no pedestrians
The parking lot is surprisingly much and never encounters a difficult time. Since most of the buildings are 3-story apartments or villas, the population density is very small, there will not be a few thousand people in a community, and it is difficult to have congestion.
I've been to downtown Sandton a few times, and There's still a subway in Joburg (Johannesburg for short), but I don't really see many people doing it, and it's said that the price is not cheap. I checked Baidu, more than 60% of Mercedes-Benz BMWs in Africa are locally produced, so the car you see the most in Joburg is Mercedes-Benz BMW, not Honda Toyota. Especially the BMW III Series, I feel that at least 1/5 of the cars on the road are this money. The car of our colleague we are driving now is the old BMW of 2007, and it turns out to be automatic.
Visa. South African visas are certainly the most difficult visas on the continent, and I've heard of several colleagues who have been waiting at home for months to apply for a South African visa. When applying for a South African visa in China, it is OK, and the business visa is about 1 week down, and you can stay for three months. However, it is very difficult for you to renew your visa locally, and it may take 2 months to process it. And you can't apply for a Visa to South Africa in a third country unless you have a work visa for that country. It's particularly embarrassing to think of me running around like this. Once you come, you don't dare to go to other countries casually, and once you go out, you can't come back this year.
Why is South African visa so difficult to get, I have heard many statements, combined with two points. One says that because South Africa has retained the tradition of developed countries in history, or whether it sees itself as a developed country, the policy on visas has always been very strict; Another is to say that South Africa's unemployment rate remains high, and that too many foreigners have come to seize job opportunities in the country.
Play. I've been here for 2 months, and I've basically been able to set aside a morning every weekend to go out for a walk, climb the mountain more often, and I've been to the park and shot. As for the most famous tourist places in South Africa, such as the Cape of Good Hope, the Garden Route, Kruger Park, etc., you need to have a big holiday or just go there for a business trip. There should be more places to visit in South Africa than the African countries I have visited before. For example, if you simply search Hiking on Google, there are at least 20 recommended hiking places around Joburg.
There are so many places to hike and climb mountains on weekends, and if you are a hiking enthusiast, South Africa is definitely for you
On the left is a small gathering of white South Africans who have stumbled in, specializing in the sale of knives, and on the right is the South African Museum in Bito
In South Africa, you can play most of the weapons in the chicken eating game, not just the 98k, M4, AK47.
My new impression of South Africa - after entry
Come to a back-and-forth echo, Call Back. After entering the country, there are still many aspects that are not the same as my default ideas.
Urban style. Office Park, which returns to the first paragraph, is actually the epitome of South African urban style. Other countries are one building, and there are 18 buildings in the park here. You don't need too high a building, naturally you will feel less stressed, the impact of the environment on the mood is still very obvious, and the feeling of comfort is spontaneous (although the night is still often overtime).
We live in the Sandton District of The New District of Joburg, which is somewhat similar to the High-tech Zone in Chengdu and the Chaoyang District in Beijing, but there are very few high-rise buildings. Whether it is a big road or a small road, there are no street stalls, no shops, all of them are large shopping malls and shopping malls, and every household drives to the big shopping on weekends. All shopping malls, except for food, including supermarkets, close at 4 p.m. About the earlier the weekend closes, many shops are not open on Sundays, and some of them are also open, and they close at 2:30 p.m. Local employees also start at 4:30 p.m., and the most congested time is around 5 p.m. We on the Chinese side generally go back late and never get stuck in traffic at night.
It is cooler to drive at night, there are very few cars at night, and it is possible not to consider traffic lights. The side also shows that it is not safe at night, and there are no roadside shops that are as lively at night as in China.
Security. In the two months since I came to South Africa, I have not encountered any robbers or the like, but I have been stuck by the police three times. The police here are very corrupt and think of ways to ask you for money. Especially when encountering foreigners, that checks a meticulous one. We were hacked twice, once to say it was wrong not to listen to the command to stop, and the other time to say that our driver's license was wrong, and on both occasions we were hacked for a total of 700RMB. And there was a pattern that the police were basically black.
I have heard several stories here, and even once I ran to the company park to grab money, which is too wrong. Therefore, in the fixed areas of the company's entrance, there are people with special security companies. If you go too late, you can also say hello to the security guard, who will follow the car all the way to the dormitory. I remember that in 2015, a colleague came to South Africa on a business trip, when we asked South Africa if it was safe, he used a phrase to describe it, Chinese walking on the street, that is, mobile wallet.
Corrupt. It seems that the quality of economic development and corruption do not have much to do with it, and South Africa's economy is good and does not feel that corruption will be less. Overseas has come to more than 10 countries, in and out of customs encountered forced inspection to tip is not a minority, which has become the theme of colleagues after dinner tea room ridicule, all kinds of communication, all kinds of skills to avoid tipping. Although the entry and exit of South Africa was very smooth, I did not expect to be planted in the police. Other countries can do it for at least a few tens of dollars, and in South Africa, it is possible that hundreds of dollars can't be done. In addition, recently watching the news, the South African Customs has been arrested dozens of people, the reason is to accept bribes to help people illegally apply for visas.
Blackout. In China, I only remember that when I was a child, there would be a power outage, and it seems that there have been power outages in the past ten years. But coming to South Africa I experienced what is called a planned power outage. South Africa divides the blackout into 8 phases, with phases 1 and 2 2 stopping for 2 and a half hours a day. Starting from stage 4, stop three times a day for 2 and a half hours each time, each time still in prime time. For example, 6:00-10 a.m.; 30, 8:00-10:30 pm, 14:00-16:30 pm. It is said that because South Africa originally had power progress, South African power workers have a general strike, so the life of power outages can not take care of themselves ~ ~ ~
When the power is tight, it starts from stage 3, 3 times a day, each time for 2 and a half hours
Economic development. After coming to South Africa, the overall feeling is still maintaining the shadow of the developed countries, whether it is from the road, shopping malls or buildings are very good. Prices are also more suitable, and there are many places to play, but security obscures so many good points. South Africa's high unemployment rate has led to frequent robberies of all kinds. I checked South Africa's per capita GDP of nearly 7,000USD, Africa on average should be less than 2000USD, it is reasonable to say that it is very good in Africa, and it is 30% different from China.
Checked some travel websites, the evaluation of South Africa is very high, there are many places to play. If safety can be solved, when the epidemic is over, South Africa is really a good place. Especially in the southern hemisphere, when the country is at a high temperature of 30 ° 40 °, this side is around 10 ° in winter, which is really a summer resort.
Industry. Looking at the economic development of a country, industry is a very important point. Mercedes-Benz BMW, which has the highest car ownership in South Africa, has its production base in Africa. We are driving the old BMW in 2007, or the automatic, which shows that the South African industry was so strong 20 years ago. In traditional Africa, which can catch up with the tail end of industrialization, which country can achieve a breakthrough. But South Africa is different, South Africa has built industry early, but after the racial movement, there has been no great development.
Multi-ethnic. South Africa is a multi-racial country, check google, South Africa racial division, black, colored, white and Asian accounted for 80.8%, 8.8%, 7.8% and 2.6% respectively. The proportion of whites is a little less than I think. Probably because I stayed in Joburg for a long time, after all, it is the largest city, and I feel that there are still many white people.
Through my two months of feelings, I feel that the integration between races is not as good as I thought. For example, when we went out on the weekend and we were stopped by police cars for inspection, I found that most of the cars that were stopped were either Asian or white, and very few were black. There was also a knife exchange meeting on the weekend, except that the security guard was black, and the hundreds of people who participated in the activity were all white. It is also common to see groups of cyclists on the road, all of whom are white. Including going to some malls, some malls are basically white, and some malls are basically black. According to my understanding, everyone has their own circle.
Conclusion
South Africa's chapter ends here first, and overall I still like it here, after all, it still has the foundation of developed countries, and the infrastructure is far superior to other African countries. After thinking about it, the place of complaining is nothing more than three points, visa inconvenience, security and power outages, and others are very good. Follow-up to Go to Nigeria for a long time, then the next article is locked in Nigeria.
Play a dumb puzzle, don't look up Baidu, which country do you think is the largest economy in Africa?