Expat Experiences in South Africa

Download our Moving to South Africa Guide (PDF)

Interviews with Expats Living in South Africa

When considering a move to a new city, there is nothing more useful than hearing real-life stories from the people currently living there. Read authentic expat interviews below, and please contact us if you have lived in South Africa and would like to share your own unique experience.

Keiley is a British expat and a mother of two. She is happily married and living in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. Read about how she's adjusted to the culture, what she loves about the city and how she spends her free time in her interview with Expat Arrivals.
Ryan grew up in San Diego, California and later lived in the Silicon Valley Bay Area for 15 years before moving to Johannesburg in 2016 with his South African wife. They have two girls and enjoy travelling around South Africa and making the most of the country’s beautiful weather by spending plenty of time outdoors. Read more about his expat experience.
Shantalie is an expat from the UK. She moved to Cape Town in 2010 and works in digital publishing. She has embraced life in South Africa, loving the braais, beaches and mountains. Read about Shantalie's expat experience in South Africa.
Heloise, an expat from the Netherlands, moved to South Africa in 1996 to start her own import company. Despite struggling with local inefficiencies, especially South Africa's dreaded immigration process, Heloise has since had 20 years of happiness in South Africa. Read about Heloise's expat experience in South Africa.
Phil has been many things. A university English instructor, a picker-upper of dead bodies, a musician, and a sales guy. His work brought him and his family from Vancouver, Canada to Pretoria, South Africa in September 2016, and he's still wondering how that happened. Read on to hear about his expat experience in South Africa.
Hannah is a UK expat living in Johannesburg, and inspired by her experiences, she became the founder of Translating Me and the Identity Project, an online personal branding course that supports expats to reinvent their careers and their personal ambitions since moving abroad. Read her interview with Expat Arrivals on expat experience in South Africa.
Trailing spouses are a common component of expat life, yet there lacks extensive information on the topic. Clara is no stranger to expat life, having lived in eleven countries and visited plenty more. She takes on the topic of trailing spouses with gusto, and has even published a book on the subject. Read about her expat experience in South Africa.
Namrata is an Indian expat living in Johannesburg, South Africa. She quit her job with an asset management firm and followed her husband to the Rainbow Nation, deciding to pursue the life of a trailing spouse. Read about her expat experience in Johannesburg.
Arnd Herrmann worked for several blue-chip companies in Europe and decided to make South Africa his new home after his first business trip to the country in 1994. He and his family spent five years in the country before moving back to Europe, only to return to South Africa in 2005. In the last few years, Arnd has started two internet companies in Johannesburg and is about to pack his suitcases to tackle a new venture in Abu Dhabi. Read about his expat experience in Johannesburg.
Heather Mason is a writer, photographer and the blogger behind 2Summers.net. Through her writing, photography and adventurous spirit, she has come to know the City of Gold better than most. She also has a section of her blog dedicated to the Melville Cat, who decided to move in from next door. Read about her expat experience in Johannesburg.
Lisa Huang is a Taiwanese expat who moved to Cape Town from Chicago two years ago for work. While she misses efficient public transport and food that reminds her of home, Lisa loves life in Cape Town and all the exciting new opportunities the city has to offer. Read about her expat experience in Cape Town.
Srinath Sethuraman is an Indian expat who returned from two years in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2012. He found living in South Africa a breeze because of Johannesburg's large Indian expat community and the hospitality of local South Africans. Read about his expat experiences in Johannesburg.
Tom Pitman lived in Cape Town from 2002 to 2008 with his wife and two small children. They first lived in Bantry Bay and then bought a house in Camps Bay where they lived for four years before moving back to London. They both still return regularly to South Africa. See the full interview about his expat experience in Cape Town.
Annabelle Dare moved with her boyfriend, James, to Cape Town in 2003, planning to stay for a year or two. Now married with two children, Annabelle and her family are having such an amazing time that they have no plans to return to London. Read about her expat experience in Cape Town.
Kate Snyder came south bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to colour Cape Town red; little did she know just how much the Mother City would mould her own personal priorities and ambitions. Read more about Kate's Cape Town expat experience.
Chinese expat Yun Zhang is stretching out into the seemingly endless space that so many Cape Town locals take for granted. Read about her expat experience in South Africa for a rare glimpse into the mind's eye of an Asian woman gone African.
Sine Thieme is a seasoned German-American expat who has relocated with her family to Johannesburg, a city that in her experienced estimation has the world's best climate. She is a mother, prolific blogger and articulate raconteur regarding expat life in Johannesburg.
Zandi, a British expat living in Cape Town, looks like a South African, hails from the East End of London, and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. As she says, it's the only way she knows how. Black. British. 30-something. Married. Confused. But living in Cape Town. Read what she has to say about her expat experience in South Africa.