Moving to Jo'burg - anyone there, any advice or tips please!

[thefortbuilder]

We're moving to Sandton in January with two dss - 3.5 and 21m.

Will be living in Saxonwold or Atholl and just looking for some tips on nurseries, playgroups etc for the youngest - also about general meeting people as i know it's going to be much more difficult than in London.

Help please!

[foxinsocks]

my goodness you are brave

I lived and worked there for many years so fire away the questions.

Have you been there before? If not, I imagine it will be a bit of a culture shock!

[thefortbuilder]

thanks FIS - a bit nervous to say the least!

Where is a good place to find out about playgroups etc? my eldest has a pre-school place but i am concerned that my youngest is going to miss out

Where do you find out about activities for boys like little kickers, rugby etc?

How do you meet people??? It's not like you can just walk out of the front door and wander down the road for a coffee!

What is the best supermarket? Is there one like Tescos and one like Waitrose iykwim!

Which is the best club to join - I hear lots of people saying you should join a club (isn't there the Joburg country club?) but how do you go about it?

Is there a SA mumsnet equivalent???

[foxinsocks]

I didn't have children when I lived there but went to school there. School very key in SA - all their sport is most likely to be played through the school. The inter-school sports there is incredibly strong (and fabulous tbh). Most schools have amazing facilities and are very disciplined. I far preferred school in SA to school over here. Do you mind me asking where you have a place?

Best supermarket is Woolworths (which is the SA equivalent of M&S, yes really it is! It is exactly the same as M&S but with a different name).

Then after that, I was always happy to shop at Pick N Pay (think of that as a Sainsburys) and then everything else was below that (Checkers etc.).

I would feel happiest buying meat at Woolworths then at Pick N Pay.

There are loads of malls in SA - Sandton is a big one, Killarney probably not massively far from you. I've forgotten my Joburg geography but I used to live in Morningside (just north of Sandton).

I never joined a club. Not entirely sure what they mean. Sounds a bit colonial but I do know that some people did that (generally the older generation). Lots of people go to gym there though and you'll find huge gyms with loads of space and nice big pools!

I imagine you will meet most people through your eldest's pre school.

[foxinsocks]

if you are in Saxonwold, you are probably nearer to Rosebank (for shopping) I think. You will soon find your way around .

You must be very careful with security though. Has someone given you a briefing as to what to expect?

[thefortbuilder]

hi FIS yes we are aware of what to expect security wise - both places we are looking at renting have top notch security and the streets are boomed. we are also having a security firm do a survey on the houses and will take us through appropriate procedures etc once we get there.

have been to sandton city mall and it's massive!!

thanks for the advice about woolworths

[Meid]

Hello!

I'm in Joburg. We moved here in April of this year (from London) and we've settled in very well. I have 2 kids (one in prep school, one in preschool) and they are both loving their schools.
Activities for children are usually done in the schools. You'll be given a list of who visits the school and how much the extra curricular activity is.
I don't know of any clubs - if you find any tell me.
Please feel free to CAT me. I'm sure there are more questions I can answer for you.
Its a beautiful country and there is a fantastic vibe here right now with the build up to the world cup next year.

meid x

[Meid]

thefortbuilder - how are your plans coming along?

meid