Newtothis Sorry to hijack your thread.
Essential Exactly that, mostly chiefs shop in Jhb. Ordinary people still shop in Bloemfontein.
Mango and we are a generally peaceful nation. There was an attempted coup but the people refused to be used by self-serving politicians.
Walter 
Fold I studied for post-graduate in the UK and I lived in my own world of foreign students. I would never have thought anyone can think to complain about something as trivial(at least to me) as parking. I suppose its luxury of being in a way privileged.
I was surprised that parents walk children to schools, I thought it is indulgent and the idea of school gate mums is weird, how much time is there between school class starting and mums dispersing? Do you wait outside gate? Do you have to register your child every time you drop them off? How does it work? It's very strange to me, as children here leave home at 6.45am and you join them as they pass your home and form a group to walk to school. A parent joining them would be viewed as a meddling parent and there many meddling parents, just in different ways.
Another thing, we do not have the concept of play-dates. Children take it upon themselves to form friendships - if a parent is unhappy about the friend, when the disliked child knocks on your door and asks for your child to come outside to play, you just say she/he is sleeping until they get the message.
Has it always been that parents arrange play-dates?
Oh, I forgot to tell you, in summer school starts at 7.15am to 1.45pm with 2 breaks. Because we don't have air conditioners in schools, in summer children are taught outside where there is a sun tree shade.
Our winters are quiet cold, anything from a minimum of -1 degree Celsius is not uncommon.
Another thing, most children do not have toys, they play physical games and often group games such as skipping rope in turns, climbing trees, water in plastic thrown at each other in the river type of games. If a parent can afford to buy a toy, we tend to buy toys they can share with their friends such as a ball because then other children will not play with your child if they have to watch him riding his bike unless they take turns riding it.
I know I am long winded but...