Testimony - Living in South Africa

Gabriel is a French teenager aged 14. He has been lucky to live in great English-speaking countries since he was born.

At the moment, he lives in Brazil and goes to an International school where everybody speaks English.

Here, he introduces you to the 1st country he lived in, South Africa!

‘My sister and I were born in Johannesburg when my father was running a business there for a French company.

Living in the country of Nelson Mandela and previously De Klerk with a huge segregation history was challenging!

Life was intense both in the good sense and in its dark side.

To begin, our daily life used to be quite stressfull for my parents. 

Indeed they had to respect a lot of rules to live in safety as we were in a big city… the hardest one? 

It wasn’t possible to walk in the street as a white person downtown Johannesburg, the historical and most attractive place.

My mother had specific training to know what to do in case of car jacking, burglary, handy-man intervention, helper at home, babysitter, mail delivery, flat tyre... 

She also had to learn how to enter the garage safely, drive after sunset…

Even my sister and I had been taught not to cry in an emergency situation.

Middle-class houses were secure: a panic button in each main room, electric fences on the outside walls, traily doors kept locked to separate sleeping and living areas at night, alarms in and ouside the house.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed South Africa a lot with its multicultural influences.

South African people are very friendly as soon as you are far from a big city, there is no more violence, no skin color segregation…

There are outstanding landscapes in the countryside with mountains, national and private park reserves where you can come and see the Big Five. 

What I enjoyed the most there: the animals. It was like being in the Lion King movie!

Do you know what the big five is? In Africa, the Big Five animals are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo.

Another thing I really liked was rugby and the national team called The Springboks. We were supportive fans!

After the game, South Africans organize a traditional barbecue party called « BRAÏ» on the parking of the stadium!!

The familly travelled around the country to discover the full range of landscapes, weather, and tribes of the rainbow nation."

If you want to know more about South Africa, click here South Africa