Where we live

We live on a Golf Estate, sort of 'welcome to Beverly Hills.

The 18 hole golf course and the Hennops river meander through the estate. We rent and it's not cheap, but then we do have excellent security, well since they replaced the former group with Protea after an armed robbery at our neighbours http://chickenruby.blogspot.com/2011/06/living-in-utopiapart-two.html

The houses are all individually designed and it seems anything goes, there are several smaller estates inside walled areas with 4 houses all 3 bed and identical.

We live a mile from the main gate and these are some of the houses I pass on my way in and out of the estate.



We're fairly central, just over the road is a Post office, Spar shop, chemist, cafe, row of various takeaways, fuel station, Wimpy and dentisits. Not sure what goes on in the other shops as I don't use them.

Southdowns is a larger shopping area, out the main gate, turn left and 3 mins up the road, the Doctors, hairdressers, nail bar are located there as is Doppios the cafe with free internet.

A Woolworths that looks remarkably like M&S.

There are plenty of restaurants from the fish and chip shop, spurs steak house and fine dining. I love the individual boutiques and gift shops there also.

Centurion Mall takes about 10 minutes to reach, it has a selection of nearly every chain store in South Africa and a few independent ones.

The Mall offers secure parking and costs £1.50 for six hours parking.

It is all outdoors, open space, benches, cafes, cinema. Typical really of all the Malls here. It's lovely to be able to wander around without fear of crime, (bag snatches and shop lifting excluded, unfortunatley.)

I also use Centurion Lifestyle Mall, also outdoors, but no security this is where I had my GPS and camera stolen from the car while I was loading the shopping in the boot, approx 15 min drive away. They use travel time here, not actual distance, so probably about 4 miles. The Food Lovers Market is also a must for lunch.


There are many more places I use during the week, all within a 5 mile radius, safe routes and I can get everything I need/want (finances permitted)


I'll tell you about Irene, the dairy, Jan Smuts house and markets, the Cornish Kettle, the Mall, the boys school and the charity in another blog

Living in Utopia...Part Two

There’s been a spate of burglaries in the security estate, an inside job, someone renting a property just to ‘case’ the joint or a member of the golf club...They stole the next door neighbours safe...it was concreted into the wall, they must have brought heavy equipment...we never heard a bloody thing...they broke into one house and stole 1,000s of £££’s of designer clothing, handbags and shoes and 7 other houses. The Home Owner Association sent out regular emails in regards to these ‘incidents’ warning us to take extra security measures.
Two days after my parents arrived, I received another email telling me of another ‘incident’...so popping off to the neighbours house at the end of the street, I discover 3 Protea coin security guards stood outside their house, I enter, there’s a birthday party going on, Alex is there playing pool and being fed, as happens every weekend and the owners are drinking wine. I’m offered a drink, I decline...pleasantries are exchanged, I’ve not met them before...phone numbers swopped...questions about why we are in SA and are we liking it...then...
...I’m told how the maid answered the door at 11am, she was pushed down the stairs, she grabbed the phone, she was hit on the head with the butt of a gun, rolled up in a carpet and held at gun point for 90mins till the burglars had emptied the safes...it took them that long to force them out of the concrete walls and break them open...they stole the keys for the Ferrari and Lamborghini, weren’t able to actually steal them as there was a BMW X5 blocking the way out of the garage (I’m serious)..The maid had kept hold of the phone and hit redial, managing to say what had happened, the owner hearing this call, knew something was wrong, drove 15kms home, he called Estate security on his way, but arrived before security bothered to turn up...the gates hadn’t been closed so the armed robbers were able to get away...the maid was treated in hospital at the expense of the owner and is being taken to trauma counselling...the security firm were replaced the following day for their negligence and the number plate of the vehicle was taken and the police caught them two days later and were able to link them to the other ‘incidents’ that took place...he had obtained/found/bought the magnetic swipe for the estate from a golfing member who has since been banned from the estate for their negligence also...
But what alarms me the most...there was no crime tape, and the owners, although very upset about what had happened to the maid, weren’t upset, not in the way you’d expect them to be in the UK...this would be a major news story, there wasn’t a sign of a media van..just the three additional security guards hired for the rest of the owners life at their own expense...
Do you know what my neighbour said when I told him this, when I explained what the reaction would be in the UK?
Suzanne...This is Africa