Surviving South Africa

I arrived in South Africa at the end of winter in September 2004 at the heart of Johannesburg (Kotze and Claims Street). Tired from a flight of 6 hours, I needed a bed and some warm shower but all I was given was a wooden chair.

I had found myself in South Africa in the midst of raw crime by Claim Street in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Worse in the hands and care of a Nigerian mafia who had conned my parents into believing he was a successful Nigerian business man in South Africa. He had my thousands of dollars for tuition, housing and the keys to a future I wasn’t sure of.

Different from other travellers who spent their first night on a comfortable bed, I spent my first night on the floor of a motel in yeoville. I was fresh out of college, when I embarked on this trip with so much enthusiasm to start my university education in South Africa but I wasn’t ready for what South Africa had in store and no one or nothing could prepare me for what I was about to encounter.

In the weeks that followed I would be exposed to some of the biggest lessons of my life and some key experiences that would change my perception about people, friendship, money, and the world we live in.

Emigrating from your country of birth to an unknown country can be a thrill of mixed emotions, one of adventure, the feeling of freedom and loneliness.  This book is an account of my journey, and the stories of many migrants trying to navigate the beautiful, yet intricate rainbow nation and the many experiences I am compelled to share in this book for migrants and citizens alike.