Monthly Archive for January, 2008

First impressions of South Africa

Published
by
twinutero
on January 29, 2008
in South Africa
. 0 Comments

Last Sunday was my first day in Africa. We stepped (or stumbled) off the plane at Cape Town International Airport at 11 in the morning after thirty hours of travel. The winter storms of Nova Scotia were behind us and the brilliant, scorching southern sun was above us. South African Airways was a pleasure after flying Air Canada. AC execs should try a few flights with SAA and take notes.

Any guide book for Cape Town will attempt to describe the disparity between rich and poor, and will probably advise visitors that disparity will present itself soon after leaving the airport. It does. The road to the city passes the township of Nyanga - corrugated iron shacks pressed into rows, baking in the heat.

I have only been here a few days and won’t pretend to know the first thing about South African culture or politics – apart from what I’ve read. I know apartheid is over but my first impression this that segregation, inequality, and division between black and white is not. We live in a predominantly white neighbourhood (and we’re white too). Yet ninety percent of the people building houses, tending lawns, fixing roads and checking groceries are black. Pedestrians are mostly black as are users of public transport. For me, it’s striking and leaves me a little less comfortable with who I am.

Whether my first impression will hold, and whether it’s representative of other parts of Cape Town remain to be seen. I really haven’t ventured very far.

On a brighter subject, the weather is lovely. Sunny, dry, hot in the day and cool at night. There’s always a wind blowing, picking up the dirt and weaving into clothes and hair. Reminds me of southern Saskatchewan in summer.

The fruit bears no resemblance to that in Canadian grocery stores. Jon ate an entire mango for lunch yesterday and Thomas is subsisting primarily on white grapes and yellow plums. Just as well because our furniture is still somewhere at sea. We been cooking one-pot meals, eating lots of muesli, and relishing the fruit.

I haven’t met many people, but those I have seem very friendly. It will take a while to fully comprehend the South African accent however. No doubt they say the same about me.

Canadian Scholarship Trust Fund RESPs: Beware

Published
by
twinutero
on January 18, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 6 Comments

Anyone visiting a doctor’s office, maternity ward or prenatal screening clinic in Canada will likely see pamphlets for CST Fund RESPs, encouraging parents-to-be to start saving for their child’s post-secondary education.

I rarely take notice of such advertisements, and have picked one up and filled it out only once in my life. As a result of that weak, nervous, distracted moment in the waiting room, we found ourselves relentlessly hounded by the salespeople of CST. And, a few months later, we found ourselves signed up for 18 years of payments into the fund.

It was only when we began to prepare for our relocation overseas that we revisited this decision - with regret.

It seems that RESP group plans (such as CST) work well when all goes according to schedule i.e., your kids grow up and complete four years of post-secondary education, AND you continue to pay into the plan until that point. Any deviation from this arrangement, however, presents a problem.

We learned that Canadian law does not permit paying into RESPs if you live outside Canada. Moving to South Africa therefore means stopping our payments. However, stopping payments before university is completed also means losing hefty “enrollment fees” charged by CST. We stand to lose about $4000.

The only way around this is to continue paying into the plan at the same rate to which we originally agreed. Our helpful salesperson recommended that we resume payments when we return to Canada, or (his preferred scenario) by providing a fake Canadian residential address while we are overseas. Hear that Revenue Canada?

I’m not saying CST is a scam. I’m sure it works well if you follow the standard course. But the fine print is extensive and extraordinarily cryptic. Even our financial advisor had trouble deciphering the details. So, I am saying beware. Be aware - before you sign up.

Check out this Georgia Straight article for more information.