The Relocated South African
The Relocated South African
Podcast Description
The show for navigating emigration from South Africa for a better future.
Join host Jan Hugo as he shares authentic emigration stories from South Africans who've taken the leap. You'll hear about what drove their decision to leave, the mistakes they made, and how they've built new lives abroad.
We'll explore everything from the emotional reality of leaving friends and family behind, to the challenges of emigrating to a foreign country.
Relocating isn't always simple, but this show will provide you with the certainty, practical information and support to make the whole process easier.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers essential emigration topics such as motivations for leaving South Africa, individual challenges faced in new countries, and the emotional toll of relocating. Episodes delve into specific themes like finding community abroad, cultural adaptation, and building new lives, with concrete examples from guests like Steven Phyffer discussing family moves to Australia and Siobhan Erasmus sharing her journey to Spain.
The show for navigating emigration from South Africa for a better future.
Join host Jan Hugo as he shares authentic emigration stories from South Africans who’ve taken the leap. You’ll hear about what drove their decision to leave, the mistakes they made, and how they’ve built new lives abroad.
We’ll explore everything from the emotional reality of leaving friends and family behind, to the challenges of emigrating to a foreign country.
Relocating isn’t always simple, but this show will provide you with the certainty, practical information and support to make the whole process easier.
Steve Felder is a South African global executive who has lived and worked across five continents over 25 years — from Cape Town to Joburg, Pittsburgh to Tel Aviv, Nairobi to Mumbai, Copenhagen to Montreal.
He built his career in shipping and logistics with Maersk and Safmarine, leading businesses across Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, before making the leap into entrepreneurship.
Today he runs a cybersecurity venture in Canada, sits on several boards, and is still very much a South African at heart.
In this conversation, Steve shares an extraordinary story of relentless reinvention, the trade-offs of a global life, raising third culture kids, and what it really takes to thrive when you keep starting over.
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Meet Steve Felder, Montreal-based global executive
01:18 – Growing up in Cape Town, dropping out of UCT, and the early move to Joburg
02:29 – First attempt to move to Canada; Sweets from Heaven and running US stores
04:20 – Back to South Africa: Jetline and African Bank
06:30 – Joining Maersk/Safmarine — entering shipping with no industry experience
08:00 – Chief Commercial Officer for Africa; traveling the continent
09:50 – Moving to Israel (2008) as MD; life in Tel Aviv, son born on Freedom Day
12:30 – East Africa (2012): Running Maersk across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and beyond
15:00 – Mumbai (2017): Leading South Asia; COVID lockdown in a 20-million-person city
18:40 – Family splits between India and Copenhagen during the pandemic
21:30 – Life today: sabbatical, pickleball, cybersecurity venture, boards and advising
25:45 – Comparing countries: Kenya as the favourite
27:40 – Settling in across relocations — and why Canada was the hardest landing
32:00 – The importance of a strong family unit when relocating repeatedly
33:40 – India: ”Expats cry twice — once when you arrive, once when you leave”
34:00 – How the kids identify: third culture kids who say ”South Africa” even though they've never lived there
36:40 – Red tape around the world: Kenya easy, India brutal, UAE astonishing
41:09 – When did Steve realise he wasn't going back?
44:45 – Are South Africans more adaptable? The can-do attitude
48:21 – Living in Israel: perspective on the conflict from someone who was there
51:21 – Advice to a young South African: stay or go?
53:38 – Closing reflections and farewell
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