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A few weeks ago I was a guest on a radio talk show with ANC stalwart Mac Maharaj. The topic, broadly speaking, was the dog’s breakfast that South Africa has become under the rule of the ANC, and whether it was worth staying.

Maharaj’s first comment was that he knew of absolutely nobody who was thinking of leaving South Africa. My advice is that you should get out more, Mac.

I am aware of at least 20 friends, colleagues and relations who are planning to leave the country as soon as possible. The reasons vary and obviously the unacceptably high level of violent crime is one.

Last week three of my neighbours were shot in their home for no apparent reason. The husband is dead, the wife in a critical condition with a bullet in her head and the son only slightly better off with a bullet in his chest. The grief and trauma suffered by that family and those close to them are unimaginable — and that is only one horrific example of what is happening all over the country every week.

Because the police are so under-resourced the killers will, in all probability, not be found and will remain free to continue their recreational killing spree. I tried to remain optimistic about the country after my own shooting exactly a year ago, but I have met so many other crime victims since that I find my optimism fading fast.

You only have to look at the behaviour of drivers on the road to realise that there is little or no regard for the law in this country. There are high levels of frustration and anger evident and the country is becoming increasingly anarchic.

Surprisingly, the lack of electricity for the next five years is not given as a reason for wanting to leave by most people. Although many of us regard the government ministers responsible as complete dipsticks, at least something is finally being done about our lack of power stations.

In the meantime we will all have to make alternative plans and learn to live in suburbs that sound like a convoy of trucks whenever the power fails. In the fashionable northern suburbs of Johannesburg, the generator has become the new car and your dinner host is more likely to proudly show you his generator rather than the Porsche Cayman in the garage.

The most common reason for wanting to get the hell out of South Africa seems to be a lack of confidence in the government. A question I constantly put to Maharaj on the show was, “is this the best you can come up with after 14 years of democracy?” Being an adroit politician he managed to avoid answering the question with enormous charm. But that is the question. After 14 years all we have are a bunch of venal politicians squabbling over the spoils and pending legal actions that never seem to come to court. Meanwhile, nobody seems to be taking much interest in the running of the country. Who can blame people for wanting to go to Australia?

And on that topic, one wonders how Chippy Shaik managed to slither into Australia with such apparent ease. Even for the law-abiding, Australia is a difficult country to move to and yet Chippy just upped and went when things got a bit hot over the arms deal.

Some cruelly suggest that he found a bent Aussie official and bought his way in with his ill-gotten gains. I prefer to think that the Australians saw his name and assumed he was a carpenter.

With acknowledgements to The Times.