Hi Tiffany
I myself trained in South Africa and have to say the training is excellent. However the JAA school that was here in JHB went bankrupt two days after I fininshed my PPL. PHEEWWWW!!! If your looking for JAA, I would suggest the states for your PPL and hour building and then a CPL Multi IR in the UK. The states is cheaper than SA. Do some more research and then decide. SA is good for PPL and hour building and the training is very similar to the European JAA but the SA CPL cant be converted to JAA very easily but you can fly in the UK with an SA PPL (I also have an SA PPL).
With regard to what Capt J is saying about jobs here they are very few and far between at the moment and a lot of companies will not take an "inexperienced" pilot who has just received their CPL. As with work permits, I know atleast in SA, they are very hard to get.
Ciao BL.