7) Already done this one
I have a question for you. What you went there, did you just blindly buy a ticket and just hope to find something? Or did you do a lot of planning and had a lot of connections set up before you left? The going rate is $2250 for a one way flight from the US to Johannesburg. I'd literally have to sell everything I own in order to afford just the airfare. Thats a pretty big gamble if you can't be sure you'll find work. Plus, a lot of those companies linked in the OP look like they have a fleet of 8 planes at the most and a staff of maybe 15 pilots.