Kaitlin Meintjes

Kaitlin Meintjes emigrated to the Netherlands, together with her husband Dwayne, at the end of December 2025. Read more about the experiences of Kaitlin.

Kaitlin, why did you emigrate to the Netherlands?
I decided to emigrate to the Netherlands to expand my career growth and international relations, along with starting a new life on the other side of the world! However, part of the move was because of a calling that God had placed on my husband and I to bring the Gospel to this place, which hopefully in the future means opening a church.

Can you tell us something how you do like the Netherlands?
What are the things I like about the Netherlands? In no specific order, stroopwafels, dutch architecture, and the amazing respect and cooperation of the people in the Netherlands to take care of their country. One thing that immediately stood out to me was how clean the environment of the Netherlands is, knowing that I am living in one of the largest cities in the Netherlands. I can see that people have respect for their country and that makes me in turn so much more grateful for this country. Another reason that I bring up respect and cleanliness is due to the sad reality of South Africa’s failing government, which can’t fulfill basic needs such as waste removal. Yes, South Africa has beautiful nature scenes and sun, but there is a huge lack in respect and taking care of the country itself.

Another, less serious difference between SA and NL is the technological advancement occuring in the Netherlands. In my career, government duties, houses and even supermarkets there is such a technological advancement that has taken place that is not present in South Africa. It genuinely feels like you are moving into the future when coming to the Netherlands.

Please tell us something about the projects you are currently working on.
The audit team that I have joined has been working with certain private organisations that are leading markets in green energy. This really opens up the world of a lot of different markets and possible ways to create new revenue flow, which has been such a change to most South African companies just trying to get the audit over and done. A lot of the clients here value the auditor’s input on their organisation which in turn makes you feel worthy and valuable as an auditor. This was not always the case in South Africa, due to common fraud and corruption taking place at such a high level.

Can you explain to the South Africans who are considering to go overseas how you did experience the support from us?
Let’s talk about the process of immigration… If you are not already used to a high stress environment such as auditing, then brace yourself. The heat gets turned up from 1 to 10 when it comes to all the administrative tasks and documents required from our lovely Home Affairs to finalise the process of moving. However, having summit developers guide us step by step (I promise this is not a paid advertisement) really helped us actually be able to move. It would have been unimaginable to search for our own house in NL in the current housing crisis, understanding what documents were needed and why they were needed, and just how to apply for the process in the first place. Having an actual person help you and guide you step by step makes the process 10 times smoother, and not to mention you don’t even pay for these services! I mean it literally sounds like a scam, but it has genuinely been such a pleasure to have summit developers as our recruiters.