From the good life to bad debt
The emirate of Dubai is named after the daba, a desert locust that eats everything in its path.
For three decades, Dubai gorged first on oil, then on credit. Swarms of expatriates -- reportedly as many as a thousand a week -- came to the feast.
But with the global credit crunch of 2008, the consumption came to a gut-sickening halt. Dubai was revealed -- it really is a city built on sand.
Thousands of skilled professionals made their way north to the shores of the Arabian Gulf in the expectation of long-term or permanent work. They eventually formed one of the largest expat communities in the emirate.
The classifieds in The Sunday Times and other South African newspapers heaved with Dubai-based job vacancies, and local companies such as Group Five and Murray & Roberts cashed in on major construction contracts.
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