Qualified and skilled professionals are leaving South Africa in droves in search of better opportunities.
MyBroadband.co.za reports the ongoing problems of crime, economic uncertainty, political upheavals, affirmative action, BEE and unemployment are driving citizens to look for greener pastures overseas. The website also highlights that the the loss of skill, or brain drain, from the country through emigration is enormous – for every one professional coming to South Africa, eight are leaving.
The report states that it is not only white people leaving the country. “This problem cuts across racial lines. While emigration was associated with white professionals a few years ago, the number of black professionals leaving South Africa now exceeds white emigrants.
MyBroadband quotes Johannes Wessels, director of The Enterprise Observatory of South Africa (EOSA), who says at least 400,000 high-income professionals have left South Africa. “This contributes to the shrinking percentage of high-income households, as well as removing people in high personal tax brackets as contributors to SARS”.
The nonprofit aiming to encourage South Africans to return to their fatherland, Homecoming Revolution, says there are over 2.7 million South Africans living abroad, many of whom are highly skilled.
According to Carte Blanche, which cited an estate agent survey, more than 14% of house sales this year are emigration driven. This is up from 10% at the end of 2018 and more than double what it was two years ago, showing the acceleration of people leaving the country.
Removals company Biddulphs CEO Owen Farmerey said in 2013 they were bringing 15 people back to South Africa for every 10 who were leaving.
“Since then we have seen a noticeable increase in people emigrating. At this stage about 45% more people are leaving the country than in 2015,” he said.
The most popular destinations, Farmerey said, are the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
