More People Leaving than Coming to South Africa
16/05/2008 by Robbie Ragless
As South Africans flood out of their homeland looking for temporary or permanent opportunities abroad they leave massive skills shortages behind them. Despite this the South African government continues to look internally to fill these gaps rather than looking to foreign lands.
South African society has a history of immigration as well as emigration, with people from Eastern Europe, Holland, India, the UK and numerous African countries choosing South Africa as a destination of choice. However throughout its pot marked history hundreds of thousand of South African have migrated abroad, particularly during the political unrest of apartheid. However, the democratic South Africa of today is still suffering from mass exodus.
As many as 100 000 South African citizens are believed to have left African shores in the past few years, opting for a new life in countries like Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and most of these are educated and highly skilled.
In contrast to this just a few thousand foreigners chose South Africa as their new home last year.
South Africa is itself a popular destination for foreigners looking for a place to migrate, particularly those looking for emerging business opportunities or retirement options. The temperate climate, wildlife and booming business sector are the reasons for this. However the numbers of foreigners leaving South Africa far exceeds those moving to the southern nation.
According to the publication, The Financial Times, the government may well welcome this, as it prefers to find a trained black South African in place of a foreigner any day.
"Foreigners can be well utilised in the South African corporate or medical world for example," says Nicholas Geladaris of Global Visas. "These people provide much needed skills, as well as benefit South Africa's international standing," he adds.
Director of the South African Institute of International concurs with this when he says, "If South Africa is to enjoy widespread, long-term economic growth, it has to open its doors to foreign skills."
Strict immigration laws also hinder the amount of foreigners coming to South Africa, where for example on a dependent visa, the spouse cannot work even if he/she is skilled in a sector that labour is in highly demand.
Opportunities abroad are highly sought after. Skills such as engineering, medicine and banking are in high demand abroad, and so those with these qualifications can demand high salaries earning the illustrious Pound or Dollar.
It is clear that this constant drain on the skills of South Africa desperately needs to be filled and foreigners can be the ever important plug.
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