South Africa February 2007 |
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| Article on Exodus from South Africa, (Sunday Times, 2007-02-25):-South Africa loses valuable skills as a growing number of top black professionals join brain drain. Highly skilled South Africans are being lured abroad by attractive pay cheques — and increasingly black professionals are joining the exodus. More and more chartered accountants, actuaries, engineers, quantity surveyors and health professionals are buying one- way tickets to the US, Canada, Britain , Saudi Arabia and even the Grand Cayman Islands. Analysts and recruitment agents say that although it is impossible to say just how many South Africans are leaving every month, the brain drain continues unabated. The latest figures available from Statistics SA show that 1631 professionals left in 2003 compared with 713 in 2002 and 635 in 2001. In total 16165 South Africans emigrated in 2003 alone. Recruitment company owner Frans Lamprecht said black professionals were in demand internationally due to a skills shortage in other countries. “And it’s all about money,” Lamprecht said. Andrew Day, a chartered accountant who owns an executive recruitment agency, Worldwide-Recruitment, said he met a large number of black accountants while working on Grand Cayman a while ago. More than 50 black chartered accountants registered with the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) are working abroad. Spokesman Edward Makwana said there was an international demand for South African chartered accountants. Although only 50 of the 773 black chartered accountants registered with SAICA are abroad, many more are working overseas because not all are registered with the institution. “Most chartered accountants go just to gain experience and later return,” said Makwana. Other financial experts leaving the country include bankers and actuaries. The Homecoming Revolution, an organisation aimed at encouraging and helping South Africans living abroad to return home, estimates that the brain drain is costing South Africa R2.5-billion a year and each skilled emigrant who leaves the country results in the loss of 10 unskilled jobs. A London-based recruitment agent, which specialises in placing actuaries internationally, said there was huge demand for South African actuaries abroad. Black engineers are also packing their bags for Australia, China and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Engineering Council of SA (Ecsa). Spokesman Daniella Melk said 114 black engineers, who had remained registered with Ecsa, were working abroad. “Registration with Ecsa is not compulsory as yet, therefore these total figures are by no means a reflection of the total number of engineering practitioners practising outside the country.” In 2005 the government had only 1500 engineers on its payroll, according to Frater Asset Management Quarterly Report. In December Business Times reported that 75 of the country’s 231 municipalities did not have a single civil engineer, technologist or technician. But University of Cape Town civil engineering graduate Mandisi Sipilane, 29, who has lived in Cardiff, Wales, for five years has no intentions of returning yet. In an interview with a London- based newspaper targeting South Africans, the SA Times, the project engineer said: “There isn’t really a surplus of engineers anywhere in the world and the UK is no different.” Asked about South Africa, he said: “You know, this is the one question I seem to spend my life answering. Every party or braai I go to these days, someone asks me, ‘When are you going back?’ “I know that engineers are in demand in South Africa and I have already had some good job offers. I’ll pursue them in good time, I’m sure of that, but I want to broaden myself abroad . “Just think of it like this, when I am finished working in three continents, I’ll take the best that I’ve learned and give it back to South Africa.” Two weeks ago, the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, told a media briefing that South Africa would need 50 000 new skilled artisans a year by 2010, and that the country could not train them quickly enough. Almost three years ago President Thabo Mbeki raised concern that the brain drain was starting to consume black professionals needed to drive South Africa’s transformation . The London-based SA Business Club, which provides a networking opportunity for South African entrepreneurs and executives in Britain , boasts almost 1000 active members. In August last year, a survey by Deloitte Consulting showed that more than a quarter of South African executives who resigned from their companies had decided to leave the country permanently. Deloitte said almost half of emigrating executives cited better jobs abroad as their main reason, followed by crime and their perception of falling education standards. Mandy Ellison, president of the US-based SA Business Club, said that many black professionals had been attracted by huge pay cheques and new challenges. Yvonne Muthien, a former corporate affairs director for mobile network operator MTN, snapped up an executive position in London with Coca-Cola Africa in Britain about two years ago. “I said OK I’ve been an academic, I’ve been in government — what shall I do next with my career?” At a recent road trip in London staged by the Homecoming Revolution more than 400 people in the 1000-strong crowd were black South Africans. Managing director Martine Schaffer said: “Although a number of black professionals are leaving South Africa to work abroad, we have certainly seen an increase in black professionals wanting to return.” | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |