7 days ago
South Africa's migration crisis: From packing for Perth to departing for Dubai
IOL Contributor Nicola Mawson.
Image: Supplied
I am old enough to remember (but not vote in) South Africa's first democratic elections. I remember the buzz, the excitement, the long queues – and the fear – that surrounded that historic moment.
I was studying history in what is now Grade 11 at the time. No comments on my age please. It was truly a historic moment, and I'm forever grateful that I got to witness it first-hand.
A key aspect, however, was professional white people 'packing for Perth' as it became to be known then. Accountants, auditors, engineers, and many other people with specialised qualifications left.
They left because of the fear that the ANC would simply take away homes. Behind that fear was ignorance. I recall one conversation with my horse-riding instructor at the time during which she told me that she had a good laugh with her stable hand, asking him when he was going to move into her house. He replied that he 'thinks that other house over there is nicer'.
This was said in jest, by people who weren't scared.
Yet, there was so much fear that a slogan was created, with an acronym: EGBOK. I think it was the work of Jacaranda FM. And it stood for 'Everything is going to be OK'.
And it was. Until it wasn't.
People are leaving again. This time for tax-free destinations like Dubai where they can earn dollars (currently R17.70 to the dollar as I write this). Why are they leaving?
Afrobarometer cities, based on Statistics South Africa's data, that the top reasons are 'an ailing economy, chronic unemployment, high crime rates, energy instability, staggering inequality, poor delivery of public services, and political and diplomatic uncertainty'.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Next
Stay
Close ✕
Ad loading
In 2020, over 900,000 citizens lived abroad, mainly in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and Canada. They are encouraged there by attractive salaries, career mobility, safety and security, ease of doing business, free medical care, free education, and a chance for moms and dads to make their kiddo's lives better.
We had a newsroom chat this morning and people are now moving to Dubai, the UAE, and probably Saudi Arabia as well.
Here's the problem. We need those skills. We need those people to mentor younger people. We have this unbelievable gap between what companies need in terms of skills and the abilities, if any, of youngsters coming out of our schooling system to match them.
Statistics South Africa on Tuesday morning released its latest employment print. South Africa's official unemployment rate has risen to 33.2% in the second quarter of 2025, up from 32.9% in the previous quarter.
More people joined the workforce. The number of unemployed individuals aged 15–34 increased by 39,000 to 4.9 million. And, while employment among youth rose by 31,000 to 5.7 million, while the youth unemployment rate held steady at 46.1%.
The Department of Basic Education isn't even focusing on future-fit teaching anymore in areas like robotics. Nope, it's now gone back to basics because our children simply cannot read or do basic math. That's so incredibly, incredibly, sad.
