South Africa's migration crisis: From packing for Perth to departing for Dubai

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”.

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.

I’ve heard from lecturers that, when younger students make it into university, they battle because what they really need is a bridge year. And university is the in thing.

We don’t have welders. Or electricians. Or plumbers either.

As a country, we need to act decisively, and now. We all need to mentor. We need to guide. We need to upskill. And we need to first stop this brain drain because we won’t have any mentors if people keep leaving.

Me, I could go tomorrow. I won’t. I didn’t even after I was hijacked in my driveway and had three guns held to my head in 2006. I love this country, and I will do everything I can to help eager minds learn.

This is our country, let’s make it work!

*** Nicola Mawson is a freelance writer at IOL

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.

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