Hamba kahle, South Africa

‘Staggering’ number of working people on way out of the country

FED UP and desperate South Africans are looking to other countries in search of better opportunities, but high net worth foreigners are flocking here for a better quality of life.

Rampant crime, corruption and, to a lesser extent the country’s ongoing electricity woes, are listed as some of the reasons why South Africans are heading for the exits. The Covid-19 pandemic is also no longer a deterrent to travelling.

Top of the lost-skills list are doctors, accountants, IT specialists and media professionals who are looking for greener pastures, mainly in English-language countries.

Results of a survey released by infoquest/trender this week indicated that 5% of employed South Africans had applied for residency in another country and would be emigrating soon.

Another 14% had seriously considered emigrating and had made enquiries or submitted applications.

The organisation said a further one in three employed South Africans had thought about emigrating but had not taken any further steps.

“If we extrapolate this to the actual numbers, 5% of about 15 million working South Africans indicates a staggering number of 750 000 South Africans getting ready to leave imminently,” said Claire Heckrath, managing director of infoquest.

Experts say New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK are perennial favourites for those seeking a better life outside the country, but Portugal and Panama are growing in popularity.

On the flip side, new SA residents, mainly from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, view South Africa as their playground because of its natural beauty, open spaces and larger living areas.

But there’s a caveat: you have to be affluent to get around the load shedding, crime, health and education troubles you will encounter in your new home.

Property and immigration experts say Hermanus is the place of choice for foreigners who relocate to South Africa, while Cape Town and Plettenberg Bay come a close second.

Tax and immigration experts say the favourable exchange rate for people from Europe means they get more value for money when they buy property here than in their own countries.

The beauty of the whales in Hermanus,

its proximity to Cape Town and the top notch infrastructure in the area are all selling points, says Annien Borg, an area manager for Pam Golding estate agency. She said foreigners were willing to fork out R50 million for a lavish house or even R22m for a vacant plot.

South Africans in new countries say it’s the safety, good education and hope for better opportunities that saw them take the plunge.

However, it’s not necessarily easier for everyone: some have to work even harder than before, and take on two jobs to maintain the standard of living they had back home.

Sable International migration manager Sarah Young said she had assisted 300 families to relocate to Portugal through that country’s golden visa investment programme.

She said the volatility of the rand, safety and security and high unemployment rates were what spurred on her clients to make the move. Young said other countries like Malta, Ireland and Grenada were also becoming popular.

Biokineticist Michelle das Neves moved to Portugal early this year, just after getting married, citing crime, feeling unsafe, the breakdown of facilities, racism and the growing inequality as reasons she and her husband left.

While she ran a successful practice with more than one consulting room in SA, she now splits her time between her medical profession and selling houses.

She says wearing two hats was tiring but worth it.

“I’m very happy that the lights stay on and the water stays on and that I can walk in the street and I don’t have to be paranoid about my bag in my car.”

Tax attorney Madeleine Schubart from Boshoff Inc said Portugal was popular among South Africans of retirement age because they were only subjected to a 10% tax in that country.

She said the cost of living was favourable in Portugal, while those going to Panama saw it as a foot in the door to getting children educated in the US.

She said a substantial number of farmers had also left SA and gone to the US where they became farm managers, while the UK was usually favoured by engineers and young professionals.

“South Africa doesn’t always have the next step available for the very ambitious,” she said.

Tax specialist Jeremy Burman urged possible emigrants to get the proper financial and tax advice before leaving the country so that they could plan.