Scott Johnson, Newsweek, February 23, 2009
No one should be surprised to read that Zimbabwe has suffered massive emigration in recent years, especially among its white minority. But much less expected is the fact that next-door South Africa, the continent’s wealthiest and most developed country, is suffering a brain drain of its own (if on a smaller scale).
{snip} The most dramatic figures can be found among South African whites, who are leaving at a pace consistent with the advent of “widespread disease, mass natural disasters or large-scale civil conflict,” according to a report by the South African Institute on Race Relations. Some 800,000 out of a total white population of 4 million have left since 1995, by one count. But they’re hardly alone. Blacks, coloreds (as people of mixed race are known in South Africa) and Indians are also expressing the desire to leave. In the last 12 years, the number of blacks graduating in South Africa with advanced degrees has grown from 361,000 to 1.4 million a year. But in that time the number of those expressing high hopes to emigrate has doubled.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. In many ways, the new South Africa has lived up to its promise of racial harmony and equitable development; its enlightened Constitution, progressive economic policies, and wealth of human and natural resources have all kept it relatively stable since apartheid was swept away in 1994. But that stability could be jeopardized if its human capital keeps leaving at the current rate. South Africa has undergone massive swings in emigration for decades, including since the end of white rule. The shifts can be linked to changes in political stability and economic opportunity, as well as less worrisome factors like simple wanderlust. {snip}
The primary driver for emigration among all groups, but especially whites, who still retain the majority of South Africa’s wealth, is fear of crime. With more than 50 killings a day, South Africa has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world. The same goes for rape—ranking the country alongside conflict zones such as Sierra Leone, Colombia and Afghanistan. Future Fact polling indicates that more than 95 percent of those eager to leave South Africa rate violent crime as the single most important factor affecting their thinking. Lynette Chen, the ethnic-Chinese CEO of Nepad Business Group, is the only member of her family left in South Africa. Her parents departed in 2002 after being carjacked—twice. Her brother, also a victim of crime, followed suit shortly thereafter. “They’re always getting homesick,” she says. “But they won’t come back unless the crime is reduced.”
Another largely unnoticed problem is the growing number of attacks on South Africa’s white farmers. As in neighboring Zimbabwe, some of the attacks appear to be racially motivated. Others seem simply opportunistic, but the result is that white farmers’ numbers continue to decrease, leading to fears that despite the government’s good intentions, a Zimbabwe-style crisis—where the flight of skilled farmers led to an agricultural collapse—is possible here too.
Then there’s the problem of affirmative action, which many whites feel limits their opportunities for advancement and which keeps many émigrés from returning. “You can attract people home, but there are still the same concerns when they get here,” Chen says. “Crime and lack of job opportunities if you’re not the right color.”
Still another factor driving out citizens of all races is the country’s political crisis. National elections are due in April, and the likely next president, Jacob Zuma, faces a battery of serious corruption charges and accusations of autocratic behavior. Zuma’s ruling ANC party has been split by a rebellion of former loyalists, and increasing numbers of South Africans express concern with the health of their young democracy. {snip}
For all these reasons, even the global economic slowdown hasn’t been enough to keep qualified South Africans at home. Of the country’s 25,000 registered accountants, fully a quarter now live overseas. Engineers, doctors, nurses and accountants are all in increasingly short supply. In February, Health Minister Barbara Hogan said South Africa’s doctors are “constantly being poached” by places like Canada, Australia and the United States—among the most popular destinations for wealthy white émigrés. Banks and investment companies are forced to look for talent overseas, and Eskom, the disgraced national electricity provider, has recently begun scrambling to attract electrical engineers back home, but with little success.
The long-term effects of this exodus are already being felt in other critical ways. The vast majority of South Africa’s emigrants are also the country’s best and brightest. Compounding the problem is the fact that while South Africa has lenient policies toward admitting refugees from elsewhere in Africa, the import of skilled labor is still quite onerous—meaning that as more and more trained workers leave, there are fewer and fewer replacements. {snip}
To succeed, post-racial South Africa also needs to move nonwhite professionals quickly up the ranks in all sectors of its economy, and the government’s black-empowerment plan centers on ensuring that more of its citizens get advanced degrees. But as growing numbers of these graduates express a desire to follow their white colleagues out the door, the prospects for continued economic empowerment are dimming. {snip} While unemployment for whites has increased more than 100 percent since the end of apartheid, it remains as low as an average European country, between 7 percent and 8 percent. Joblessness among blacks, on the other hand, is hovering at around 50 percent. “If the qualified nonwhites are leaving too, that is pretty dire for black economic empowerment,” Milner says.
To be fair, not all the signs point in one direction. The global economic downturn has led to anecdotal reports of South Africans returning from the once hot economies of Europe and North America. {snip}
{snip}
Original article
(Posted on February 19, 2009)
Comments
“In many ways, the new South Africa has lived up to its promise of racial harmony and equitable development; its enlightened Constitution, progressive economic policies, and wealth of human and natural resources have all kept it relatively stable since apartheid was swept away in 1994.”
Yeah pal, tell that to the 1200 white farmers that have been brutally murdered and had their family’s property stolen. I’ll bet they have a different take on your “stability”.
I clearly remember the vile, fanatical, almost insane, campaign against the old Dutch South African Government by mainly the leftists in America, and Europe. Now I’ve noticed that they aren’t taking much interest in the place as far as helping it materially in any way,or even in reporting what goes on there. These gigantic upheavels in so many places in the world that have caused so much suffering, because of meddling by the left against the established social orders, is no skin off their backs. In fact, they will tell you that suffering and upheavel is the price that these faulty societal structures must pay. Yeah, as long as they are not part of the suffering.
Love the poly speech. I don’t believe phrases like “relatively stable since apartheid”, and “one of the highest murder rates in the world” really belong in a coherent article. This story points out what everybody knows, the the author tap dances all around it without stating the obvious. Yes, it’s blackness that is obvious. I feel sorry for the guy, and dread what his mindset means for us in the US…
And this despite all the Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) schemes the ANC has instituted!
If South African blacks have the employment deck stacked in their favor, yet FULLY HALF OF THEM don’t work, then clearly they just don’t WANT to work.
And if that’s the case, then there is simply no hope for these people. None.
The Indians and coloreds want to follow the departing whites to the West. As long as there are whites to build a society, they want to be there, attached with their kiosks, shops and small food businesses.
Whites do not need the competition, however - every scarce money-making opportunity, no matter how small, will need to be filled by a white in the new economy. This time, the Indians and coloreds must not follow.
Ironically, one of the few things our country might do with Obama at the helm is to intervene in SA. I have no idea how, but if there was something we could do, then Obama would be the one (immune to racism charges) to call it.
But it won’t get bad enough soon enough, and SA will go rapidly down the tubes.
All whites should leave SA now; don’t be the last one left holding the bag.
Whites create good environment. Blacks create and then leave bad environment. Blacks move to where whites are. Environment goes bad. Whites leave to create good environment elsewhere. Blacks leave bad environment and move to where whites have created new good environment.
You see… it’s really very simple logic.
We all need to pay close attention to South Africa. There is a tragic lesson to be learned here. What replaced apartheid is far worse, but there are no American actors or bumper stickers advertising it now. They did their damage, and moved on to screw up other things.
That country was a first rate nation. A nation whose boys fought against communism in Angola, but who receive no recognition from the government. The ANC is complicit in the crime wave; brutally violent attacks often involving torture and rape with few,if any items being stolen, and less than a 10% conviction rate. Almost without fail, the final words in articles dealing with violent crime are: “no one is in custody at this time”.
The whites were a distinct minority, but it wasn’t always that way. The health care they provided, along with food and work ensured that the black population would blossom, and blossom it did. Remember - tens of thousands of black Africans streamed over the borders into South Africa during apartheid - they were not running from it. They wanted to eat and have access to jobs. The bantu education system may have been inferior to the education the whites received, but it was superior to that of other African nations. The fact is - Afrikaners did a lot of good; but they were whites. Had they simply been another black tribe, there would have been no problem, internationally, etc.
I believe in the end the white populace was largely politically naive, and their leaders lied to them. What remains is not a rainbow nation - it is a disgrace.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Notice how they act surprised. The sad thing is that many undeceived people predicted right from the beginning that this is exactly what would happen. As usual they were ignored or called “racist.”
Also notice how crime always skyrockets in any largely black nation whenever liberal, leftist, egalitarian policies go into effect.
This article, as with most articles about latterday SA, is watered down.
World cup is in SA in 2010. I wonder how that will turn out. Meanwhile pray for the whites of SA.
Yeah pal, tell that to the 1200 white farmers that have been brutally murdered and had their family’s property stolen. I’ll bet they have a different take on your “stability”.
According to an article I read on www.zasucks.com, the number of farmers killed exceeds 3000. This too, is a must read site for AR readers/posters.
There is a high number of tour companies that operate trips to South Africa from the USA, Europe, and around the world. At the same time there many other African countries where there are no tours and tourists do not visit. Most tourists who go to South Africa have a wonderful trip without any problem whatsoever.
So despite South Africa’s high crime rate and post-apartheid run down conditions, it must still be possible to safely visit that country. South Africa still looks to me like a country I would like to visit, but I certainly would not want to live there.
Of Course the blacks want to leave Affyka, they have done all the damage they can do there so it is time to head to other countries they can pull down into the sewer.
Forgive my plagiarism, but I have to quote verbatim a comment posted some time ago on another blog. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the points, but it has some very interesting remarks.
http://irishsavant.blogspot.com/2008/02/living-under-apartheid-what-would-you.html
You say:
“Perhaps you’d look for alternatives, some way of humanizing the system. But basically you’d look away. You’d hold your nose and pray that the system holds up, and that you can continue to lead your privileged life.”
I disagree. I think the most effective method would be to teach them race guilt. Have special remembrance days for black on white slaughter. Create TV documentaries that describe the many times the Africans killed whites. Teach their babies before they are old enough to resist. Show mini-series on TV that dramatise the suffering of whites at the hands of blacks. Build museums in your national capital that memorialize white slaughter at the hands of black even if all that slaughter happened in a different county. Make sue several units of race guilt for white slaughter is added to all the school curricula for all minority schools. Remember, it is race guilt you are trying to create, and therefore any black slaughter anywhere in the world can be used to intimidate your blacks. They must be taught that they suffer from some strange disease that compels them out of the blue to attack and kill whites for no good reason. Give it a special name: call it antiwhiteism. Blame your own blacks out loud for not defending white people when they were slaughtered by blacks on the other side of the world. Blame blacks for not taking in white refugees from those countries.
And don’t forget your own people. Build black on white racial slaughter into the very liturgy of your church: have a Massacre Day every year in which you make special prayers for the whites slaughtered by blacks and preach “Never Again!” to your children. And don’t forget black-on-white slaughters that are hundreds of years old, either. All of them can be remembered in a religious litany that will guarantee the solidarity of white people.
Hell, these techniques have worked extremely effectively for some folks. They have worked so well that most European countries and the USA are so guilt-ridden they let immigrants pour in unchecked. Rather than complain about these tactics, a minoritized white people should recognise their incredible psychological power and use them on the evil majority. As the Overseas Chinese, the African Lebanese, African Hindus and Jews know, you cannot “just look away” when you are a market dominant minority.
You have to manage the majority and create in them a powerful sense of eternal majority guilt and a deep conviction that they and their children are all slaughtering psychopaths under the skin.
I remember during the height of apartheid, millions of Africans were illegally immigrating into Africa. The 700 club covered that. Not to be making apologies for apartheid, but that was an interesting fact about the apartheid era. It’s a miracle this article didn’t mention ‘apartheid’ even once. But in a different context.
The main reason the white professionals are leaving in droves is not so much the lack of security but the intolerable working conditions. No matter how qualified they are for the job, they will - by government dictate - have an incompetent possibly even illiterate black boss who knows nothing of the job but gets twice the white’s pay. A white water expert who draw attention to the
Ironically, one of the few things our country might do with Obama at the helm is to intervene in SA.
_______________________________
Don’t you think America has done enough already. Your foreign policy towards South Africa during the 1980’s made sure the country would go to the ANC and YOUR CIA supported and provided funds for them. Now, as a direct result of this, whites are being slaughterd wholesale. Bet you are all REAL proud.
So tell me America…… What have you got in store for us now?
“To succeed, post-racial South Africa also needs to move nonwhite professionals quickly up the ranks in all sectors of its economy”
No explanation why this is so. It seems self evident that everybody is better off (including the blacks) if only the most qualified move up the ranks of economy and, if they all happen to be white, so be it.
“The primary driver for emigration among all groups, but especially whites, who still retain the majority of South Africa’s wealth, is fear of crime. With more than 50 killings a day, South Africa has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world. The same goes for rape…”
Peculiar how, in every democratic society where blacks are given preferential legal status, their crime rate inevitably grows. Dare we in general conclude that, by nature, blacks are therefore consistently less trustworthy than other races?
World cup is in SA in 2010. I wonder how that will turn out. Meanwhile pray for the whites of SA.
Posted by flyingtiger at 12:53 AM on February 20
They wanted it, they made it, why can’t they live in it ?
Posted by Matt at 7:52 PM on February 19
“Whites create good environment. Blacks create and then leave bad environment. Blacks move to where whites are. Environment goes bad. Whites leave to create good environment elsewhere. Blacks leave bad environment and move to where whites have created new good environment.
You see… it’s really very simple logic.”
Spot on Matt.
I can see it now. First all Africans end up migrating to Europe and North America. Whites flee the chaos and ruin to the only place left, the newly empty continent of Africa. Whites build Africa up to First World status using it’s vast natural resources.
The only wrench in that little scenario is the Chinese.
Very Clever.
Since only 800,000 out of 4 million Caucasians have fled South Africa, what in heaven’s name are the other 3.2 million waiting for?
Since only 800,000 out of 4 million Caucasians have fled South Africa, what in heaven’s name are the other 3.2 million waiting for?
The unspoken issue about South Africa is that it portends what can happen in Europe and North America if/when Whites become a minority. It is an abject lesson in black majority rule, bringing with it societies which collapse in criminality and corruption and economic disintegration.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Sure, just as “this” did not happen in Congo and Uganda and Central African “Empire” and Rwanda and Sudan and Zimbabwe and…
In many ways, the new South Africa has lived up to its promise of racial harmony and equitable development;
Note how in the real world “racial harmony” and “equitable development” translate into one of the world’s highest murder rate, into discrimination against Whites, into farm attacks, into collapse of infrastructure, and so forth. But once again, liberal ideology trumps reality.
@Soprano Fan: Jacob Zuma, probably.
“…Bet you are all REAL proud.
So tell me America…… What have you got in store for us now?…”
You make a number of good points but what you fail to point out is that it is the American Government, not the people, that supported your enemies and led to the downfall of the SAn government.
In the dark days before the Internet, the American people were fed what the government-controlled media and government-controlled educational system fed us—all news out of SA, at that time, was heavily in favor of ending apartheid, ending White rule—and frankly, to hell with the White oppressors.
This is what we were told, over and over and over.
As it is, we Whites are stifled by our government as well here in the US. To speak in favor of Whites or White causes, anywhere in the world, is to put one’s career, reputation and safety in grave jeopardy. To speak openly of importing Whites from SA or elsewhere is to brand oneself as a White Supremacists.
Such are the times we live in here in the US.
Remember: The American people and the American government are NOT the same thing. Many of us here virulently oppose the UGSs meddling in other country’s affairs.
Why would I want my sons to die 9,000 nautical miles from my home in some desert wasteland occupied by primitive non-Whites?
Bon
This is not so shocking. Foresighted Eurowhites in America can see the same handwriting on the wall.
