The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is surveying South Africans living abroad in an effort to better understand, and address, the reasons behind emigration, with the aim of motivating people to stay.

The Diaspora Survey, conducted via an online form, is reaching a growing number of South Africans living outside the country. United Nations International Migrant Stock data shows 1 005 800 South Africans left the country after 1990, with 107 500 departing in the last six years alone.

What the IRR hopes to achieve

“The goal of this campaign is to make South Africa a place worth coming to and one where trips to the airport are marked with messages of ‘welcome home’ rather than ‘we will miss you’,” said Makone Maja, strategic-engagements manager at the IRR. “Unfortunately, most of the responses so far underline why the latter sentiment is the more common one.”

What the survey asks

Key questions include:

– When did you emigrate from South Africa?

– What was your main reason for leaving South Africa?

– Have you considered moving back to South Africa?

– What worries you most about the state of South Africa today?

Options for the final question include jobs and economic growth, crime and safety, corruption, service delivery failures, education failures and skills shortages, race relations and “other”.

More than just numbers

Maja said the conversation goes beyond economics. “This is more than just about a shrinking tax and skills base, even though those are important metrics to consider. It is also about building a South Africa in which all citizens feel they belong, whose future they can contribute their talents to, and in which they can successfully build a future for themselves and their families.”

South Africans living abroad who wish to participate can find the Diaspora Survey on the IRR’s website.

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