Abstract
Recent statistics suggest that emigration from South Africa is accelerating while documented immigration remains at low levels. Primary analysis of a 10% sample of the overseasβborn in South Africa from the 1996 census confirmed that Black immigrants to South Africa were shown to be predominantly unskilled males, who were no better qualified than the Black population in general. This contrasts with the apartheid era when South Africa built up a stock of overseasβborn skilled workers, mostly Whites, which was not replenished in the 1990s, partly because of restrictive immigration policies.
The UK is the major destination for South Africans but lacks detailed data on the characteristics of the immigrants. The second destination is Australia and New Zealand combined. Comparisons are made with published census data on the South Africaβborn in Australia and New Zealand. A majority of emigrants have postβschool qualifications and professional occupations, reflecting the selective immigration criteria of Australia and New Zealand. The analysis confirms the importance of human capital to potential emigrants even though they may wish to move for nonβeconomic reasons. It also supports the view that South Africa had moved from a brain exchange of Whites to a brain drain, thus compounding a national shortage of skilled workers. Copyright Β© 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.