East or west, home’s best. Many South Africans who have emigrated to foreign climes in the past two decades to escape the ills besetting this country can vouch for that. Some are coming back. And the returnees represent more than just a trickle, according to recent data from credible sources.

Business news medium CNBC Africa, which keeps tabs on these matters, recently reported that more than 350 000 highly skilled South Africans had returned home since 2008. Consultancy Intergate Immigration puts the figure at upwards of 400 000.

The push factors for the emigration waves of the past 20 years or so have ranged from loadshedding, which hit South Africa for the first time in the dying months of 2007 and has escalated to a well-nigh daily occurrence, to an underperforming economy and high crime levels.

The top destination for South Africans who leave in search of a better life abroad is Australia, with the UK in second position. Between them, the two countries are the destinations of 51% of emigrating South Africans. Sizeable numbers head to the US, New Zealand, Germany, American Samoa, the United Arab Emirates, Cuba, Canada and China, according to Statistics South Africa.

Some of the triggers of the reverse immigration we are witnessing are country specific, such as the soaring cost of living in the UK, where food prices accelerated by 12.8% in 2022; the housing crisis in Australia, which has resulted in a 27% increase in the number of people seeking help at homeless services; and skyrocketing property values in the US on the back of limited stock. For some South African diasporans, deciding to retrace their steps to Mzansi shouldn’t be too difficult, considering that home ownership in this country is much more affordable and given that the rand’s weakening over the past few years has boosted the buying power in this country of those with foreign currency.

But there are more reasons why some South Africans who are now based abroad are opting to return home. These include fear of war and natural disasters in the adopted countries, as well as adverse climate and weather conditions and a longing for family and friends.

Some of the returnees are coming back to well-paying jobs, because of South Africa’s skills shortage. But not everyone is that lucky.

All this reminds me of a book penned by Alan Knott-Craig Jr, son and namesake of one of South Africa’s early mobile telephony executives. Published in 2008, only months after the first bout of loadshedding, its title is simple: Don’t Panic!

The book was triggered by an email that Knott-Craig Jr, at the time MD of iBurst, the now defunct Internet service provider, distributed to staff to reassure them in the face of the prevailing negativity about South Africa, including the then new phenomenon of power outages.

His call to not despair was picked up by several individuals, who contributed to the book. One, a businessperson who lived in London at the time, had this to say: “I am an invisible, anonymous person. I have to start from the beginning – just a number in a queue. There is no family history, credit rating, general practitioner or greengrocer – it’s hard to start all over again.” He added that while immigrants make new friendships, these miss the ‘remember when?’ element.

Another contributor, who had lived in the UK for ten years and was planning to return to South Africa, warned would-be emigrants that the grass appeared greener on the other side because they did not have anything to compare South Africa with. He wrote: “Yes, crime is a problem in South Africa, but don’t think this place is crime free and, of course, over here, we have the extra fear of the suicide bomber on the Underground.”

The key message in Don’t Panic!, which is as relevant today as it was those many years ago, is that South Africans must join forces to tackle what ills their country. This is because nothing beats living in one’s own country, among one’s own people.