Skills drain takes toll
Taking off
Another flight leaves for Australia, taking
with it emigrants with their critical skills
Dave Savides
THE lure of lucrative jobs in a safer
living environment is causing a huge drain
of skilled labour from the area.
In Richards Bay and Empangeni alone this
year, more than 560 people have applied for
Police Clearance Certificates, a requirement
for emigration from South Africa.
According to an SAPS clerk, ‘about 85 per
cent’ of these are moving permanently to
Australia or New Zealand.
Those countries have strict work
qualification entry criteria, which means
that the most highly skilled enjoy the best
prospects of acceptance.
And they are taking advantage in no
uncertain terms.
Affected
Most local industries, as well as the
uMhlathuze Municipality, have experienced a
significant number of resignations this year
as the skills drain continues.
The mining industry is particularly
affected, with new smelters in both Africa
and Asia head-hunting the best of local
talent.
While financial considerations play a large
part, many have openly stated that the
prospect of avoiding violent crime has
caused them to forsake their homeland.
Garth Macartney, President of the Zululand
Chamber of Business and also owner of a
large employment agency, confirmed the
situation.
Problems ahead
‘The economy of the region will suffer as a
result of the irrecoverable loss of skills
due to the departure of qualified personnel.
‘While local government and the Chamber have
actively campaigned to attract investment to
the area to create job opportunities, we
find we are faced with a possible crisis as
it becomes more difficult to source trained
and experienced personnel,’ said Macartney.
‘This certainly can have a detrimental
effect on the future of investor confidence.
‘The establishment of aluminium smelters in
the Middle East and in Australia, as well as
the opportunities being created in the
mineral sands industry in Mozambique, could
result in a further drain of skills from
Zululand.
‘The synergy between the industries
established here and those in the foreign
countries which offer the benefits of
tax-free dollar based packages could cause
an exodus of trained staff to leave the
local industries,’ said Macartney.
‘This will create a vacuum which is almost
impossible to fill and will punish the
companies who have invested a great deal in
training South Africans to operate within
the aluminium and mineral sands
environment.’
