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Johannesburg: Advertising executive Penny Holt loves her native South Africa but power cuts, a murky political climate and widespread violent crime made her think about leaving the nation she once viewed as a beacon of hope.
A robbery at her office was the last straw.
"There's a brutality, an anger that worries me," said the 32-year-old executive at Saatchi & Saatchi as she finished packing up her house in the well-heeled northern suburbs of Johannesburg ready to move to London, England.
Holt's decision reflects what appears to be an accelerating trend in Africa's biggest economy. Professionals, often young and in middle management but increasingly senior executives too, are leaving, adding to a skills shortage that is already acute.
Even though the global financial crisis is cutting job opportunities abroad - prompting some South Africans to consider moving home to take them up - at least eight top-level executives at listed companies have resigned this year to emigrate.
Fear and anger
Clothing retailer Truworths said in October its financial director Wayne van der Merwe was relocating with his family to Australia, while wealth and asset management group Peregrine Holdings said in September its chief executive Keith Betty was moving to Australia.
The chief financial officer of chemical and explosives firm AECI emigrated after his 12-year-old daughter was shot in a robbery. And retail giant Massmart has reported a flight of senior management at the firm.
A property barometer by First National Bank released in October showed 18 per cent of people selling their houses in the third quarter were doing so because they were emigrating, up from nine per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.
South Africa's department of Home Affairs said it did not keep a record of the number of people emigrating.
For many, the main worry is South Africa's shockingly high crime levels. An average of 50 people are murdered every day, according to the 2008 government crime report, with robberies, break-ins and hold-ups at businesses up almost 50 per cent.
"In most instances I think the fundamental reason for leaving is violent crime," said Azar Jammine, chief economist at Econometrix.
Peter Gent, chief operating officer of Rand Merchant Bank, said the investment firm is actively sourcing skilled labour overseas because of an exodus of investment bankers, accountants and information technology specialists.
"Certainly from the beginning of this year, one's seen an increase [in emigration]," Gent said. "I think it's a real issue for the country."
The skills exodus has hit the public sector too, and the government has been trying to recruit experienced artisans, particularly engineers, doctors and teachers, from abroad.
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