Why I came back to South Africa: brains gained explained

by · BizNews

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Executive expats are finding that the saying ‘home is where the heart is’ rings true, and though the grass might be greener abroad, their hearts remain in South Africa. Moreover, some of these former expats are eager to roll up their sleeves and contribute to the local economy and society.

Brain gain

The first migration report by Statistics South Africa confirmed what we’ve been seeing in our own social circles and social media platforms: the amount of South Africans who emigrated almost doubled since 2000 to nearly one million. But another trend is emerging. Our expat family members and friends are coming back, and data suggests that 30% of them have already returned. Over the past six months, recruiters at HomecomingEx saw 22% more expats than before enquiring about returning to South Africa.

We spoke to some of the experts South Africa gained back in the past three years.

Why I came back

Mike Abel – Executive Chairman and Founder of The Up&Up Group (M&C SAATCHI ABEL, Levergy, Connect, Razor, Black & White, and Dalmatian)

M&C Saatchi Group South Africa and Africa recently bought its shares back from the global M&C Saatchi Group Plc because founder Mike Abel has an unshakeable belief in this country and continent. One hundred percent of M&C Saatchi Africa and South Africa’s equity is now locally owned under a new name: The Up&Up Group. It is now one of the largest creative companies on the continent. 

Abel says this move is an unapologetic and intentional vote of confidence in South Africa and Africa.

He recalls tearing up watching Ladysmith Black Mambazo performing at the Sydney Opera House when he headed M&C Saatchi Australia in 2008. “We felt like we were foreigners in a foreign land. It was the sounds of home, it was familiarity,” he says. “The diversity, the multiculturalism, the different languages, whether we’re talking about bunny chow or samosas or koeksisters or melktert or biltong…there’s just so much that makes South Africa uniquely South Africa, particularly our people.”

Leila Fourie – CEO of the JSE

Leila Fourie returned to South Africa in 2019 when she was offered the position of running Africa’s largest stock exchange, the JSE. Although she held several high-profile positions at Australia’s top financial institutions (the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Australian Payments Network) she felt privileged. “It allowed me to contribute to the country of my birth.”

“I was very excited about the opportunity to contribute on a much broader level than a single organisation,” Fourie says. “It also gave me the option to be in the country that I love and to spend time with South Africans.”

Angel Jones – CEO of HomecomingEx – Executive Search

Angel Jones was inspired by the words of Nelson Mandela who addressed South Africans in London in 2009, saying he wished he could put them in his pocket and take them all home. The advertising executive followed Madiba back to Johannesburg after seven years in the UK. Jones founded Homecoming Revolution, initially a Section 21 company encouraging South Africans to return home. Today, Jones is the CEO of HomecomingEx – Executive Search, a pan-African recruitment firm sourcing Africans with global experience to return to the continent and bring their skills with them. 

“I came back and wrote the words ‘Homecoming Revolution’ on a Post-It note and stuck it onto my computer,” she says. She began to tell the stories of other people who had returned home with the message: “Don’t wait until it gets better, come home and make it better.”

Antoinette van der Merwe – Postdoctoral researcher

Antoinette van der Merwe obtained her doctorate in development economics in Zurich and has also lived in the Netherlands and New Zealand. She says the grass really is greener in Switzerland – literally and figuratively – but she was not happier.

“My husband and I would take long walks next to the Limmat river and talk about South Africa, what we missed, and what an amazing place it is and could be. Our dreams were always in South Africa, never in Switzerland. I can only conclude that life is more than just comfort and luxury. Ironically, when we moved back, I really struggled to adjust to life in South Africa.”

Upon returning in 2023, van der Merwe started a podcast, O my Volk!, interviewing many others who also came back home to Mzansi. 

“One big factor all returning expats mention is the realisation that family and friends are ‘not just nice-to-have’, says van der Merwe. “Relationships are central to what makes us human. Meaningful relationships are vital to who we are as people: they keep us happier, healthier, more content, and resilient, and they even increase brain activity and life expectancy. Deep, meaningful relationships are more likely when we have a shared background, history and context.” 

Data confirms this. In a study conducted by HomecomingEx in 2019, 34% of respondents said they wanted to return home. The biggest reasons participants cited were “friends and family”, and “making a difference”. Jones says that, recently, expats mention factors like “weather” and “sense of belonging” more.

Jones says that the sense of belonging, familiarity, and community outweigh the difficulties faced (in South Africa), leading many expats to return home. Post-Covid, she says, the emphasis on “happiness” has significantly risen as a priority factor for returning.

The future

Jones says HomecomingEx has seen an uptick in positive sentiment from expats about the idea of returning home since the Government of National Unity was elected.

Over the past six months, she has seen a notable 22% increase in enquiries regarding returning to South Africa.    

“I think South Africa is in a position now to take advantage of optimism, of growing trust in the local and global community that will unlock both domestic and foreign investors, and we are well-poised for growth,” Abel says. “With domestic and foreign investment coming in, we can tackle the greatest challenge which is unemployment.”

Abel is a great believer in the stock market and his portfolio is mostly in shares, with enormous global exposure to hedge against the rand, but he thinks his investment strategy might change a little now.

“It’s been very bearish in terms of South Africa because I have enough invested with my company and my properties and assets in SA, so it became important to me to diversify and invest as much as I could offshore,” he explains. “The majority of that is in equities and blue chip companies. I have taken specific punts on companies that have done remarkably well that I believed in like Alphabet and Apple that I invested in a number of years ago.” 

The entrepreneur also invests in small companies he believes in and provides seed capital to see where those companies go. 

Abel thinks the Government of National Unity has changed the game considerably. “I think the future and the present situation right now and the interest and stability of our country compared to many of the historic safe havens make South Africa a compelling place to invest.”

Just look at the recent BizNews Local v Offshore R1m Challenge between Piet Viljoen and Magnus Heystek where the local strategy performed better. “Sure it is still early, and anything can happen, but the idea that SA will always be worse than offshore was yet again proven incorrect,” van der Merwe says.

“The idea that everything is good overseas and everything is bad in SA, is very dangerous. In 1994, many people took their money out of South Africa and they lost a lot,” she adds.

What makes South Africa special

There is something else that draws people back. “There is creativity in South Africa, freedom to explore and experiment, and the real possibility to live a life of meaning – nobody needs me in Switzerland, but I do feel the urgency here to roll up my sleeves, work together and do something good,” says van der Merwe. 

There is another thing she can’t place her finger on. “There is something different in South Africa. I never found it anywhere else. A vibe. A feeling.” 

Fourie says she loves working with South Africans, who have such vibrancy, who are resilient, and who show positive energy. “I love the pioneering and innovative energy of South Africans.” 

“Living in SA is living in a place that gets under your skin,” says Abel. “You become incredibly attached to the land, the people, the sights, the sounds, the taste… The smell of the sea! When I used to stand in Sydney and I couldn’t smell the sea I asked my wife: ‘Why can’t I smell the sea? Why can’t I smell the kelp?’”

Jones says the enquiries HomecomingEx receive from expats reflect a strong sentiment of attachment to South Africa and a recognition of its unique qualities, despite acknowledging its challenges. “If there were plenty of jobs available, executives would flood home. The biggest reason people want to return is for friends and family. They want their kids running barefoot on the lawn, with granny and grandpa nearby.”

Coming soon to Shyft…

Mzansi is worth investing in. Soon you’ll be able to buy shares in the top South African companies on Africa’s largest stock exchange, the JSE, so you can share in South Africa’s future. 

The good news is that you can stay in South Africa without missing out on global market opportunities. Shyft  – Standard Bank’s global money app for use by all – offers you access to 800 top global stocks and ETFs across the New York, London, and Frankfurt stock exchanges. Gone are the days when your physical location determined your investment decisions. 

Visit Shyft to download the app now, no matter where you bank. Shyft operates under the licence of The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, an authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP number 11287). 

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