Fewer South Africans in the UK
2008-06-26 08:45
Johannesburg - The number of "Saffas" living in Britain is far lower than is commonly believed,
the first full study on this group of people has showed.
King's College research fellow, Dr Robert Crawford,
put the figure at 550 000, about half the amount
of one million that is usually quoted.
"The figure is a gross inflation that reveals more about
the attitudes of South Africans towards emigration than it
does about their actual number," said Crawford, an expert
in the areas of diaspora and national identity who has
conducted similar studies on New Zealanders and
Australians.
First study
He will be presenting his findings at Monash University in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Crawford's study is the first in-depth look at the growing
number of South Africans who are calling Britain home. He
drew on census data, national insurance registrations, British
entry/exit data and SA emigration data amongst other
sources in his research.
The report examined questions such as why
expats have left South Africa and whether they would
return, and found that "while most of them express an interest in
returning home to SA, the number who would
actually return is significantly smaller".
It seemed that even abroad South Africans struggled with unity. For Crawford the most surprising finding was
how segregated South Africans were - far more
than any other group living abroad.
"They are spread across [London] and tend to
segregate themselves according to race, ethnicity, and
religion," he told News24. "Few diasporas display such marked differences."
"Anecdotal evidence" roughly divides South Africans in London as anglophones in the south-west, Afrikaners in the east and south-east, blacks in the east, and Jews in the north.
Deciding factors
Opportunities to travel, career advancement and earning in pounds drew South Africans to the UK, particularly London.
"Push-factors" such as crime and BEE policies also played a major role.
While two-thirds to three-quarters of South Africans entered Britain on two-year working holiday visas, the trend is set to change.
The UK has introduced a number of new naturalisation, UK visa, work permit and UK working visa categories in the last few years. The work period of the two-year working visa has been reduced to one year and a new five-tier points based system is replacing the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP.
Crawford also said that the UK has signalled it will make its working holiday visa scheme only accessible to those countries that have a reciprocal working holiday visa arrangement, something South Africa doesn't have and would be reluctant to implement at the risk of losing more skilled professionals.