About 1Â 200 South African emigrants have returned to the country in the past two years, the Come Home Campaign said on Thursday.
Manager of the Campaign Alana Bailey said that while many South Africans living and working abroad are hesitant to return because of crime and uncertainty about job opportunities, they missed ”home” and want to return.
She said there are currently more than 3Â 000 South Africans trying to come back to the country.
”Lots of people are worried about crime, job prospects and are scared of local red tape, but they are trying to come back,” said Bailey.
”Sometimes it’s difficult when people want to open businesses or bring back foreign spouses or pets. But that’s what we are there for and we help them to return.”
The Come Home Campaign was launched in 2003. It was a joint initiative by the trade union Solidarity and Company for Immigration.
”The trade union was worried about the skills shortage in South Africa, while the Company for Immigration received numerous calls from South Africans asking why they were helping foreigners settle in South Africa but not South Africans,” said Bailey.
”People needed help, they needed information so the campaign was launched. And we offer a free service. Our funds come from Solidarity and AfriForum.”
She said the campaign assisted South Africans to come back home, it did not convince them to return.
Many South Africans return because they miss home, some miss the weather, while others who left with the promise of a better paying job in another country, were ”cheated”, said Bailey.
”They go to other countries thinking that a good job awaits them, but when they get there the job is not as good as was promised so they come back.”
Others simply return because they cannot get permanent residence in an overseas country and the unemployment rate is getting worse all over the world, said Bailey.
She said it could take anything between six to eight weeks or between three to five years to relocate.
This depended on whether people needed to find employment, if their spouse was a foreigner or if they had children in school.
”People do have problems coming back. If their children are born overseas they have to be registered here and then you have stuff like people who want to bring back weird objects.
”Some artists want to bring back material to work with but they encounter problems with shipment and then problems are also experienced when people want to bring back pets,” Bailey said.
Returning to South Africa could sometimes cost more than R100Â 000, including flight tickets as well as bringing back household goods.
”Just bringing back your dog can cost you about R40Â 000. You’ll have to get permits that they don’t have diseases and then you’ll have to pay for shipping and care.”
Bailey said the majority of South Africans who return were between the ages of 28 and 45.
They return from the United Kingdom, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands.
She said many people who came back found it easy to pick up where they left off if they had friends and family in the country.
”And often you find that people tend to look for a house or a job in the area they were in before they left. After long terms of being away, they will go back to the same area.” — Sapa