The New Great Trek: The story of South Africa's white exodus

ISBN 1-86888-144-x

PREFACE

The title of this book is partially derived from a formative event which shaped South African history during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Great Trek. In response to conditions that were regarded as unbearable, thousands of disaffected early-Afrikaners in the Eastern Cape moved to territories to the north and in the process overcame considerable obstacles in the form of a hostile colonial government, wild animals, disease, virtually impenetrable mountain ranges and antagonistic indigenous tribes. Today, a century and a half later, emigrants participating in the New Great Trek might want to argue that they too are trying to escape from obstacles very similar to those faced by their forbears, albeit in different guises. The title is also an adaptation of the title of the autobiography of the last white South African president, F W de Klerk: The last trek - A new beginning.· In his book De Klerk suggested that the transition to democracy in 1994 represented the final trek by Afrikaners and whites away from apartheid to an inclusive democracy. Sadly, however, for the tens of thousands of mainly white South Africans it signalled merely the beginning of yet another trek, and for the many who had left South Africa after 1994 the only 'New Beginning' would be on the shores of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Britain the USA and elsewhere. This book is not a guide on how to emigrate but follows a holistic discussion and analysis of the major aspects of South African emigration, particularly in so far as no book on this topic has yet been published. The idea behind the book was to take the concept of migration and the flow of people across borders and continents, which is a fundamental part of human history and society today and apply it to South Africa. The reasons that people move around the world are universal and can be summarised broadly as the search for better material conditions and the avoidance of physical danger. The thousands of South Africans participating in the current emigration wave are no different, and their motivation for leaving is founded on the desire to escape from violent crime and to ensure that their quality of life and living standards are not affected by rapidly changing socioeconomic and political conditions. The author has attempted to discuss these conditions as objectively as possible and to steer away from overly negative or politically subjective views. However, the scourge of violent crime, even when viewed objectively, is South Africa's Achilles' heel - and the author has attempted to expose it in no uncertain terms - not only is crime the principal reason that South Africans are emigrating, but it is damaging the country and destroying lives in a similar fashion to 46 years of apartheid - from this perspective the New Great Trek is a discussion of emigration with reference to its main cause, violent crime.

- the author

CONTENTS

Preface vii

Introduction ix

1 Historical origins 1

1 .1 A comparative view 3

1 .2 African experiences 4

1.3 South Africa: emigrants, immigrants and migrants 9

     A country founded by immigrants 9

    The Xhosa migration from Eastern to Western Cape 12

    'The Grape Trek': migration from north to south 12

     The rightwing alternative: wagons rumbling to Orania 15

     Pseudo emigration 17

    The incoming flood: immigrants, illegal aliens and the 'returnees' 20

2 The scope of South Africa's exodus 26

2.1 Official statistics vs the actual numbers: the 2:1 and 3: 1 ratios 26

2.2 How many people have left so far?  29

    The net loss/gain 31

    The mystery of the missing white million 33

2.3 How many people potentially might leave?  34

2.4 Who is leaving?  36

   The professionals: a brain drain 36

    Afrikaners 37

    English-speaking South Africans39

    Jewish emigration 41

   Well-known personalities who have left South Africa in recent years 42

   Corporate emigration: chicken-run or global reality?47

2.5 Where are they heading?50

3 The logistics of emigration 53

3.1 How difficult is it to emigrate? 53

   Psychological and emotional aspects 54

   Financial aspects 58

   Rules and regulations 60

   Entry requirements of selected countries 62

3.2 The emigration consulting industry 68

4 Why do people leave South Africa? 72

4.1 Crime: 'The civil war that never happened' 73

   The killing fields of South Africa 74

   The nature of violent crime in South Africa 76

   The perceptions and reality of crime 87

   The financial implications of crime 91

   The psychological effects of crime 92

   The responses to crime 95

4.2 Concerns over the economy 97

4.3 Falling standards and Aids 102

4.4 Mbeki's 'two nations': the 're-racialisation' of South Africa 108

4.5 The global village 113

5.The emigration debate 115

5.1 The impact of emigration on South Africa 116

5.2 The emotional campaign against emigration 123

   An appeal to patriotism: 'Real South Africans won't emigrate' 124

   Condemnation: 'Emigrants are racist' 127

   Objections by Afrikaner nationalists and the DRC 129

5.3 The contrary view: 'Real South Africans are free to emigrate' 131

   'Blame the government' 131

    A basic human right protected by the Constitution 134

    'Our ancestors were also emigrants' 135

6 South Africans abroad: the diaspora 137

    Australia 141

    New Zealand 147

    Canada 152

     USA 157

    Britain 159

    Elsewhere163

7 Conclusion 167

   Endnotes 170

    Bibliography  183