An emigration expert says that she has experienced a seven-fold increase in the number of South Africans enquiring about immigrating to Australia.<\/p>\n
Migration agent, Marlene Prentice, told\u00a0 Talk 702<\/a> that there has been a noticeable spike in activity on a Facebook page called: South Africans Migrating to Australia since the second week of January\u00a02015<\/p>\n The page was started 10 months ago by eight\u00a0Migration Agents Registration Authority registered agents, and\u00a0has added almost 500 members over the past two days, to just under 9,000 members.<\/p>\n Prentice told the Cape Argus<\/a> earlier this week, that enquiries about emigration on the page were from all race groups with varying skill ranging from dentists, teachers and accountants, to receptionists and office workers.<\/p>\n The agent said that while most interested parties stemmed from Joburg, Pretoria and Kwa-Zula Natal, many queries were from small farming communities.<\/p>\n “More farmers are enquiring,” Prentice said.<\/p>\n Aside from some of the more rhetorical reasons for immigrating, more people had cited load shedding as a reason to leave South Africa, according to Prentice.<\/p>\n “I have identified four main reasons that I hear over and over again \u2013 the new one that I have started to hear is load shedding \u2013 the effect on everyday life,” she said.<\/p>\n Crime, government corruption, and ‘a better future for my children’ were the other three main reasons, Prentice said.<\/p>\n “I hear a lot of sadness in people wanting to leave, there are really people who don’t want to leave, but feel they have to leave \u2013 there is still a love for the country. The push factor is a better future for their children\u2026”<\/p>\n Immigration lawyer, Chris Watters, told the Cape Argus that enquiries to his practice had gone from approximately one every two weeks to nine or 10 a day since January.<\/p>\n The most common reason given for leaving was the ongoing disruption to life and business from load shedding.<\/p>\n President Jacob Zuma said in May that load shedding is likely to last for three more years as power utility struggles to keep up with demand due to poor infrastructure, a lack of planning, and financial demand.<\/p>\n More South Africans want to leave the country<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The most powerful passports in the world<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Important South Africans to be fast tracked for visas<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nFour main reasons<\/h3>\n
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