Zimbabwe's Exodus: Crisis, Migration, Survival

Chapter Four. Discontent and Departure: Attitudes of Skilled Zimbabweans Towards Emigration

Chapter four Discontent and Departure: Attitudes of Skilled Zimbabweans Towards Emigration Daniel tevera and Jonathan Crush Whether the brain drain is a “curse or boon,” and for whom, is the subject of considerable international debate.1 Many African governments and scholars argue that the West is actively “poaching” scarce skills without regard to the dire development consequences for countries of origin. One commentator, for example, maintains that the main pressures for the brain drain come from countries of origin, not destination: “Europe, for economic and demographic imperatives, needs immigrants to make up for the demographic deficit occasioned by an ageing population. Rich countries need two categories of immigrants to cope with prevailing economic and demographic imperatives: one set to do poorly paid, dirty, and dangerous jobs which nationals scorn; and highly specialised professionals, especially software specialists, engineers, doctors and nurses, in short supply.”2 A contrary line of thinking tends to blame the developing world for its own misfortune . In other words, there would be no brain drain if conditions at home were more conducive for skilled people to stay: “If we think of the world as no more than a set of countries which own their population, then this does look like theft by the developed countries. But that would be a foolish way to see it. The loss of skilled and professional CHAPTER FOUR DISCONTENT AND DEPARTURE 113 workers on this scale is as much a vote of no confidence in the government concerned as a flight of capital. It becomes more like a flight of refugees, a flight from spectacular misgovernment, from appalling working conditions and pay levels so low that they are below subsistence. The remedy is not to end the right to work in developed countries but to make an environment at home in which people want to stay and work.”3 Contemporary Zimbabwe would probably be viewed by most as falling squarely in the latter camp. The brain drain of professionals was negligible in the first decade of independence (except of course for those white professionals who headed south across the Limpopo into apartheid South Africa). Indeed, many black professionals who had left Zimbabwe in the Smith years returned after 1980.4 The strictures of the structural adjustment policies (SAP) of the 1990s marked something of a turning point, however.5 For over a decade now, Zimbabwe has been experiencing a debilitating flight of professional and skilled people. This “brain drain” has now escalated to such a level that it has serious implications for future economic growth and development.6 Tens of thousands of Zimbabwean doctors, nurses, pharmacists, teachers and other professionals have left the country to secure jobs in Britain and in neighbouring countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Namibia.7 Most seriously affected is the health sector where, according to one estimate, 60 percent of state-registered nurses and about half of the medical doctors have left the country since 1999.8 Against this backdrop, it is important to understand exactly what Zimbabwean professionals think about their country, their prospects and the future. Is the grass so green overseas that they would leave regardless of what was happening at home? Or have conditions at home become so difficult or unpalatable that departure for anywhere is the only realistic option? The Southern African Migration Programme (SAMP) has conducted two attitudinal surveys in Zimbabwe to better understand the reasons why so many professionals are leaving and what would be needed to stem the outflow. The first survey was conducted in 2001, just as the outflow of skilled migrants began to intensify. A sample of 738 working professionals from a variety of sectors was interviewed at length in the three cities of Harare, Bulawayo and Gweru. In 2005, SAMP interviewed a sample of 900 final-year students in colleges and universities in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, Kadoma, Marondera, Rusape and Masvingo. Both surveys showed extraordinary dissatisfaction with social and economic conditions in Zimbabwe and levels of emigration potential that were significantly higher than in any other country surveyed. ZIMBABWE’S EXODUS: CRISIS, MIGRATION, SURVIVAL 114 tHe PotentiaL eMigrant PooL This chapter defines a “skilled” Zimbabwean as someone who: (a) is a Zimbabwean citizen; (b) is 16 years of age or older; (c) has completed high school and possesses a diploma or degree from a recognized college or university (or is in the final year of studying for a diploma or degree) and...