Advertising executive Penny Holt loves her native South Africa but power cuts, a murky political climate and widespread violent crime made her think about leaving the nation she once viewed as a beacon of hope.
A robbery at her office was the last straw.
"There's a brutality, an anger that worries me," said the 32-year-old executive at Saatchi & Saatchi as she finished packing up her house in the well-heeled northern suburbs of Johannesburg ready to move to London, England.
Holt's decision reflects what appears to be an accelerating trend in Africa's biggest economy. Professionals, often young and in middle management but increasingly senior executives too, are leaving, adding to a skills shortage that is already acute.
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The Homecoming Revolution, a group which tries to persuade South Africans living abroad to move home, said it has seen an increase in people wanting to return this year.
Managing director Martine Schaffer said of the 1 000 South Africans who attended the group's exhibition in London this month, four out of five were planning to return to South Africa.
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