Dawie Roodt’s advice for people who want to leave South Africa

Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt said it does not make sense for young people to leave South Africa as they can still be part of a modern economy in the country.

He shared this view during a discussion on the NewsFlash with Joe Emilio podcast about the South African economy.

This discussion focused on South Africa’s poor economic growth over the past sixteen years and the government’s continued mismanagement of the economy.

The result is that people are getting poorer, employment opportunities are declining, and taxes are at record highs.

This situation has led to a high number of skilled South Africans leaving the country in search of better opportunities, a safer place to live, and greater stability.

The latest migrant data from the United Nations shows that approximately 108,000 South Africans emigrated from the country between 2020 and 2024, averaging 27,000 a year.

Although, understandably, many people prefer to leave South Africa due to the deteriorating circumstances, the country still offers opportunities to those who like to stay.

Roodt said the modern economy has evolved to allow people to work remotely, provided they possess the necessary skills, a solid grasp of technology, and a quality Internet connection.

South Africans could, therefore, form part of the global service industry irrespective of their location.

“Economies are becoming more cloud-based. This, in turn, means that politicians are losing more power over the people,” he explained.

“We have the opportunity to be free of the heavy hand of the bureaucrats and inept politicians because of the nature of the modern economy.”

Another positive thing about South Africans is that they are good at organising themselves and at doing things for themselves.

Roodt advised people to get involved in their local community organisations, civil action groups, and even political parties.

“Know who your neighbours are. Form part of your neighbourhood watch or similar groups. Join in and make sure your society is healthy,” he said.

A good starting point, he argued, is for everyone to join forces and clean up the area where they live and work.

Dawie Roodt’s advice for people staying in South Africa

Roodt previously said that for those staying in South Africa, it was essential to protect their wealth by ensuring that their investments are properly diversified.

He explained that despite the country’s economic challenges, it has liquid and well-regulated financial markets, which few other countries have.

He urged South Africans to use this to their advantage by leveraging the financial system to take their money offshore.

“The obvious thing is to make sure that you are diversified properly to minimise risk and exposure to a single asset class or a particular country,” Roodt said.

“The main thing is to make sure you have a significant part of your portfolio invested abroad to protect against a weakening currency.”

Investing abroad also ensures you avoid the effects of high inflation and interest rates in South Africa, which limit the real returns generated by local assets.

Roodt warned that South Africans still need to be cautious about investing overseas, as many global stock markets are expensive and may be overvalued, particularly US stocks.

Another way to protect your wealth is to invest in traditional hedges, such as gold or silver, to diversify your holdings.

Some cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are also increasingly becoming stores of wealth and can be used to hedge against inflation and a weakening currency.

“Depending on how much wealth you have, it is important to ensure you have the right structure in place to protect your wealth and invest it efficiently,” he said.

“If you can remove yourself from your assets, like putting them into a company that is registered outside of South Africa or in a trust, it has the potential to be more tax efficient and more protected.”

He said there are still many investable companies on the JSE, but investors should stick to highly liquid stocks that they can sell at short notice if needed.

Furthermore, they should invest in companies that provide a rand hedge to protect them from the depreciation of the rand.

A rand hedge stock is a company listed in South Africa that earns a significant portion of its earnings outside the country in dollars, euros, or pounds.

Examples of these companies include Naspers, Prosus, Richemont, Anglo American, AB InBev, BHP Group, and Glencore, among others.

He urged South Africans to avoid buying property or any fixed assets that are illiquid by nature, as they pose a significant risk to their wealth and cannot be easily disposed of.

If South Africans want to buy property or a fixed asset, they should ensure the risk is shared between them and someone else or a financial institution, such as a bank, through a loan.