Coming home
Homecoming Revolution was
chugging along successfully as an
NPO, and the advertising business
was doing well, but then something
changed. ‘I hadavery convenient,
perfectly timed midlife crisis at
40,’ says Angel withalaugh. ‘I had
ayear of seeingatherapist,alife
coach andamentor.Ihad this
belief that advertising was where I
made the money,and Homecoming
Revolution was whereImade the
meaning. The therapist helped me
understand that my worth wasn’t
tied up in advertising, the life
coach opened my eyes to my sense
of purpose and my mentor helped
me work out howIcould commer-
cialise Homecoming Revolution
intoaproper moneymaking
company.’
She sold the ad business and
went full time into Homecoming
Revolution, which became an
executive search-and-headhunting
operation recruiting top South
African,West African and East
African talent with international
experience for corporate SA,
Nigeria and Kenya. ‘It’sabout
identifying top skills abroad so we
can localise the C-suite (the top
corporate positions: CEO, COO,
CFO, etc) at home.’
Homecoming Revolution has a
database of around 35 000 globally
experienced African talent in
FMCG,Retail and Fintech and
other sought-afterfields, gleaned
through international events and
via social media, word of mouth,
and personal referrals.
Angel explains that the ap-
proach istrue to the original vision
of HomecomingRevolution. ‘We
talk about the pros and cons of
returning first, and then about
the job. If people are haggling too
much about the salary,they’re not
yet ready to return. It’snot justMidlife crisisWhat brain drain?about the job; for many,it’salso
aboutasense of purpose. So you
might be in finance, but you're
working on the funding for building
bridgesthat will makeadifference
in acommunity.’
People talk about the different
elements of the realities of life ‘back
home’,from relocation logistics to
school options, but ultimately,says
Angel, it’saheart decision, not
ahead thing.Bringing people back to South
Africa seems likearather hard sell
right now.The common wisdom
is that there’saspike in people
leaving, rather than returning.
‘Yes, there is talk about people
emigrating, and there are alarmist
headlines like, “We’re losing our
black talent”, but the numbers are
impossible to measure,’ says Angel.
‘Home Affairs no longer requiresyou to fill inaformwhen you
emigrate, so the figures are often
based on things like enquiries at
removal firms, rather than actual
emigrations.’
Emigration is very much driven
by public sentiment and what’sin
the news cycle. ‘Whenever the
lights go off, people panic,’ says
Angel. ‘When there are farm mur-
ders in the news, there’saspike in
enquiries about emigration. Nen-
egate wasareal low point. There’s
no question we are going through
one of our down cycles, but having
said that, Ramaphoria is real, we
are seeing that in our work.’
Recent research by Homecoming
Revolution indicates that of the re-
spondentsliving abroad, 34% said
they want toreturn and 22% are
undecided. And peopledon’tgofor
good. Black South Africans stay,
on average, 2–5 years, and White,
up to 7–10 years before they
come back.14 Fairlady/September 2019