| Summary: | This article reports research that was undertaken to uncover generalisations pertaining to the
migration of South African social workers to the United Kingdom (UK). The intention was to
identify challenges for the future contribution of social service providers in South African if local
social workers are to be retained in the country. In the South African social work milieu it is
recognised formally and informally that a significant number of social workers migrated to the UK
during the first decade after democracy. This can be classified as a distinct brain drain of social
workers, which has a vital impact on social service delivery and social development (Business
Day, 2005; Cape Times, 2004; Louw, 2003:xv-xvi; Herald, 2005). However, verifiable data on the
brain drain phenomenon in social work are not available (Business Day, 2005). With reference to
Saravia and Miranda’s (2004) use of the metaphor, a plumbing of the South African social
workers’ brain drain to the UK is thus needed. This plumbing is effected by describing the
research design and methodology, sketching the background for the survey, reporting the survey
results, and identifying challenges for social service providers.
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