Migration elicits diverse and often emotional responses. We find it concerning that so many South Africans emigrate, and seek to attract skilled migrants from elsewhere. We have high hopes that skilled migrants can create jobs, while we worry about unskilled migrants “stealing our jobs”. In this debate, skilled migrants are often presumed to be ‘legal’ and unskilled migrants ‘illegal’, but we are unclear about what exactly makes a migrant ‘skilled’ versus ‘unskilled’ – or even ‘legal’ or not. This lecture provides an integrative assessment of out-migration and in-migration, especially from an economic and scientific perspective, while also acknowledging its deep emotional dimension.
Prof Helena Barnard
August 6, 2025
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This edition is curated around the concept of One Health, in which the University of Pretoria plays a leading role globally, and is based on our research expertise in the various disciplines across healthcare for people, the environment and animals.
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Paediatric neurosurgeon Professor Llewellyn Padayachy, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Steve Biko Academic Hospital, is redefining how brain-related diseases are diagnosed and treated, especially in low-resource settings. He’s at the forefront of pioneering work in non-invasive techniques to assess and measure raised pressure inside the skull,...
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Africa faces immense challenges in neurosurgery, such as severe underfunding, a lack of training positions and a high burden of disease. There is one neurosurgeon per four million people, far below the WHO’s recommendation of one per 200 000. This shortage, compounded by the lack of a central brain tumour registry and limited access to diagnostics, severely impacts patient outcomes.
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