It was distressing that criminals in all categories could vote in the forthcoming elections, while South Africans living abroad were being discriminated against on that front, said Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
The minister was in Pretoria on Thursday to welcome back a number of citizens who returned to the country as a result of the Come Home Campaign, which was launched a year ago.
Buthelezi said the refusal by the government to allow South Africans living abroad to vote on April 14, sent the wrong signal to them and it did not show how much their country cared for them and wanted them to return.
He said this was obstructing the objectives of the Come Home Campaign, which aims to get skilled individuals who had left the country for various reasons to return to South Africa.
Not only was this resulting in a "brain drain", but it also led to a loss in tax revenue, the minister said.
"There are a variety of reasons which have motivated those who have emigrated. No one should make the mistake of believing that only white people have emigrated."
"A large number of black nurses have emigrated, together with top-notch black professionals. It is in respect of all these people that we have launched the appeal for them to come home."
Buthelezi said many foreign governments had programmes to help relocate foreigners who had immigrated to their countries.
He said because of scarce resources, South Africa should consider developing programmes which may assist South Africans to relocate when they come back home.
This could include offering them job opportunities and credit facilities, he added.
One of those who came back home after living in Canada for three years, Em Vorster, 42, said the grass abroad was not as green as many people believed. "You miss the sense of belonging - the expression of happiness and a sense of fun expressed in the African way."
Vorster, who holds a BA degree, left the country after all the posts she had applied for were classified as affirmative action posts and she could not find a job.
Her husband, who is still in Canada, could not find employment and they emigrated.
She said she hoped that she would now find a job to be able to take care of their two children.