Uys, Catharina Jacoba Elizabeth2010-06-282010-06-282009-12Uys, CJE 2009, 'The 21st Vona du Toit Memorial lecture 2009. Wisdom from within : finding modern truths in traditional proverbs', South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 1-8. [http://www.otasa.org.za/otasa_journal/index.html]0038-2337http://hdl.handle.net/2263/14347The South African occupational therapy profession is not immune to professional migration of colleagues to richer countries due to various external pull factors and internal push factors. This paper aims to identify and describe important pull and push factors as experienced by occupational therapists currently working in the country. This information was obtained through a survey and personal interviews. The paper concludes with ten guidelines on how we can collectively work towards motivating occupational therapists to stay and work in South Africa. This is done through the wisdom of Sepedi proverbs and applied to the modern context of South Africa.enOTASA: Occupational Therapy Association of South AfricaPush and pull factorsProfessional migrationProfessional employees -- South AfricaEmployee loyalty -- South AfricaOccupational therapists -- Employment -- Foreign countriesProverbs, AfricanTruthEmployee motivation -- South AfricaArticle