Government’s approach to prioritising the employment of South Africans has come under fire.
Centre for Development and Enterprise executive director Ann Bernstein, says government is tackling the topic of critical skills and employment in the wrong way. Bernstein says South Africa is a country that is desperate for growth, with a shortage of skilled people, entrepreneurs, university lecturers and maths teachers.
“We are not a country where we just have a shortage for one or two things.” Bernstein said:
To spend an inordinate amount of time just to determine whether we need sheep shearers or business process managers is ridiculous.
“It’s not like skilled people are desperate to get into the country. We should be actively going out in the world looking for people with skills.”
The critical question is which skilled people does South Africa not want?
On Friday, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi gazetted the updated critical skills list in terms of Section 19(4) of the Immigration Act.
It outlines the skills most needed in the country and stipulates that: “Subject to any prescribed requirements, a critical skills work visa may be issued by the director-general to an individual possessing such skills or qualifications determined to be critical.”
The Immigration Act provides for the department of home affairs to regulate the “admission of foreigners to, their residence in, and their departure from the republic and for matters connected therewith must ensure that the South African economy has access at all times to the full measure of needed contributions by foreigners and that the contribution of foreigners in the South African labour market does not adversely impact on existing labour standards and the rights and expectations of South African workers”.
The update comes after Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi raised concerns last month about the hiring of foreign nationals who were in the country illegally and “illicit recruitment practices”.
Nxesi announced that they had developed a new national labour migration policy and proposed amendments to the

existing Employment Services Act.
The labour department said the changes were made to help address the country’s population expectations regarding access to work for South Africans, “given the worsening unemployment and perception or views that foreign nationals, especially those who are undocumented, are distorting labour market access.”
The changes include an updated critical skills list and plans to introduce quotas on the number of foreign nationals who can be employed in certain sectors.
According to Stats SA, the country is currently experiencing the highest unemployment rates since the 2008. Youngsters aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 34 recorded the highest unemployment numbers of 66.5% and 43.8%, respectively.
But Bernstein said the changes might do more harm than good.
What South Africa needs to do with the millions of unemployed people, the vast majority of whom are young people, is to create a fast-growing and labour-intensive economy.
“We have to change the economy and make the hard decisions so that we become attractive to investors, and some parts of our labour laws so that employers actually want to hire people, not constrained by all sorts of red tape.”
Bernstein says the country needs to enable small business to get going without a whole lot of regulation and unemployed young people to get into the work force as fast as possible at a lower level than other people.
National Youth Development Agency CEO Waseem Carrim says the role of the critical skills list is to ensure that the country brings in the skills its needs to grow but balance that with employing the skills that exist.
“We have participated in and support the process of the critical skills list �` a key component of economic growth is leveraging of the skills to take advantage of global opportunities.” Carrim said:
South Africa produces leading graduates and these graduates should be prioritised for employment opportunities.

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In exciting news for digital nomads, South Africa will launch a new digital nomad visa featuring two categories: a remote working visa and a critical skills visa. These visas aim to attract remote workers and skilled professionals globally as part of South Africa’s efforts to position itself as a global hub. Once put into action, this move will establish the country as only the fifth African nation offering this kind of visa to people who spend long periods working in different countries. V.5338
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The Home Affairs official was accused of selling passports at R3,000 to foreigners A 34-year-old former Department of Home Affairs employee will spend the weekend behind bars after being arrested on fraud and corruption charges. Malusi Mlondo appeared briefly in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Thursday and was remanded in custody. V.5329
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Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the arrest demonstrated the department`s zero-tolerance against corruption. • A Department of Home Affairs employee in Limpopo was sentenced to an effective eight years in jail for fraud and corruption. • NPA spokesperson Mashudu Malaba-Dzhangi said Amos Ngwenyama accepted R1 000 to fraudulently issue a birth certificate. • Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the sentencing demonstrated the department`s commitment to tackling corruption. V.5330
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A United Kingdom (UK) citizen - who laid a criminal charge of corruption against a Home Affairs official who wanted R60 000 to renew the retirement visas of him and his wife - is still waiting for the police probe to show results. He is also still waiting for the visas he applied for in 2022. A United Kingdom (UK) citizen - who laid a criminal charge of corruption against a Home Affairs official who wanted R60 000 to renew the retirement visas of him and his wife - is still waiting for the police probe to show results. He is also still waiting for the visas he applied for in 2022. V.5331
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With just a few weeks to go until the 2024 elections, the Department of Home Affairs has publicized the nation`s identification document (ID) process. The department acknowledges the critical role of voter identification in facilitating participation and ensuring electoral fairness. Delays and inefficiencies at Home Affairs have historically impeded the democratic right to vote, particularly affecting those in rural areas. V.5332
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SAUDI VISA FOR AFRICAN CITIZENS South Africa is not among the countries exempt from Saudi Arabia visa requirements, therefore a Saudi Arabia visa is required. South Africans need a current visa to travel to Saudi Arabia lawfully. South African citizens can obtain a Saudi electronic visa. Saudi Arabia is located in the Middle East. The eVisa is an electronic visa that permits citizens from approximately 50 countries to travel to Saudi Arabia for tourism. V.5333
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I recently renewed my passport at Home Affairs in a bank branch and was very impressed with the service and quick turnaround time. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and major banks first launched the option to do Smart ID card and passport applications via select bank branches in 2016. It has slowly grown to around 30 locations, including branches from Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, Investec, Nedbank, and Standard Bank. V.5334
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The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has spent over R412.95 million in legal fees since the start of the 2018/19 financial year - with over R117.69 million of this spent between 1 April 2023 and 29 February 2024. This was revealed by the Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, in a recent written response in parliament. DHA has seen an exponential increase in the amount that it spends on litigation, with the current amount for 2023/24 (note these figures are until the end of February, several months short of the full financial year) nearly 16 times that of the amount spent in 2018/19. V.5335
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Short on time? Here are the highlights: • Following recent announcements from British Columbia and Ontario, Nova Scotia becomes the latest Canadian province to declare how its quota of study permit applications for 2024 will be distributed across sectors and institutions • As in Ontario, private institutions and language schools stand to be the most negatively affected by the distribution arrangement, but some public universities will also see significant reductions in study permit applications • All Canadian provinces have now distributed their allocation of study permit applications for 2024, and all are now also issuing provincial attestation letters (PALs) V.5336
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We asked the major contestants of the 29 May elections about immigration. Illustration: Lisa Nelson Today’s questions and answers to the major political parties deal with immigration. We emailed our questions to the ANC, DA, EFF, IFP, FF Plus, ActionSA, PA, MK Party, and RISE Mzansi on 13 March and sent follow-up queries to those who did not respond. Some have still not responded. Answers are very lightly edited for grammar and typos. Does your party support continued extensions of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP)? V.5337
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