Expats fear expulsion as SA moves to tighten job terms

Source: Moneyweb, 27/02/2019

Foreign workers in South Africa with expertise deemed vital to the
economy are worried that authorities will reduce the number of
critical skills eligible for work permits, a move they say could
force some of them out of the country as early as April.
Immigration lawyers say a shortened list of critical skills
circulating among foreign workers, marked “draft confidential” in
a copy obtained by Reuters, is being rushed through without
adequate consultation, a suggestion dismissed by the government.
Some foreigners suspect the apparent move to curb expatriate
employment terms reflects a growing climate of economic
nationalism unfavourable to the hiring of non-South Africans.
Access to skills and jobs are delicate issues in a country where
millions of poor blacks still live in grim townships a quarter of
a century after the end of apartheid.
With unemployment at more than 27%, political sensitivities about
gaping inequality are particularly acute ahead of national
elections this year.
The draft list of eligible occupations deemed in short supply is
being finalised after pledges by President Cyril Ramaphosa to
revamp immigration laws as the most industrialised African economy
looks to boost investment.
Bonang Mohale, chief executive of Business Leadership SA, an
association dealing with government and labour, said the draft was
“much shorter and restrictive”, removing some sectors like
architecture and reducing others like life and earth sciences.
“South Africa suffers from a gross skills shortage, so all of
these reductions are not helpful,” he said.
Lawyers say the draft table of required expertise excludes key
skills South Africa lacks, including corporate general managers
and artificial intelligence engineers.
“This is the first time we will have a revised critical skills
list since 2014 and we don’t know how they came up with this list
and who they consulted with,” immigration lawyer Stefanie de
Saude-Darbandi told Reuters.
Substantial cost
“This list could be implemented as early as April, potentially
affecting thousands of foreigners in country.”
Appealing against visa rejections in court could take years, at
substantial cost to applicants and families, she said.
The Department of Home Affairs, which overseas immigration, said
consultations continue. Acting director general Thulani Mavuso
said some economic sectors wanted certain skills included in the
list while others argued “we have these skills in abundance and
you are depriving SouthAfricans of jobs”.
Mavuso said the draft list should be finalised by April before
taking effect immediately once signed by the minister.
Foreigners are increasingly fretful. A German woman granted a
critical skills visa as a corporate general manager in 2016 is
challenging the subsequent rejection of her renewal application.
“It gets very frustrating to have to fight every time you get a
visa,” said Anne, who works at an IT consultancy in Cape Town,
declining to give her full name for fear of reprisals.
Cape Town’s burgeoning tech sector, which attracted new investment
from the likes of Amazon and Huawei , has formed a special task
team lobbying government to include AI engineers and corporate
general managers.
Long delays and arbitrary rejections of critical skill visas in
the ICT sector are prevalent and could worsen should the new list
be approved, said businessman Pierre le Roux.
Domestic talent
“In our company alone 30% to 40% of the applications in the ICT
sector didn’t get their critical skills visa or it was delayed for
months,” said le Roux, a director at technology service provider
Moyo.
The Institute of Information Technology Professionals of South
Africa (IITPSA) sees a continuing “steady stream” of critical
skills applications for ICT job-seekers at South African
embassies, mainly from Africa but also India.
Yet some argue that a reliance on foreign expertise can undermine
the development of domestic talent.
Adrian Schofield, an IITPSA programme consultant, described
critical skills visas as a two-edged sword, saying they provided
short-term solutions while removing “the incentive to invest in
local education and training” for South Africans.
Still, foreigners with top skills have influential admirers.
Finance minister Tito Mboweni said efforts to attract skilled
foreigners needs strengthening as visa rejections had fuelled
perceptions that SouthAfrican officials are xenophobic.
“We need to redouble our efforts to attract highly-skilled people
to South Africa,” Mboweni told parliament.