Migrants make up about 7pc of SA labour force, Department of Labour tells Parliament

JOHANNESBURG - Migrants constitute about four percent of the population in South Africa and seven percent of the country's labour force, according to the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL).

The department made a presentation to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Tourism on Tuesday.

Migration patterns tracked by the department shows that, especially since 2000, there has been a "dramatic influx" of mainly undocumented migrant workers.

A worrying trend for the DEL is that these migrants are particularly concentrated in the informal sector.

The department would like to see access to SA's labour market regulated and monitored via "a flexible quota system," a streamlined and seamless visa regime and strong bilateral and multi-lateral partnerships among SADC countries.

Sam Morotoba, deputy director general of public employment services at the DEL, told the committee that the issue of foreign nationals is very complex.

That is why an inter-ministerial committee was established between various departments to look at the issue.

"We have a serious situation of corruption at our borders, especially in certain areas of SA. It relates to human trafficking, crime and movement of illicit goods," said Morotoba. In his view, there is also a need for a complementary policy to address trading by foreign nationals in the informal sector.

He also said SA is part of the SADC community and the wider African community. "Whatever we do, we need to make sure our actions are within the context of regional integration and cooperation in a balanced way," he said.

"We are all affected if we do not manage migration well."

Morotoba explained that South African companies which do not follow such a balanced employment approach when it comes to migrant or foreign labour, cause friction among South African labourers.

He used truck drivers blocking freeways and demanding local companies must reduce their foreign workforce as an example.

"This (unbalanced) employment approach affects not only the tourism industry, but also agriculture.

That is why we need a national strategy and a coordinated migration framework," said Morotoba.

The committee also heard that foreign-born migrants are often employed in the tourism industry because they speak languages needed to communicate with foreign tourists.

At the same time, they often earn very low wages and endure bad working conditions due to not being unionised.