Analysts are divided over the country’s labour migration policy amendment bill on job creation
ANALYSTS have remained divided about the potential impact of the proposed labour migration policy on the economy and job creation in South Africa.
This comes as the government in February unveiled South Africa's National Labour Migration Policy for public comment and engagement.
The Employment Services Amendment Bill proposes a framework that will enable the Minister of Labour to regulate the extent to which employers can employ foreign nationals in their establishments.
If passed into law, employers would be compelled to implement quotas on the number of documented foreign nationals who can be employed in sectors like agriculture, hospitality and tourism, and construction.
Talita Laubscher, a partner at Bowmans' employment and benefits practice, yesterday said the proposed legislation was not really a new thing.
Laubscher, however, said the definition of the act was “really problematic” as it appeared that its intention was to provide legislation for entities that employ through digital platforms, like Uber.
“Employers will have to ensure that foreign nationals are entitled to work in South Africa, take steps that it is a critical skill, but that principle already exists in the Immigration Act,” she said.
“(The Act) also gives the minister the power to introduce quotas. We all get quite nervous when we hear the word quotas. There are provisions for exceptions, but those exceptions apply to critical skills, and that talks back to the Immigration Act.”
Fedusa's general secretary, Reifdah Ajam, however, was in support of the quota system, saying that migrants constituted 4 percent of South Africa's population and 7 percent of the workforce.
“When you unpack that in totality in light of our unemployment rate, the notion of the proposed quota system is long overdue,” she said.
“With that introduction, it will certainly minimise the damage of the conflict we are seeing in the labour market.”
Opposition parties have vehemently opposed the draft legislation, saying it was nothing more than an atavistic throwback to apartheid-era job reservation.
But there has been a strong push and mushrooming of community movements for stricter policing of immigrants who ply their trade in South Africa, sometimes at the expense of locals.
International Labour Organisation director for enterprises management, Vic van Vuuren, said immigrants in countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Syria had been bypassing immigration and labour laws of their host countries.
Van Vuuren said countries that were performing better were those with a clear policy and a regulatory framework of how to deal with migrant workers.
“In South Africa over the years, we have had regulatory frameworks and policies in place, but the fold-down becomes implementation, and that is where you need a strict implementation mechanism,” he said.
“If you have countries that have economic crises around you, then you need to have policies as to how you will integrate them into your society.”
The rate of unemployment in South Africa has increased to another record high at 35.3 percent, with youth unemployment breaching 66 percent.