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BL Premium reports that the Department of Employment & Labour (DEL) is pushing back against the expedited processing of general work visa applications for foreign workers by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), which it says sidelines it from upfront decision-making.
Whereas previously applications for a general work visa required a certificate from the DEL confirming that there were no requisite skills in the country to perform that job, that is no longer required for applicants intending to apply for a general work visa in terms of a waiver implemented by the DHA under the Immigration Act. The DHA adjudicates the application in terms of a points-based system. If the applicant meets the required minimum points threshold, the application for a general work visa is approved by the DHA and issued to the applicant. “The implementation of the points-based system … has also relegated the labour department from playing any role on the issuance of general work visas,” a department official said in a briefing on Tuesday to a joint meeting of parliament’s employment & labour and tourism committees.
DEL officials said the revised system “has a huge impact on compliance [with] labour laws and the displacement of South Africans by foreign nationals”. Deputy DEL Minister Jomo Sibiya told MPs that South Africans needed to be prioritised for job opportunities given the high level of unemployment. The DEL recommended to the committees that the DHA should amend the Immigration Act by excluding waiver applications. A DHA spokesperson stressed that the visa reforms had “dramatically improved the efficiency of the system and had also enhanced SA’s ability to attract high-end skills
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA LabourNews home page