Johnathan Paoli
ANC provincial secretary Thembinkosi Nciza said the party is proposing the introduction of quotas on the number of foreign nationals that can be employed by private companies.
The party’s provincial leadership held a media briefing on Wednesday, at the ANC Ruth First House in Johannesburg, on the outcomes taken by the party’s provincial executive committee meeting held on Monday.
Nciza said that the party was concerned about the high number of foreigners employed, especially within the hospitality sector and the adverse effect this held over the rising levels of unemployment in the country.
“We have a private sector that is not coming to the party. We are calling upon them to start employing South Africans and let’s agree on a quota and we will engage – including our leaders at the national level,” Nciza said.
The country’s unemployment rate edged up to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2023, the first rise in over a year, from 32.7% in 2022.
An Employment Equity Commission report released last year indicated that foreign nationals represented 4.3% of all workers at the unskilled level.
There have been growing tensions in the country of employment of foreigners especially as unskilled labourers, with some South Africans pushing for policies that would prioritise hiring locals above foreign nationals.
The National Labour Migration Policy and the Employment Services Amendment Bill are the government’s interventions that seek to regulate how employers hire foreign nationals while protecting the rights of migrants.
The bill aims to amend the Employment Services Act of 2014, to extend the scope of the Act to cover private employment agencies not operating for gain, regulate the employment of foreign nationals, expand the scope of the Act to cover employees and workers.
INSIDE POLITICS
