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The Department of Employment and Labour listed the critical professions affected the most by skills shortages in South Africa and, therefore, benefitting the most from skilled foreigners.
This was revealed in a recent parliamentary Q&A, in which the Minister of Employment and Labour – Thulas Nxesi – was asked whether there are any critical skills that he has identified as skills the Republic seeks to benefit from migrants.
In response, the minister said that the Republic of South Africa, like all other countries worldwide, experiences scarce and critical skills in those job types where employers cannot find suitably qualified or experienced employees.
“One of the alternatives of deploying these skills in the labour market is to source them from foreign nationals,” he said.
Nxesi noted that the Department of Higher Education and Training leads the research process to publish and receive public comments on the National Scarce Skills List.
“The National Development Plan, the National Infrastructure Plan, Industrial Policy Action Plan and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) Scarce Skills Lists indicate shortages in certain career fields and are used to determine the needed skills,” he added.
According to the department, based on the relevant research, professions within South Africa that are affected the most by skills shortages are those that South Africa benefits most from skilled migrants, and include:
- Information Technology
- Business and Management
- Design
- Engineering
- Financial Sectors
- Marketing
- Medical and Health
- Arts and Media
Nxesi noted that these skills are on the Department of Home Affairs’ scarce skills list, which allows foreigners to obtain corporate or individual work visas if they find employment within South Africa.
However, the minister added that to qualify for a visa; the employer must provide evidence that they couldn’t find a South African citizen with the same qualifications or experience in the relevant category – which is often the case in the professions listed above.
He said the department also provides recommendations to Home Affairs with regard to the availability of such skills in the country as it processes corporate and individual work visas on behalf of the employers.
However, a significant hurdle for these employers in South Africa is the massive backlog experienced at Home Affairs regarding processing these types of visas.
Companies have reported that visa applications can take up to 48 weeks to be accepted, threatening expansion plans, investment, and job creation in a country with a 33% unemployment rate.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi previously said that the backlog in visa and permit applications would be cleared by June 2024. However, the department has pushed this date back by another five months to the tail end of next year.
According to Motsoaledi, as of 24 November 2023, there were 349 pending critical skills work visa applications in the system, while the backlog in temporary residency visas remained at over 74,309.
Read: Major changes coming to visas in South Africa
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