New Employment Bill Proposes Foreign Worker Quotas And Labour Broker Regulation To Protect Local And Migrant Workers

The Bill provides a policy framework and the legal basis to regulate the employment of foreign nationals in businesses while promoting national security and national interests.

Addressing the media in Cape Town this morning, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the purpose of the Bill is to propose the regulation of labour brokers to prevent worker exploitation, such as the provision of cheap labour through undocumented foreign nationals.

“It further creates consistency between the provisions of the Immigration Act, (Act 13 of 2002) and the Refugees Act (Act 130 of 1998),” Ntshavheni said.

She said the Bill proposes a framework that will enable the Minister of Employment and Labour to set quotas for the employment of foreign nationals.

“A quota may apply in respect of a sector of the economy, an occupational category or a geographical area. The Minister will establish a quota in a sector after consulting the Employment Services Board and considering public comments.

“Cabinet directed the Minister of Employment and Labour to speedily finalise the mapping (through consultations) of what constitutes scarce and critical skills in order to develop a domestic skills base to improve absorption of more unemployed South Africans,” Ntshavheni said.

The Minister said Cabinet has reiterated the need to fast-track the finalisation of the White Paper on Immigration for the effective administration and management of labour migration.