Me working here was our only lifeline: December 2022 deadline looms for Zimbabwean Exemption Permit holders

News24 23 June 2022

 

"New immigration policy undoubtedly intends to crack down on foreign nationals unlawfully working in South Africa."

• The new immigration policy undoubtedly intends to crack down on foreign nationals unlawfully working in South Africa.
• Zimbabwean domestic workers and labourers without proper work permits will face deportation by the end of the year.
• We chat with a legal professional to understand what this policy is about, how it will affect ZEP holders, and what it will do for South Africa's economy.

The South African government has said that Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders must find alternative ways to stay in South Africa legally by 31 December 2022.

Only Zimbabweans with a Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) Global receipt to show that they have applied for an alternate visa can continue working, studying, and using banks.

Unfortunately, the situation will be very bleak for Zimbabwean labourers, construction workers, e-hailing drivers, gardeners, and domestic workers because they will not qualify for the other visas in the Immigration Act, such as permanent residence, study visa, and critical skills visas as they do not fall under these categories.

'Children attending school in SA'

One concerned father said he came to South Africa in 2011. He has two children with South African women. The two children are attending school in South Africa, and he is financially responsible for them. Should he be deported, the children would be at risk of dropping out of school and living in extreme poverty.

The father said he tried to apply for a critical skills work visa and registered with the SA Body of Natural Sciences and the South African Qualifications Authority, but didn't get approval because he didn't have the required years of work experience.

'Their contribution to society remains unrecognised' Ramaphosa praises domestic workers

Speaking at a Cosatu women's event in Ekurhuleni, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa praised domestic workers for their role in the country, saying that more needs to be done to ensure their rights are protected, and they receive decent wages.

Deportation will devastate family

A mom who wanted to remain anonymous and works as a childminder told us she was devastated when she heard the news that Zimbabweans without a proper work permit would be deported.

"I support three children in Zimbabwe. I am also supporting my mother financially as she has health challenges. Me working here was our only lifeline, and I am very worried."

To understand what this policy is about, how it will affect ZEP holders in South Africa, and why it is necessary, News24 spoke to Bernard Reisner, a labour and industrial consultant at Cape Labour & Industrial Consultants, a law firm based in Cape Town.

'First comprehensive national policy'

"The Draft National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) is the first comprehensive national policy on South Africa's labour migration management," said Reisner.

He said the policy sought to achieve a "brain gain" through skills entering the country and counter a "brain drain" through skills leaving the country.

"The NLMP has been created to make it legal for the government to regulate the employment of foreign nationals in South Africa," Reisner added.

Why implement such a policy?

This comprehensive labour migration policy was implemented because South Africa was the most prominent host of foreign nationals when compared to other African countries.

The draft policy will attempt to put more power in the hands of the Department of Employment and Labour, rather than Home Affairs, to govern and manage labour migration.

"Historically, Home Affairs has been the main administrative authority, with the Department of Employment and Labour acting mostly in an advisory capacity," explained Reisner.

The policy stated that it would make labour migration more beneficial to the South African economy through interventions that would attract and retain skills in the country.

'Enforcing the policy is key'

Reisner said the draft policy was undoubtedly aimed at cracking down on foreign nationals unlawfully working in South Africa.

"Writing a policy is one aspect, and implementing it is another. South Africa does not have a great track record for enforcing the existing labour and migration laws," said Reisner.

However, the NLMP policy has not yet been set in stone. 

"It still needs to go through a parliamentary process that will likely take a lengthy time," he added.

Foreign nationals urged to get registered and stay away from criminal activities

Anti-crime protests turned violent last week and led to a vigilante attack on a Zimbabwean national, Elvis Nyati, with the mob killing and burning him

Fine or imprisonment

But he cautioned that an employer who knowingly employed a foreign national who did not possess a valid work permit, could be fined or face imprisonment of up to one year for a first offence.

"It should be noted that even if a domestic worker does not have a valid work permit, they still enjoy all the rights afforded by labour legislations such as the Labour Relations Act, Employment Equity Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act," he elaborated.

"Once the NLMP is made known, it shall reaffirm that a domestic worker/nanny who is a foreign national employed in South Africa, without a relevant work permit, shall not be entitled to continue working legally in South Africa," Reisner said.

"A domestic worker does not fall within the ambit of critical skills to perform their work. As a result hereof, persons employed in this sector can be sourced by South African citizens to meet South Africa's labour market needs". 

www.samigration.com

 

IT’S OFFICIAL: Face masks are gone, border checks and gatherings ban dropped

Business Insider SA – 23 June 2022

• As of Wednesday, South Africans no longer need to wear face masks.
• Limits on gatherings and border checks for Covid-19 – and the need to be vaccinated to enter South Africa – have also been dropped.
• Health minister Joe Phaahla quietly repealed the regulations by notice in the Government Gazette, ahead of a planned press conference on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, South Africans no longer need to wear masks indoors in public settings.

Limits on gatherings, and border checks – including for vaccination status – have also been dropped.

Health minister Joe Phaahla repealed the relevant regulations with a simple notice in the Government Gazette, the import of which was not immediately evident because of the technical nature of the notice.

Phaahla is due to join the minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, for a press briefing on Thursday, about cabinet deliberations after the health department advised that Covid-19 restrictions should be dropped.

They were expected to announce that President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet had signed off on ending the last major restrictions relating to Covid-19, first imposed during what was expected to be a lockdown of three weeks.

The mask mandate and other restrictions had originally been imposed under the authority of a national state of disaster. When that was discontinued, the same rules were imposed under the power granted to the health minister to deal with notifiable medical conditions.

By repealing three sections of those regulations, "in their entirety", Phaahla with immediate effect ended those obligations. 

Capetonians take advantage of new Covid-19 mask regulations

On Wednesday South Africans had the pleasure of roaming the streets and other outdoor spaces without having to wear a mask, for the first time in over two years. This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa relaxed regulations under alert Level 1. He went on to say that wearing masks indoors, is still compulsory.

The repealed rules formed part of what is formally known as the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions, into which they were inserted on 4 May. They are:

• 16A: "Wearing of face masks to contain the spread of Covid-19", which required a mask in any public-use indoor space or when on public transport
• 16B: "Regulation of gatherings to contain the spread of Covid-19", which limited any gathering of more than 100 people to 50% of maximum venue capacity if everyone was vaccinated, or to an absolute maximum of 1,000 people indoors or 2,000 people outdoors if vaccination status was not checked.
• 16C: "Regulation of persons entering the country to contain the spread of Covid-19", which demanded either vaccination certificates or recent negative PCR tests, or proof of recovery from Covid-19, from all travellers older than 12 entering South Africa.

The three sets of regulations, now scrapped entirely, had each contained clauses that would have allowed Phaahla to temporarily suspend their enforcement, then reinstate them again if he saw fit.

In a letter to MECs dated two days ago, Phaahla said "current epidemiological analysis points towards lower infection rates and that the country has exited the recent spike (5th wave), which the current limited regulations were promulgated to mitigate."

He told those provincial health leaders that recommendations to scrap regulations 16A, 16B, and 16C would be discussed by cabinet "in the next 48-72 hours".

That expectation turned out to be overly pessimistic, but the speed with which the proposals were processed remained secret, with the Presidency on Wednesday still unable to "confirm any timelines" around meetings.

www.samigration.com

 

 

 

New quotas to limit hiring of foreigners in South Africa: minister

Businesstech – 23 June 2022

Employment and Labour minister Thulas Nxesi says his department is in the process of finalising two new documents which will tighten employment laws, including limitations on the hiring of foreigners.

Nxesi was responding to complaints by truck drivers this week which led to a major blockage of the N3 highway. One of the key complaints raised by the drivers is that jobs are being taken by both legal and illegal foreign workers.

One of the key ways that government plans to address this is through the proposed National Labour Migration Policy, Nxesi said. He noted that the policy aims to achieve a balance across several areas, including:

• The first is to address South Africans’ expectations regarding access to work opportunities, given worsening unemployment and the perception that foreign nationals are distorting labour market access. The NLMP, together with proposed legislation, will introduce quotas on the total number of documented foreign nationals with work visas that can be employed in major economic sectors such as Agriculture, Hospitality and Tourism, Construction, etc.

• The NLMP will be complemented by small business interventions and enforcement of a list of sectors where foreign nationals cannot be allocated business visas and amendments to the Small Business Act to limit foreign nationals establishing SMMEs and trading in some sectors of the economy.

• The Department of Home Affairs is reviewing current legislation and strengthening the Border Management Authority to secure porous borders and to allow for the orderly movement of people and other nationals through ports of entry only.

• Government plans to ramp up inspections to enforce existing labour and immigration legislation.

Employment Services Amendment Bill

Nxesi said the National Labour Migration Policy goes hand in hand with the proposed Employment Services Amendment Bill, which provide the legal basis to regulate the extent to which employers can employ foreign nationals in their establishments while protecting the rights of migrants.

The proposed amendments to the Employment Services Act aim to limit the extent to which employers can employ the number of foreign nationals in possession of a valid work visa in their employment,” he said.

It will also place several obligations on an employer employing foreign workers, including:

• Only employ foreign nationals entitled to work in terms of the Immigration Act, the Refugees Act, or any other provision;
• Ascertain the foreign national is entitled to work in the Republic in the relevant position;
• Satisfy themselves that there are no South Africans with the requisite skills to fill the vacancy;
• Prepare a skills transfer plan, where appropriate;
• Employ foreign nationals on the same terms as local workers; and
• Retain copies of relevant documentation

www.samigration.com

 

 

Home Affairs plans to reinforce transit visas after OR Tambo arrests

EWN – 23 June 2022

The Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals allegedly arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha earlier this week.

JOHANNESBURG - The Home Affairs Department plans to reinforce transit visas after eight undocumented migrants were arrested at OR Tambo International Airport for attempting to enter South Africa through a fire hydrant.

The Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals allegedly arrived on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha earlier this week. The group were arrested by police after hiding in a network of tunnels via a fire hydrant at the airport.

In 2015, Home Affairs stopped transit visas for people who were passing through South Africa en route to neighbouring countries. However, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said this has led to an increase in illegal activities.

"We are deciding in Home Affairs that the transit visa will once more be needed, but I'm sure you saw on social media when they were pulling people out of the fire hydrant. When they move in there is a passage, that passage is for pipes and wires and all that."

VISIT SA THE NORMAL LEGAL WAY

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Registration Requirements For Artisans in South Africa

Sa Migration – 21 June 2022

Applying for critical skills work visa in South Africa as an artisan has been a challenge for the longest time. In 2014 when the current amendments to the Immigration Act were gazetted several gaps were identified in the Act which included the absence of a SAQA accredited professional body to register artisans. ECSA was not an option due to their minimum NQF criteria of 5 which was a notch above the rating being given by SAQA for artisans.  There was a time letters issued by the National Artisan Moderation Body, (NAMB), were sufficient and then they were not. There was a time when registration with the South African Institute of Draughting was good enough and then it wasn’t. The latest dispensation saw applications being rejected because Home Affairs required a South African trade test.  This of course is absurd for two reasons; the artisan is already trade tested and secondly a South African trade test requires a minimum experience in South Africa.

This inconsistency was a direct result of the absence of a key legislative instrument, namely the National Register of Artisans.  In terms section 26C of the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 as amended, the Minister of Higher Education is required to establish a register of artisans.  This register unfortunately could not be implemented as the regulations were not yet in place to establish this register, therefore the NAMB letters were acceptable as they pointed to the absence of the National Register of Artisans.  In the absence of a clear framework on how to recognise foreign artisans in the republic it meant that the Department of Home Affairs was left to its own devices hence the constant changes in approach.

Fortunately, that gap has now been closed and a clear process of registering artisans is now in place.   The National Register of Artisans Regulations was gazetted the 19^th of March 2021 and provides a framework for the registration of all artisans, local and foreign. There 4 categories of artisans, Practising Artisans, Non – Practising, Foreign Practising and Foreign Non-Practising Artisans.  Under regulation 3 it is mandatory for all artisans to register with the Department of Higher Educations National Artisan Development Support Centre (NADSC).  

The registration requirements for foreign National Practising Artisans are the following, a certified passport copy, evidence of legal visa for entrance into the country, certified copy of trade test whether conducted locally or abroad, SAQA evaluation of foreign trade test, proof of address and proof of previous registration for a renewal.

Importantly regulation 6 has some consequences for visa applications by artisans.  6.5 Provides that all foreign national artisans must register with DHET before applying for critical skills work visa or any work visa with DHA. 6.6 goes on to state that foreign national artisans will not be granted critical skills work by DHA if they are not registered with DHET. This means that as of 19^th March 2021 it became impossible for an artisan to get a visa without first registering the NADSC

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