South Africa faces a growing emigration problem, with large numbers of highly skilled young people potentially set to leave the country. Meanwhile, those who choose to remain are also increasingly looking to virtual emigration adding to the stresses local businesses already face when seeking critical skills.

Speaking at a roundtable on South Africa’s brain drain, Simonetta Guiricich from payroll services group Payroll said South Africa faces a mass exodus of talent over the coming years.

This comes as the country has already lost close to a million people to countries like the UK, Australia, the USA, New Zealand and Canada.

South Africa does not track emigrants. However, a recent report from the UN showed that 914,901 South Africans were living abroad in 2020, a significant jump from the 786,554 recorded in 2015.

The number of people who left South Africa between 2015 and 2020 over 128,000 people was roughly three times higher than the 43,000 people who emigrated between 2010 and 2015.

The United Kingdom has the largest South African diaspora, with nearly 250,000 people listing South Africa as their country of birth, followed by Australia, the USA and New Zealand.

However, the biggest concern among business leaders right now is that young, skilled people are the ones packing their bags to go.

“Of particular concern for SA is the steady and increasing number of departures by young, highly skilled individuals,” Guiricich said. “Projections indicate that the country could lose up to half of its university graduates (to emigration) in the coming years.”

In addition, virtual emigration is posing a new challenge in South Africa, especially for the tech sector.

An increasing number of local developers and data scientists a scarce skill for the country are working remotely for global companies.

Solutions 

Despite the brain drain having a dire effect on South African businesses, the panellists provided several ways that companies can deal with emigration.

For instance, skills developmental employee training is crucial for an effective retention strategy, as it constantly upskills employees at all levels.

Companies will thus have a deeper talent pool with the necessary skills, minimising the disruptions caused by employees emigrating.

Moreover, Leonie Pentz from AIMS South Africa said that workplace flexibility would likely help attract and retain key skills at companies.

“In an era where workplace flexibility and fluid employment arrangements are top priorities for workers, companies that offer such flexibility stand a better chance of attracting and retaining rare talent on a global scale,” Pentz said.

“As responsible leaders, we need to ensure we’re looking after our staff from a mental health point of view, as well as a personal one. Today, people want to work for companies they feel they are aligned with personally.”

Vanessa Raath, a global talent sourcing trainer, added that enhanced support for key talent is crucial, with a particular focus on leadership engagement, support and appreciation.

“What companies need to realise is that it’s not always a monetary kind of reward. A smaller company can offer more, a 4-day working week, and more flexibility about working from home [or abroad],” Raath said.

“The companies that I’m working with that are thriving from a global perspective are the SMEs because they are meeting the needs of each individual and what they want.”

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced on Friday that technical experts and former Eskom employees will be stationed at several power stations. At the same time, more generation capacity is being sourced to combat load shedding.

The ex-employees and other experts are supported by the Resource Mobilisation Fund (RMF) and will be stationed at various power stations nationwide from Monday (5 June 2023).

He said the team would go around the four power stations where the Energy Availability Factor (EAF) is low. According to the Minister, these include Matla, Kriel, Majuba, and Kendal power stations.

In addition, support will be given to open-cycle gas turbines, which poses a challenge regarding logistics and storage, and he is confident that the experts will provide solutions.

The RMF, launched in March this year, has already raised R100 million from businesses and philanthropies.

The funds will provide technical support and capacity to the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) and employ the best minds in the game to end load shedding.

These experts, according to the Minister, include former Eskom employees, while others are industry experts. He said the professionals, who come highly recommended, will be allocated according to their specialities.

On the demand management support, he said he was confident that the programme would be oversubscribed.

“Remember, we did say that there’s huge potential that can be derived on the demand side essentially, clawing back the megawatts on the demand side without necessarily interrupting households’ ability to get their daily requirements.”

He added that Eskom has agreed to waive the requirement for security deposits to enable the wheeling of electricity to municipalities in good standing.

“So we think this will significantly improve generation because this was one major stumbling block.”

Plans to add more generation capacity 

The Minister also announced the two additional hydrogen projects the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Programme had been approved by the Eskom board and believes the project will reach a close by the end of June this year.

According to the Minister, the project will add an extra 274 megawatts (MW) to the grid.

In addition, he said preparations are underway to release an additional Bid Window.

“We’re looking at the additional Bid windows in June and July of 2023, including a Big Window, number seven, for wind and solar PV.”

He also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the decarbonisation agenda, and between these Bid Windows, he said Eskom is looking at 5,000 MW.

“We need to make sure the prospects of these projects are located geographically in the areas with access to grid capacity.” This alluded to the previous Bid Window, where about 3,000 MW remains unallocated because of poor or no access to create capacity.

“So we’ll make sure that there is no misstep there.” Additionally, he said a further Bid Window involves four battery storages of 1,200 MW and a gas project of 3,000 MW.

Meanwhile, the request for proposals (RFP) for the load shedding reduction programme of 750 MW and the cross-border procurement programme of 1,000 MW will procure an excess of 10,000 MW.

Regarding the winter plan, he noted the demand has increased, but the team at Eskom is working around the clock to lower the stages of power cuts.

He also emphasised that the power entity is far from the grid collapse

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) revealed the average time it has taken over the past two years for a decision on work visas to be made, but poor administration has meant applicants have waited far longer than what the department claims.

During a parliamentary Q&A, the department was asked whether it has established standards for the time period a decision on an application will be made for each visa type made available to foreign nationals for entrance into South Africa.

This query comes in light of concerns that long waiting times for visa approvals where having a direct economic contribution as far as employment and investment are concerned.

The relevant visas of concern include critical skill work visas, general work visas, and business visas.

In response, the department said the standards regarding turnaround times are as follows:

• Critical Skill work visa: turnaround time is four weeks;

• General work visa: turnaround time is eight weeks; and

• Business visa: turnaround time is eight weeks.

Considering these standards, the department further provided the average time it has taken over the past two years for a decision on each visa type to be made and communicated to the applicants.

According to the data in the department’s Annual Performance Plan �` the average number of weeks to finalise business and general work visas has been within the department’s standards �` taking between 5.3 and 6 weeks over 2021/22 and 4.3 and 4.7 weeks over 2022/23. 

However, critical skills work visas are of concern, taking much longer than the standard to be finalised. According to the department, these visas took, on average, between 4.6 and 5 weeks in 2021/22 and 6 and 6.5 weeks in 2022/23.

This delay in critical skills visas are holding back skilled immigrants from working in South Africa, said Busi Mavuso, the CEO of Businesses Leadership South Africa (BLSA).

Concerningly, the CEO noted that some people have been waiting much longer than the average turnaround times the department claim, with some waiting over six months to receive a work visa.

“The current visa regime makes it more difficult for businesses to expand their operations,” said Mavuso.

“Foreign companies cannot commit to major investments in South Africa when they cannot be confident that they can send their top people into the country,” she added.

Included in the department’s parliamentary response, it said the volume of applications received and accepted daily by Home Affairs currently exceeds the available human resource capacity.

However, the department has already been open and transparent by publicly announcing that the current backlog will be cleared by June 2024, while the DHA has outlined an implementation plan to ensure the recommendations published in the report under Operation Vulindlela are adopted.

Recommendations made under the report include, but are not limited to:

• Improving efficiencies

• Streamlining documentation and adjudication processes

• Modernising and automating the IT systems

• Increasing capacity at immigration branches

ZEP Holders Speak On Pending Court Ruling 

05 June 2023 | Zimeye

By-Lawyers representing Zimbabweans with the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits Association said they will appeal if the Pretoria High Court rules in favour of the South African Government in their court application on the discontinuation of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP).

ZEPHA legal counsel, Advocate Simba Chitando is seeking the court to grant ZEP holders permanent residence in South Africa. 

ZEP expires on 30 June 2023 but there are no indications as to when the Pretoria High Court will deliver its ruling on the application by ZEPHA and other human rights organisations such as the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF).

HSF has argued that the decision by South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs to terminate the ZEP scheme without proper public consultation is unlawful and wants the court to set aside the directive.

Asked on SABC  what the plan was if the court rules in favour of the South African Government, Chitando said:

The litigation has been brought not just by the Helen Suzman Foundation but also by several other parties.

If successful in that litigation… we will wait for the relief and the relief will give us direction about what will happen to the ZEP holders.

Some of the parties that have instituted the litigation sought permanent residence… which is what the institution I am representing is seeking while the Suzman Foundation wants the Government to reconsider their decision.

Either way, we are bound by the court decision and we do not know when it will take place.

If we are successful… the Government would have to take a decision on whether they are going to appeal the judgement and obviously if we are unsuccessful I can guarantee you that we would appeal the judgement that is not in favour of ZEP holders.

The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) system was introduced more than a decade ago to regularise the status of Zimbabweans who were illegally in SA due to political and economic hardships at home.

The Department of Home Affairs last year announced that the ZEP system would be terminated in June 2023, by which time ZEP holders would have to apply for “regular” SA visas.

Several Lesotho nationals living and working under the so-called Lesotho Exemption Permit have likewise been told that their services are no longer required.

www.samigration.com

South Africa’s visa chaos – legal action is an option

05 June 2023 | Businesstech

The visa backlog at home affairs is causing serious headaches for people looking to travel or work in South Africa.

Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director of Xpatweb, said that the Department of Home Affairs’ decision to withdraw the central adjudication system has led to a major visa backlog, with the minister of home affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, saying that the backlog stands at over 60,000.

The minister has, however, announced a new visa cession extending to 31 December 2023.

Jacobs gave details about who qualified for the new visa concession:

• Applicants whose waiver application outcomes are still pending as of 31 March 2023 are granted a temporary extension until 31 December 2023.
• Applicants whose visa applications (long-term visa holders) are still pending are granted a temporary extension until 31 December 2023.
• Short-term visa holders whose visa validity was issued for less than 90 days, and who have not received an extension by 31 March 2023, must depart on or before 30 April 2023, to avoid being declared undesirable.

However, others are not covered by the concession:

• Any pending applications at Embassies.
• Limited cover for short-term visa holders.
• ZEP holders, even where there is a pending application.

However, she said that the concession was ambiguous in some cases. She added that those who are covered by the concession and plan to travel outside of South Africa should bring their VFS Global receipt and concession letter to avoid any issues when they return to the country.

When it comes to those whose application is urgent or overdue, she said that they can consider legal action to speed up the process.

She added that her company was successful when it escalated its clients’ urgent applications to the High Court – if the urgency was supported by facts.

Considering the difficulty in getting long-term mainstream visas in South Africa, Marissa said that individuals and businesses should establish a well-defined strategy and roadmap to deal with their applications, as it will help them in the application process while also covering those who have already been granted an extension from any unexpected requests.

Could soon get better

Jacobs and Eden Ben-Attar from Xpatweb previously said that the work visa system in South Africa is currently the worst it has ever been.

“Other countries get certain visa categories issued at record speed and with high proficiency. The current system places foreign investors in a difficult spot, as they need to be prepared for a frustrating process and a bit of a fight to get their visa,” said Xpatweb.

The major backlog in work visa applications has made South Africa a less attractive destination to much-needed skilled workers.

Although the government tried to launch an initiative in 2022 where the head office would manage the work visa approvals instead of embassies to ensure consistency in documentation and address corruption, Xpatweb said that it appears to have failed.

“Various directives were issued in this regard and to the point where the work visa adjudication process was handed back to Embassies on new submissions. The embassies have not taken back the Head Office submissions during the directive period, so these remain with Head Office according to the certain embassies,” said Xpatweb.

However, following consistent concern over the failure of the Department of Home Affairs, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that government will overhaul the visa system.

In May, Operation Vulindlela, an initiative between the Presidency and National Treasury to drive policy implementation, published a detailed report on how to improve the visa regime.

The Department of Home Affairs has also set out an implementation plan that will ensure that the implementation plan is adopted.

www.samigrtion.com