The cabinet has signed off on an ANC proposal that jobs in some sectors of the economy be reserved for SA citizens, a move designed to tackle the country’s record unemployment and which could feed into anti-immigrant sentiment.
“Every country in the world gives preferential treatment to citizens in terms of employment,” home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi told Business Day on Sunday. “The xenophobic matter is used as a toy gun to prevent us from doing the same. If we blink in implementing labour laws, we will continue to threaten the sovereignty of SA.”
Labour laws
Motsoaledi’s comments came days after the state of the nation address by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was widely expected to announce the plans but refrained from doing so pending consultations about which sectors will be affected.
Motsoaledi said the country cannot continue to be held hostage by a so-called anti-foreign national sentiment and all the government is doing is implementing existing labour laws and strengthening others to ensure SA’s high unemployment levels are reversed.
According to the latest figures from Stats SA, the official unemployment rate is 34.9%, making it one of the highest in the world and heaping pressure on the ANC to come up with policies that will keep voters on its side.
But introducing quotas on jobs could also feed into public anger towards foreign nationals, who have been targeted in violent attacks as recently as 2015 when their shops were looted and trashed.
ActionSA rode on the sentiment when it won 16% of the vote in Johannesburg in 2021 local government elections months after it was formed by Herman Mashaba, a former City of Johannesburg mayor, who has demanded the deportation of undocumented migrants.
But Motsoaledi is adamant that all the government is doing is enforcing law and order.
“What we are now doing is implementing existing laws and strengthening others. We are doing a disservice to ourselves and the whole of Africa if we continue to be a free for all. Foreigners in SA must be here legally, and businesses in SA must register all their workers,” Motsoaledi said.
He added that it is “ridiculous” that foreign companies operating in SA have a quota of hiring only 40% foreign nationals, but there are “no restrictions” on SA companies in terms of who they can hire.
Huawei
The government is suing Huawei Technologies, a major Chinese information and communications technology player in SA, for violating employment equity regulations that impose a limit on the number of foreigners it is allowed to employ in the country.
The company has about 90% foreign nationals at its SA unit, including all five top management officials, the department of employment & labour said in a statement on Friday. That exceeds the maximum quota of 40%, the state said.
The government has filed court papers in Johannesburg, according to advocate Fix Bede, who is representing the government. It wants the judge to order Huawei to comply with the employment rules and pay a fine of R1.5m, or 2% of the unit’s revenue, whichever is greater, she said.
In addition, Motsoaledi said the government will continue to ramp up protocols at border posts to deal with the massive influx of illegal foreign nationals into the country. “You can come to SA for asylum or to work or to study or for retirement, but you must be documented and come here legally,” Motsoaledi said.
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