Question NW641 to the Minister of Employment and Labour

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19 March 2021 - NW641

Profile picture: van der Merwe, Ms LL

van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour

With reference to his pronouncements in May 2020 that he intends to publish regulations aimed at introducing sectoral targets for the employment of foreign nationals, (a) what progress has his department made in finalising the process which was announced 10 months ago, (b) which sectors will be regulated and (c) by what date will the regulations come into effect?

Reply:

(a) We have done a lot since the announcement and given the complexity of Labour migration, there is still more work that must be done.

We have initiated a process to develop a National Employment Policy on 31st March 2020 that has a number of Sub-themes such as Labour Migration Policy, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Employment Schemes targeting vulnerable groups etc. The Sub-theme on Labour Migration has been prioritized given its urgency and related activities include the following:-

(1) A Draft Labour Migration Policy has been developed and is currently being revised to a final policy.

(2) The President established an Inter-Ministerial Committee that I co-chair with the Minister of Home Affairs and we have since tabled our first report to Cabinet during December 2020. We were subsequently directed to address a number of other aspects.

(3) A number of short term interventions to address labour migration challenges were introduced such as stricter Border Management controls; increased joint inspection and collaboration in addressing and enforcing various migration aspects.

(4) Legal Teams have been appointed and are busy with a Draft Employment Services Amendment Bill that incorporates aspects contained in the Draft Labour Migration Policy recommendations that include introduction of quotas etc. The Amendment Bill will also contain or clarify labour provisions that were contained in the Immigration Act and other amendments that we intend introducing.

(b) Legislation will affect all sectors of the economy. We are putting more emphasis on those sectors that continue to employ low level skilled workers when we have many unemployed people locally that can work in mining, agriculture, construction, security, domestic, hospitality and tourism.

(c) The Regulations will only follow once the Amendment Bill is passed by parliament and we do not have a date as yet.

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