South African Immigration Changes likely in 2019 and 2020

The likelihood of changes to South African Immigration laws and regulations is quite high, based on the White Paper on published by the South African Government. In addition, the intermittent communications through Home Affairs Head Office, various public statements and the deliberations at the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, indicate that amendments may happen soon.

The two imminent issues are: 

1) The updating of the Critical Skills list; and  

2) The Draft Immigration Bill which is currently before Cabinet.

It needs to be said at this stage that if the Draft Bill is before Cabinet and is likely to be published soon, it does not make sense for the Critical Skills list to be amended, simply to cover this interim period. There are numerous problems with the draft of the Regulations related to the Critical Skills list amendments including an unresearched new list, which will cause problems for current visa holders, for Critical Skills employers and disqualify certain skilled people from qualifying for these visas, including employees currently working on State contracts. This has an economic consequence for employees, employers and trainees.

One other issue which will influence the new Immigration regime, is the number and seriousness of the Court Cases which have gone against Home Affairs and the number of cases currently on the court rolls. There are more than 4000 opposed court cases on the High Court rolls, which is a huge drain on State resources during the litigation process, and creates ongoing legal costs as well as damages liabilities for the State.  

It is clear from media comments and policy documents of various political role players, that issues of informal and formal migration have been lumped together to make specific points, which may or may not be valid. What is clear is that South Africa requires skills and investment through the formal immigration system. What is also clear is that South Africa is a magnet for people from African countries who go to the country as asylum seekers because of opportunities which are not available to them in their own countries, for political protection and for family reasons.

What is also clear is that these two systems should, in future, be managed with greater resource (budget) allocations and within the scope of a research based system. The economic importance of skills and capital, which leads to economic growth and employment opportunities for more unemployed South Africans. This is what the country lacks at the moment.Perhaps the next administration, to be appointed after the May election later this year, will provide a fresh approach to this problem.

Written by Leon Isaacson, CEO of Global Migration Group. E-mail [email protected]. wwwglobalimsa.com