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Busi Mavuso, CEO of Business Leadership SA (BLSA), writes that she was frustrated last week to receive a letter from a group of French businesses who collectively employ more than 65,000 South Africans.
The letter set out the massive problems the companies have in trying to secure work visas for key personnel – engineers, business controllers and experts needed to run specialised equipment. Many of the firms’ existing senior managers have not been able to get work permits despite submitting all required documentation. They describe it as a “nightmare”, making it impossible for them to manage their businesses and leaving them with little choice but to delay investment and consider relocating their African operations to other countries. Mavuso notes that the problem seems to have arisen since the centralisation of all visa application processing by Home Affairs in Pretoria. “I am told there are backlogs of thousands and only a handful of staff are processing these. It is difficult to understand what the underlying problem is – management failures, xenophobia, or some kind of political dysfunction. Either way it is having catastrophic effects on the ability of business to deal with the skills crisis that is holding back investment and growth,” Mavuso lamented. She advised that she has raised her concerns at senior levels of government. “If we are to turn around our economy, this is a problem that must be addressed as soon as possible.”
- Read Busi Mavuso’s views on this matter at Moneyweb
- Read too, Visa backlog hobbling French business ambitions in South Africa, at Engineering News
- And also, Home Affairs visa backlog will hurt SA investments, at City Press (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page