Business Times reports that Department of Employment & Labour (DEL) Minister Thulas Nxesi wants harsher punishment of businesses that employ foreigners in low-skilled jobs instead of South Africans.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 27th National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) summit in Johannesburg on Friday, the minister launched a scathing attack on employers who overlooked South Africans for low-skilled jobs. He specifically lambasted the security industry and hospitality and agriculture sectors for employing large numbers of foreign nationals in jobs that could be done by locals, a practice he vowed the government would come down on hard. “We have to be harsh on employers who employ these people. One of the things I want to propose is hard punitive measures for the employers who employ foreign labour when you have local labour, especially at a low-skilled level. They are the ones who are creating this problem,” Nxesi indicated. He added that businesses guilty of this practice must be fined a percentage of their turnover because current fines for this were not adequate. Nxesi accused some employers of exploitation as foreign workers were a cheap labour source willing to work for a fraction of the money demanded by locals. He said the government must respond, especially in light of the high unemployment in the country. The Employment Services Amendment Bill, which aimed to tackle the high representation of foreign nationals in lower occupation levels was at an advanced stage and would soon be presented to parliament, Nxesi advised.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
• Read too, Nxesi reads the riot act over employment of foreigners, on page 11 of Sunday World of 11 September 2022

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