BL Premium reports that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) pre-empted its own public comment process when it gazetted SA’s long-awaited new skilled work visa regulations on 28 March.

Questions have been raised about the process and calls have been made for the regulations to be withdrawn and revised, which could further delay the new regulations. They have been welcomed in business circles as a step forward in making it easier to attract the foreign skills SA needs, but they also contain clauses that could add new layers of bureaucracy and uncertainty to SA’s cumbersome work visa system. The DHA called for public comments by 29 March on the proposed regulations but gazetted an unchanged version a day before the deadline. The business community has voiced concern about the process and the DHA’s commitment to engage on the content of the regulations. Apparently at a Nedlac meeting last week, the DHA was asked to withdraw the regulations, pending revisions to take account of comments from the public. The regulations provide for new remote work visas and for a new points system designed to provide a more flexible pathway for highly qualified and experienced foreigners to work in SA. Yet, there is no clarity on how the rules will interact with the critical skills list, which is in the process of being revised.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Hilary Joffe at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page