South African work permits to be extended

Changes to South African legislation dealing with immigration is on the cards – notably to help deal with some of the critical skills shortages with which the economy is battling to come to grips. Among others, consideration is being given to the possibility to extend the length of work permits for foreigners with scarce skills, said Minister of Home Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at a recent parliamentary media briefing.

While it is anticipated that in years to come, European countries will also have to rely heavily on imported foreign skilled workers to keep their growth rates going – due to the negative population growth most of these countries experience – the present recession has forced some of them to go the other way – at least for now.

In her media briefing, Dr Dlamini-Zuma told reporters that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) would consider extending work permits from its present one-year validity to five years. The country’s policies had to be more welcoming for well-skilled foreigners in order to attract and retain scarce skills and grow the economy.

Measures would also be put in place to ensure that foreign students who want to study in South Africa can acquire study permits in their countries of origin, instead of having to come to South Africa first and then try to apply for a permit – which can be a time-consuming excersise.

In a move in the opposite direction, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the same week said that doctors and other professionals from outside Europe would be prevented from taking up jobs in the United Kingdom, in a crackdown on immigration. For a number of years, the UK has been a popular destination for South African medical and related professionals, both for purposes of lucrative temporary work or for permanent relocation.

Brown pledged to tighten the points-based system in use in the UK for determining which migrants can work in Britain, in a determined effort to drive down immigration figures.
The South African Governance and Administration cluster of government at the same time announced that it would undertake a “Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy", which would include a comprehensive training programme on ethics.

Minister Dlamini-Zuma announced that the Canadian International Development Agency would invest R20 million over five years in, and conduct, the training. The training would provide for general employees, anti-corruption practitioners and law enforcement afficials.

Some 250 public service managers are also presently undergoing training as part of the executive development programme of the Public Administration, Leadership and Management Academy.

The ministry of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CGTA) would also be undertaking a local government turnaround strategy. Discussions are to be held at municipal level to ensure that local turnaround strategies for each municipality are implemented into the municipal integrated development plans and budgetary processes for the 2010/11 budget year.

At the same briefing, Minister of CGTA Sicelo Shiceka said that the national turnaround strategy would be customised to individual local municipalities throughout January to March 2010. Budgets, to be considered by councils by June 2010, could then be adapted to take this into account. This would allow the local turnaround strategies to be implemented from July, he said.