Dear Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour,]

I welcome the objectives of the Employment Services Amendment Bill, particularly its intention to promote employment opportunities and skills development for South African citizens and permanent residents, while recognising that employers may require foreign nationals where genuine specialised skills are unavailable locally.

I support giving South Africans a genuine opportunity to compete for employment before an employer recruits a foreign national. However, the Bill should provide clearer requirements for how employers determine and demonstrate that suitable local skills are unavailable.

The Bill should distinguish between skills genuinely unavailable in South Africa and a candidate simply not meeting every requirement set by an employer. Employers should retain evidence of the recruitment process, including where vacancies were advertised, whether qualified South Africans were considered, and why they were not appointed. I recommend that appropriate records be available for monitoring and enforcement.

I support skills-transfer plans for foreign workers, but these should have measurable outcomes to ensure South African employees receive meaningful training, mentoring and knowledge transfer.

Foreign-worker quotas should be based on current labour-market data and specific occupations, particularly where specialised skills are concerned.

Overall, the Bill should make prioritising South African employment transparent and enforceable, while allowing businesses to access genuine international skills.