Dear Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour,
I am writing to submit my views on the Employment Services Amendment Bill, 2026 [B16–2026] for consideration by the Portfolio Committee.

I support the Bill’s objective of creating a clearer framework for regulating the employment of foreign nationals, while promoting employment opportunities for work seekers in South Africa. In particular, I welcome provisions requiring employers to establish whether suitably skilled persons are available in South Africa before recruiting a foreign national, as well as the proposed skills-transfer requirements and the ability to regulate foreign-national employment through quotas.

However, I believe the Bill should go further in protecting access to employment for South African citizens.

South Africa is facing an exceptionally severe unemployment crisis. Statistics South Africa recorded an official unemployment rate of 33.6% in the second quarter of 2026, with approximately 8.5 million people unemployed. Youth unemployment stood at 47.4%, representing approximately 5 million unemployed young people. The IMF has also described South Africa as having one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.

Against this background, employment legislation should ensure that where a suitably qualified South African is available to fill a position, that person receives genuine and meaningful consideration before an employer recruits a foreign national.

My submission therefore asks the Committee to consider strengthening the Bill by:

1. Making the preference for suitably qualified South African citizens explicit where the necessary skills are available locally.
2. Requiring employers to demonstrate that reasonable efforts were made to identify and consider suitably qualified South Africans before recruiting a foreign national.
3. Strengthening skills-transfer requirements so that employment of foreign nationals contributes to developing South African skills and reducing future skills shortages.
4. Ensuring that foreign-national quotas are informed by current labour-market conditions, including unemployment and the availability of suitably qualified South Africans.
5. Ensuring that exemptions from quotas are based on demonstrable need, with appropriate transparency and review.
6. Strengthening enforcement and monitoring so that the provisions of the Bill are meaningful in practice.

This is not a call to close South Africa's labour market to foreign nationals. Rather, it is a call for the law to recognise the extraordinary unemployment circumstances facing South Africans and to ensure that the employment of foreign nationals occurs where there is a genuine need, rather than where suitably qualified South Africans are available.

The Bill itself recognises the importance of protecting South African workers and promoting work opportunities and training for South African citizens and permanent residents. I therefore respectfully ask the Committee to consider whether these objectives should be expressed more strongly and directly in the operative provisions of the Bill.

South Africa should remain open to skills, investment and international participation, but our employment framework must first ensure that South Africans are not excluded from opportunities for which they are suitably qualified.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the legislative process.

Kind regards,
Mr OVA Letlape