SA's new labour migration policy: order or overreach?

In a new policy white paper, the government makes several far-reaching proposals to restrict the employment of foreigners. Critics warn that instead of protecting jobs, the policy will do damage

- By Kara le Roux

South Africa has finally put forward a coherent plan to manage labour migration. The White Paper on National Labour Migrant Policy, which the Cabinet approved on 29 May, marks the government's first comprehensive attempt to define who gets to work here, and under what conditions they will be allowed to do so.

It arrives as the unemployment rate remained stubbornly high at 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025. In this climate, political pressure to prioritise South African jobs has grown, as evidenced by rising xenophobia and misinformation about migrant numbers, the white paper states.

Immigrants made up 8.9% of employed workers in 2022, largely in sectors where local participation is low, such as construction, agriculture, logistics and informal trade.

The proposed policy is trying to prioritise South African workers while acknowledging regional and sectoral reliance on foreign labour. Whether it succeeds is another matter.

"What might create South African jobs in the short term may ultimately harm the country's ability to recruit skilled workers, attract investment and promote trade," said Professor Loren Landau, a migration researcher based at Oxford University and the University of the Witwatersrand.

The policy is designed to inform proposed amendments to the Employment Services Act (ESA), with the aim of imposing stricter control on how foreign nationals are hired in South Africa. The crux of the reform is sector-specific quotas that will cap the number of foreign nationals that employers can hire in certain industries and occupations once the amendments have been passed by Parliament.

"Internationally, the practice of reserving the right of occupational choice is not uncommon in democracies," said Sashin Naidoo, employment law lawyer at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.