How South Africa is tackling undocumented migration and unemployment

Cabinet recently approved the Employee Services Amendment Bill and the National Labour Migration Policy. 

These are welcome interventions by government led by the African National Congress in response to the deep frustrations of workers and society.

They seek to empower the Department of Employment and Labour to manage the flood of undocumented migrant labour into the economy and to balance this with the need to tackle the dangerously high levels of unemployment, 43.1% overall and 72% for young people.

Migration is the nature of humanity and South Africa is no exception. 

South Africa’s DNA is fused with centuries of migration, both forced and voluntary. 

This is magnified by South Africa’s status as Africa’s most industrialised economy. 

Whilst migration is a mark of all societies, the natural flows into South Africa have seen a massive increase over the past decade, often fueled by the collapse of other countries’ economies, not just from neighbouring states such but even further afield from Nigeria to Somalia and India.

Faced with immense pressure by society to slash unemployment, government needs to err on the side of jobless South Africans.

There is no number of jobs that South Africa’s medium sized and struggling economy can create to satisfy the needs of South Africans whilst continuing to see such large flows of migration.

Some may say this smacks of xenophobia.  It does not.  It speaks to placing the rights of South Africans first, in particular the 12 million unemployed.

Whilst we have seen a steady increase in unemployment over the past decade plus, we have seen many employers, especially in vulnerable sectors, opt to employ undocumented migrant workers. 

They do so knowing the vulnerability and desperation of undocumented migrant workers. 

Large shifts have been seen on farms, in petrol stations, restaurants, domestic work, construction sites amongst others.  

Workers fleeing from countries scarred by brutal wars or racked by even higher unemployment rates will naturally be willing to sacrifice their labour rights and endure the most abusive forms of exploitation.

Such vulnerable undocumented migrant workers are forced to accept numerous violations of the labour laws, from the National Minimum Wage to Occupational Health and Safety Acts.

When these workers dare to object, employers dismiss them knowing they are too afraid to demand their rights less they face deportation. 

This is despite amendments to the Labour Relations Act affirming the fundamental rights of all workers irrespective of origin or status.

The dangers of ignoring such issues, is that they will one day explode as we have seen in periodic episodes of xenophobic violence.

Law enforcement is often unable to manage such outbreaks and the damage to South Africa’s reputation and ability to attract badly needed investment is immeasurable.

Cosatu welcomes the Employee Services Amendment Bill and the Migration Policy as long-due interventions to find the right balance between migration and the need to tackle unemployment.  

The Bill and the Policy provide two key interventions.

First is to set limits on how many documented migrant workers can be employed in a workplace with exceptions made for small businesses of ten employees and less, as these are often family owned. 

The second is to empower the Minister to set further limits on the employment of documented migrant labour in certain sectors.  

Some argue that South Africans do not want to perform certain low skilled or low paid work, e.g. domestic or construction or driving trucks.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  South Africans are keen to work but they expect and have the right to enjoy the full protection of our hard-won labour laws.

Key to boosting the Department’s capacity to enforce our labour laws, is government’s efforts to increase the number of labour inspectors, currently 2 000, with an additional 20 000 recruits by 2026.  It will be crucial for inspectors to target vulnerable sectors and work closely with Cosatu to expose workplaces abusing workers’ rights.

Parliament is currently engaging on the Immigration Amendment Bill which will require asylum seekers to apply for refugee status at the point of entry into South Africa and not inland.

Home Affairs is undertaking efforts to capacitate its systems and staff; reducing waiting periods and weeding out corruption. 

Whilst building a wall is not always possible or a magic wand, government needs to ensure the Border Management Authority, the South African Police Service and the South African National Defence Force have the personnel, training, equipment and vehicles to secure our borders, points of entry and the nation. 

Images of people crossing the Limpopo River of Kruger National Park need to become a thing of the past.

Government has the responsibility to fulfill its constitutional mandate to secure South Africa’s sovereignty, including knowing who is within its borders and to protect ordinary citizens’ socio-economic rights.  

Employers must accept their responsibilities. 

This includes respecting workers’ constitutional and labour rights as well as migration and other laws.  Those who fail to do so must be held accountable by the state and face the necessary sanctions.

All of these are important interventions to ensure the state is able exercise its constitutional authority, enforce the rule of law and protect ordinary citizens and ensure that South Africans are prioritised for employment at all workplaces.

South Africa alone cannot resolve these challenges. 

It requires the countries’ governments to address the causes of why so many of their citizens are forced to flee in search of safety, work and a better life. 

In some cases, South Africa has a moral obligation to help neighbouring countries overcome their challenges, e.g. Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Angola.  

South Africa’s destiny is intertwined with Africa.  We cannot remain an island of relative prosperity in a sea of poverty and thus we need to champion such progressive initiatives as the African Continental Free Trade Area to ensure that economic development takes place across the continent.  

These are incredibly sensitive and volatile matters.  They need to be handled with care.  What we cannot afford is for things to worsen or simply be ignored. 

Solly Phetoe is the General Secretary of Cosatu.