While recognising the importance of the critical skills work visa, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has called for a “re-look” into a decision to issue a 12-month visa to unemployed foreign nationals while they were in a process of seeking employment, owing to the uncertainty regarding foreign nationals’ upkeep during this period.

While asserting that it was of the view that the visa was the appropriate tool to ensure the right “calibre” of individuals were granted permission to work in the country, the presence of foreign work-seekers, without assurance of employment, added to the high unemployment rate in the country.

“This call is further necessitated by the unintended challenge of tracking individuals already in the country, especially if they are not contributing as initially intended.

“[We] further call for the deepening of working relations between government departments and statutory bodies, such as the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), to ensure that only adequately qualified and registered foreign nationals are allowed to work in the country. This will ensure the highest quality of work, as well as high levels of safety to all South Africans,” the committee said in a statement.

It further welcomed the assurance that the Department of Home Affairs and ECSA had established a long-term working relationship to enable the smooth facilitation of the issuance of critical skills work visas.

“[We] call for a redoubling of efforts aimed at ensuring a meaningful relationship between government and statutory bodies that will enhance security of the State,” it held.

According to the committee, there were about 3 300 registered foreign engineers working in the country, translating to about 7% of the entire workforce within the engineering sphere.

It argued that this information delegitimised the “outrage” evidenced when the Department of Water Affairs hired 34 Cuban engineers to share expertise and enhance skills capacity in the country.

“While the committee encourages attraction of foreign skills into the country and establishment of an immigration regime that will ensure requisite flow of critical skills, it cautions against attraction of skills to the detriment of South Africans with the same skills,” it stated.

It, meanwhile, welcomed an announcement by ECSA that is was in the process of compiling a comprehensive database of all engineering graduates from accredited universities to ensure that no foreign engineers were given a critical skills visa when there was an adequately skilled person in the country to take up that position.

It further pledged to continue to monitor the regime and had requested a report on those visas that had already been issued.