Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Tuesday denied that his department has cancelled the Critical Skills Work Visa, emphasising its importance.

He said the department was “worried” about rumours around this, also noting confusion between the General Work Visa and the Critical Skills Work Visa.

Motsoaledi was briefing the media on the amended immigration regulations where he explained that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) had, however, changed the manner in which the Critical Skills Work Visa was operating.

He said that in the past, a critical skills list was issued every four years and the Minister of Home Affairs was supposed to gazette skills that were critical to the economy of the country.

“…but Home Affairs does not have the capacity, nor the knowledge, nor the skills to know what is required. What Home Affairs does is go to the Department of Higher Education (DHE). The DHE usually asks the Human Sciences Research Council and the council works with other institutions, including labour market surveys, to put together a list of skills which they think are critical for the economy of the country,” he said.

He noted that some people believed that critical skills were something that was prestigious, giving an example as that of an individual with a PhD in a particular area. He explained that this was actually not the case.

He highlighted that a critical skill was defined as something that was vital for the functioning of the economy, and with few South Africans who could do the required work.

“…and so we are forced to go beyond the borders of the country to look for people with such skills,” he said.  

The critical skills list was gazetted by the Minister of Home Affairs and eligible people could apply, after which a letter of employment was issued to those who qualified, and Home Affairs then issued said persons with a Critical Skills Work Visa, Motsoaledi explained.

He noted that this was one of the easiest visas the department issued and added that a letter of appointment from an employer was also needed for this visa to be issued.

“ … so there is no way that we can cancel it. All we have done is that we said we cannot wait for four years to recognise a skill as critical; the Minister does it as is required. If any institution comes to prove to us that the particular skill is critical, then we gazette it,” said Motsoaledi.

In February 2023 the department gazetted certain professions in the healthcare system, and later in September it gazetted a notice to the effect that there was a scarcity of veterinary surgeons.

Meanwhile, he explained that the DHA had also done away with the requirement for an employer to prove to the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) that a South African citizen was unable to do the work.

However, it had introduced a point-based system.

“We give certain points, when those points reach a particular mark, you get your visa; in other words we side-stepped the DEL. It will no longer be part of our process,” he said.

He explained that the manner in which points were allocated was still going to be gazetted for public comment, saying this was not yet in the Government Gazette.