The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) says their plan to introduce a bill on placing a quota on the employment of foreign nationals is intended to help quell xenophobic tensions in South Africa.
The IFP says this follows complaints by several South Africans over a lack of employment due to job opportunities being given to foreign nationals.
IFP Member of Parliament and national spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, says the main purpose of the bill would be to eradicate the high unemployment rate.
“What this seeks to do is to quell the xenophobic tensions which exist in SA, because we are finding that unemployed South Africans are viewing in a dim light the fact that foreign nationals are getting jobs and not them. So if we are to integrate that in a constructive way, you are able to bridge the gap. Of the things it will seek to do is to push the department of home affairs, amongst other things, to ensure that the registration of foreign nationals is done in a manner that inspires public confidence and preserves the integrity of the movement of people.”
The graph below tracks unemployment stats from 2016 to 2019
The party says they intend to engage in discussions with South Africans and foreign nationals over the country’s future employment opportunities.
Hlengwa says they also intend to help quell xenophobic tensions in South Africa.
“We condemn any action of xenophobia and violence and we certainly believe that this action step, this bill, is going to bring people together. We want to enter into a discussion with South Africans and foreign nationals on the best possible ways to structure the placement of people in the workplace. This is not to antagonise foreign nationals or to isolates them, but what it does do is say let us bring South Africans back at the centre of development and opportunity.”
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