Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi says South Africans must be prioritised for job opportunities.
He says the employment of foreign nationals in South Africa must be regulated such as in countries like Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria.
He was speaking at the Presidential Imbizo hosted in Mahikeng in the North West on Saturday.
“We have been able to list all the scarce skills where people can employ people from outside but for a particular period. On a semi-skilled area, we are saying we must employ South Africans but we must regulate that properly. We have released a document which we are commenting on and we have given that 90 days so that we can be able to finalise that policy and even amend the law in which sectors where people can not employ a very small percentage of people coming from outside,” says Nxesi.
“We have listened to our people, we have heard their cries where they see some of the employers especially in Argriculture, Security, Tourism and Hospitality hiring non-South Africans to exploit them,” – @deptoflabour minister Thulas Nxesi #PresidentialImbizo pic.twitter.com/iH85ckjD4D
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) March 12, 2022
Presidential imbizo I Minister Thulas Nxesi lambasts Operation Dudula:
Nxesi has also condemned the Dudula Movement against foreign nationals, which he says only creates chaos in the country.
Earlier this week there were violent clashes between locals and foreign nationals in Alexandra township, north of Johannesburg.
The recent tensions came as members of the Alexandra Dudula Movement took to the streets of the township burning tyres and forcefully closing all shops and informal stores belonging to foreign nationals.
The movement’s members are demanding a total shutdown of all South African townships in protest against undocumented foreign nationals that they accuse of dominating jobs in the informal sector.
“We don’t agree with this Dudula approach because what it does, it creates confrontation, it can lead to violence. All we’re saying is Dudula must come to us, they must comment in terms of what we’re having, in terms of the documents and proposals and put their proposals. So that we are able to deal with this matter in an amicable way. We can not allow violence and that’s why we are going to be harsh when it comes to those areas. So we condemn the violence,” says Nxesi.
Dudula Movement I Calm restored in Alex as five arrested: 8 March 2022
