South Africa’s latest draft ‘critical skills list’ – occupations earmarked for skilled immigration – has been criticised for being too restrictive and thus impeding economic growth.
The draft list, published for comment by the Department of Home Affairs, identifies 126 narrowly defined jobs for eligibility, according to Carol Paton in BusinessLive.
People with ‘exceptional’ skills can apply for a visa to South Africa under the Immigration Act.
However, Paton says that ‘the red tape associated with skilled immigration has been a burning concern for business for two decades, which regards it as both a hindrance to doing business and a brake on economic growth’.
The list is restrictive and doesn’t depart from previous policies.
The criteria for including a skill on the list are an acute shortage (of a particular skill); a high level or advanced qualification by an applicant; a skill that would take a long time to develop domestically; and a skill that is of strategic importance.
Included are jobs in IT, engineering, geology, nursing, pharmacy, accounting, marketing, communications, advertising and web design. Also included in the list are carpenters, joiners, diesel mechanics, transport electricians; lift engineers; project managers for construction and farm managers.
Specialist medical practitioners are not on the list, but general medical practitioners are.
Some university lecturers are included, but not maths and science teachers for schools, who were on previous lists.
Caravan and camp site managers and chefs are on the list, but why is not apparent.
Julian Pokroy, chair of the Law Society of South Africa’s Immigration and Refugee Law Committee, said the list wouldn’t necessarily mean easier skilled immigration. The requirement that professionals register with South African professional bodies before applying for visas made the process onerous.
The executive director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise, Ann Bernstein, said: ‘The modern economy does not work the way the compilers of the skills list assume it does. This approach is out of touch with how a fast-moving economy works.’
[Image: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay]