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Pretoria - The department of home affairs has issued a statement saying that foreigners wishing to work in South Africa must continue to apply for general work permits until the minister of home affairs publishes a critical skills list, government news agency BuaNews reports.
Once this list is published, foreigners with skills needed in South Africa will be able to apply for quota permits, which will make it easier for them to work in South Africa.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has not yet published a list of categories of quota permits as she is still in consultation with the minister of trade and industry, who in turn has been consulting with other departments before finalising the critical skills list, the statement said.
This process should be completed shortly, according to the department of home affairs statement.
"As no quotas have been published yet, the department is obviously not able to accept any applications for quota permits.
"Foreigners wishing to work in South Africa are in the interim required to apply for general work permits," the statement said.
The statement explained that a quota permit may be issued to a foreigner who falls within a specific professional category or within a specific occupational class.
"These quotas are determined using the National Critical Skills list, a flexible mechanism designed to assist in recruiting foreign skills into South Africa.
"These are skills that are scarce, in that the local supply of such skills is not sufficient in the short to medium term. This permit is designed to make it easier for holders of certain skills or qualifications to come to South Africa."
"They do not need a job offer before obtaining a permit, nor does the job have to be advertised. They have three months in which to find employment in the category for which the permit has been issued," said the statement.
In the meantime, the department of home affairs says the implementation of the Immigration Amendment Act was not premature.
The department said this in a statement following media reports saying that the Immigration Amendment Act was implemented prematurely.
"We deny that this is the case. The department consulted widely both within and outside government in drafting both the amendments to the Act, and the regulations," said the statement. - BuaNews