South Africa: towards foreign worker quotas for certain employment sectors?
The storefront of a restaurant in Melville, Johannesburg.
RFI/Claire Bargelès
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
A bill is open to public debate for three months.
With unemployment at 35%, the government is looking for a way to respond "
to the feeling of the population that foreigners are disrupting the labor market
", explains the Minister of Labour.
Among the sectors targeted by the government: agriculture, transport and catering, which rely heavily on foreign labour.
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With our correspondent in Johannesburg,
Romain Chanson
A cocktail is being prepared behind the counter of this café in Melville.
It is served in the dining room by Lue, a 25-year-old Zimbabwean who came to South Africa to study.
If he got this server job, it's because he has proven himself, he says.
“
I came to submit my CV like anyone else and they called me back like anyone else.
Also because I was insistent.
The South Africans who applied with me took the training and then dropped out because they didn't like the working conditions.
They make us bad guys come to steal jobs.
This is false, we are there to find a livelihood and we accept what is available.
»
Out of 31 employees, 6 are foreigners in this bar, i.e. 20% of employees.
Congolese, Batswana and Zimbabweans.
South Africa is the country on the continent that welcomes the most foreigners, nearly three million according to the UN.
For Alexander, the boss, this idea of quotas goes against the idea he has of South African society.
“ It
makes
me a little uncomfortable because in bars, in restaurants, it's diversity that takes precedence among workers, it's not a single nationality, or a single type of person.
That would mean that in my e-mails I specify: "
no foreigners
".
Just thinking about it is hard because we are the "
rainbow " nation
.
»
The only criterion for hiring: the qualities of the candidate, assures this bar owner.
He would like merit to continue to take precedence over nationality.
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South Africa
Employment and Labor