The Department of Employment and Labour has been made aware of situations where some employers are taking advantage of migrant workers in the country, and exploiting their desperate need for a job during the unemployment crisis.
The Department's Deputy Minister, Boitumelo Moloi, says the main objective of the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) will be to ensure that labour migration to and from South Africa is undertaken in the interests of both migrant workers and the South African economy and society.
“The Labour laws in South Africa cover all workers irrespective of race, gender, religious belief or origin. However, what is disturbing, is tendencies by some employers who take advantage of vulnerable workers, given the current high unemployment levels, to exploit them and subject them to unacceptable conditions or undermine the current labour laws and standards,” said the Minister in a keynote address during South Africa’s Dialogue on Labour and Mixed Migration Governance.
The NLMP aims to provide a national regulatory framework in line with the international labour standards and regional labour migration frameworks.
Moloi added that these kind of unethical practices have led to irregular incidents of conflicts and unnecessary frictions between locals and foreign nationals.
“I am raising these because there are people who continue to propagate beliefs that South Africans are Xenophobic. We continue to support initiatives at SADC [Southern African Development Community] and the African Union levels aimed at ensuring cooperation in easing the movement of people as a key element of economic and political integration,” continued Moloi.
With the support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Department of Employment and Labour has adopted an inclusive and participatory policy development strategy, which began in 2015 with a high-level seminar on labour migration management and policy development, the establishment of a road map in 2016 and a task team who has responsibility of supervising the development of the Labour Migration policy.
Due to the sensitive nature of migration management subject, President Cyril Ramaphosa established an Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Migration and Employment in 2020, led by 12 Ministers and senior Public Servants from various departments led by the Ministers of Employment and Labour and Home Affairs.
