The department of employment & labour aims to plug the dire skills shortages in maths and science education by making it easier for qualified foreigners to enter the local labour force.

This is according to the department’s white paper on national labour migration policy (NLMP) for South Africa, which was gazetted last week. The department aims to “adopt a more open immigration approach to expand the supply of high-level skills” to develop a “labour market that is more responsive to economic opportunity”.

“The NLMP follows the National Development Plan’s recommendation of relaxing immigration requirements for highly skilled science and maths teachers, technicians, and researchers,” said the document. “All graduates from foreign countries should be granted seven-year work permits.”

The document acknowledges that current labour policy has failed at attracting highly skilled individuals.

Another of the department’s aims with the white paper is to address South Africa’s skills deficit caused by a “brain drain” of talent to other countries. It plans to do this by coaxing expats back into the country. The document proposes using incentives that include subsidies and covering the cost of immigration for returning South Africans.

However, the programmes will not necessarily ask expats to return to South Africa on a permanent basis but also offer seasonal programmes that will help facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills to the local labour market.

“This national strategy for skills retention will include a section on incentives to come back on a temporary or permanent basis to South Africa and to impart skills and experience in a range of ways, targeting the countries of destination of South African highly skilled workers…,” it said.

Electronic system

According to the labour department, one of the issues hampering the efficiency of the local labour market is the lack of an electronic system to assist in providing up-to-date information on labour migration to both government and the public.

In collaboration with Statistics South Africa and the International Labour Organisation, the labour department has begun work to implement such a system. Data from the system will be used to inform discussions about policy regarding labour migration, it said.

A similar initiative involving home affairs, Statistics South Africa and the international relations department is in the works, with the aim to have an electronic system monitoring the number of South Africans working abroad and the type of skills they possess.

Read: South Africa plans to offer ‘digital nomad’ visas

“South Africa has been in constant need of external expertise and skills to supplement areas in demand nationally whereas a substantive share of its highly skilled professionals in the health, engineering and artisan sectors opted to seek employment abroad,” said labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth in the document. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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