The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is encouraged by the recent tabling of the Employment Services Amendment Bill before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour.
The Bill is a long overdue response by the African National Congress-led government to the working class and society’s deep frustrations over our dangerously high unemployment rate of 43.7% overall and worse for young people.
The Bill seeks to empower the Department of Employment and Labour to manage the flood of undocumented migrant labour into the economy and to balance this with the need to prioritise unemployed South Africans for often scarce jobs.
Migration is the nature of humanity and South Africa is no exception. South Africa’s DNA is fused with centuries of migration, both forced and voluntary.
This is magnified by South Africa’s status as Africa’s most industrialised economy. It brings critical skills and contributes to our diversity, but it must be managed at levels the economy can absorb.
Migration flows into South Africa have seen a massive increase over the past decade, often fueled by the collapse of other countries’ economies, grotesque human rights abuses and wars, not just from neighbouring states but from across the world.
Faced with immense pressure by society to slash unemployment, government needs to err on the side of jobless South Africans. There is no number of jobs that South Africa’s medium sized and struggling economy can create to satisfy the needs of millions of unemployed South Africans whilst continuing to see such large flows of migration.
Some may say this smacks of xenophobia. It does not. We must at all times refuse to pander to xenophobia or Afrophobia. Equally we must not tolerate vigilantism, let alone criminality. We must however prioritise the rights and needs of unemployed South Africans.
Whilst we have seen a steady increase in unemployment over the past decade, we have seen many employers, especially in vulnerable sectors, opt to employ undocumented migrant workers. They do so deliberately exploiting undocumented migrant workers’ vulnerability and desperation.
This has been particularly prevalent on farms, in petrol stations, restaurants, domestic work and construction sites.
Workers fleeing from countries devastated by brutal wars or even higher unemployment rates than South Africa’s will be willing to sacrifice their labour rights and endure the most abusive forms of exploitation.
Such vulnerable undocumented migrant workers are often forced to accept numerous violations of the labour laws, from the National Minimum Wage to Occupational Health and Safety Acts.
When these workers dare object, employers dismiss them knowing they are too afraid to demand their rights lest they face deportation or are simply unaware of such legal protections. This is despite amendments to the Labour Relations Act affirming the fundamental rights to protection of all workers, irrespective of origin or status.
The dangers of ignoring such precarious faultlines, is that they result in periodic episodes of xenophobic violence. Law enforcement is often unable to manage such outbreaks and the damage to South Africa’s reputation and ability to attract badly needed investment is immeasurable.
The Bill empowers the Minister for Employment and Labour to set limits on how many documented migrant workers can be employed in a workplace, sector and region with exceptions made for small businesses of 10 employees and less, as these are often family owned and operated.
Some argue that South Africans do not want to perform certain low skilled or low-income jobs, e.g. domestic or construction or driving trucks. This is simply not true. South Africans are keen to work but they correctly expect and have the right to enjoy the full protection of our hard-won labour laws.
Key to boosting the Department of Employment and Labour’s capacity to enforce our labour laws, is government’s plans to increase the number of labour inspectors, currently 2 000, with an additional 10 000 recruits by 2029. It is crucial inspectors target vulnerable sectors and work closely with Cosatu and unions to expose employers violating workers’ rights.
The Employment Services Amendment Bill will not on its own resolve South Africa’s migration challenges.
Government needs to ensure the Border Management Authority, the South African Police Service and the South African National Defence Force have the personnel, training, equipment and vehicles to secure our borders, points of entry and the nation.
In 2025 the president assented to the Immigration Amendment Act requiring asylum seekers to apply for refugee status at their immediate point of entry into South Africa and not inland.
Home Affairs is undertaking efforts to capacitate its systems and staff, reduce waiting periods for applications and weed out corruption.
Government has the responsibility to fulfill its constitutional mandate to secure South Africa’s sovereignty, including knowing who is within its borders and to protect ordinary citizens’ socio-economic rights.
Employers must accept their responsibilities. This includes respecting workers’ constitutional and labour rights as well as migration and other laws. Those who fail to do so must face the necessary sanctions.
All of these are important interventions to ensure the state is able exercise its constitutional authority, enforce the rule of law and protect ordinary citizens and migrants, and ensure that South Africans are prioritised for employment at all workplaces.
South Africa alone cannot resolve these challenges. It requires other countries’ governments to address the causes of why so many of their citizens are forced to flee in search of safety, work and a better life.
In some cases, South Africa has a moral obligation and an economic interest to help neighbouring countries overcome their challenges, e.g. Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Angola.
South Africa’s destiny is intertwined with Africa. We cannot remain an island of relative prosperity in a sea of poverty and thus we need to champion progressive initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area to ensure that economic development takes place across Africa.
These are incredibly sensitive and volatile matters. They must be handled with care. What we cannot afford is for things to worsen or simply be ignored.
* Zingiswa Losi is the president of Cosatu.
**The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Media Group.