100,000 of jobs at stake due to visa mess

The gridlock that is affecting work-permit applications in South Africa is currently limiting expansion by German companies in the country and its threatening operations that support 100,000 jobs.

Since South Africa is working to improve an approval system to make it easier and quicker to get permits, the snarl-up that was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic has taken down the number of entries of skilled workers into a country that has a dire shortage of them.

Between year 2014 and 2021, only 25,298 skilled-worker permits were approved by the country, which has a population of 60 million. the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the visa matter spans the entire hierarchy of German business in South Africa, ranging from chief executive officers to technicians.

“This is, of course, not only a concern to German business but also to the country itself, as German companies operating in South Africa provide jobs for 100,000 people along their supply chains, the chamber added.

Companies that operate South Africa have trouble finding skilled workers, a result of a dysfunctional education system and exacerbated by emigration. For an example, Volkswagen and BMW operate factories in the country, and the chamber has over 600 member companies.

Germany’s ambassador for South Africa, Andreas Peschke once estimated that German companies account for 10% of South Africa’s export income. The country is South Africa’s third-biggest single-country trade partner after China and the US, with two-way movement exceeding $20 billion last year, according to reports.

The issue of companies struggling to get permits for executives at local subsidiaries is endangering investment, and “the same goes for technicians not being able to enter the country, while at the same time, there are no skilled workers available in South Africa to service machinery,” the chamber mentioned.

The group revealed that while there have been improvements this year, members had more than 100 open work permit applications in the second half of 2022.

In one case, it took about 18 months to get a permit for a managing director, and the owners of one company sold up after their visa was rejected despite 30 years of doing business in the nation.