Thulas Nxesi, South Africa’s Minister of Employment and Labour, has announced a new labour policy to regulate foreign workers in South Africa. The policy, due to be submitted to cabinet for approval, will deal mainly with low-skilled workers in the hospitality, restaurant, security and farming and agriculture sectors.
Nxesi said that South African employers deliberately prefer foreign workers as a source of cheap labour, as they are willing to take ‘anything’ for wages. Among a number of proposed interventions, the minister confirmed that the department was considering introducing quotas to specify how many foreign workers could be employed in a particular sector.
