South Africa releases 8 professions needed for easy visa, wants Nigerian workers ready to relocate

South African government has announced plans to recruit more foreign workers to fill eight key professions experiencing skill shortages.

The decision was reached following a recent parliamentary Q&A session, where Thulas Nxesi, the country's Minister of Employment and Labour, was asked about critical skills immigrants can use to secure visas and work in the country.

Report shows that in response, the minister said that the Republic of South Africa, like all other countries worldwide, experiences scarce and critical skills in those job types where employers cannot find suitably qualified or experienced employees.

His words: "One of the alternatives of deploying these skills in the labour market is to source them from foreign nationals.”

Nxesi added that research has been carried out by the higher education department, which publishes and receives public comments on the national scarce skills list.

He noted: “The National Development Plan, the National Infrastructure Plan, Industrial Policy Action Plan and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) Scarce Skills Lists indicate shortages in certain career fields and are used to determine the needed skills”.

"One of the alternatives of deploying these skills in the labour market is to source them from foreign nationals"

Skills shortage in South Africa

Based on the department's research, there are skills shortages in South Africa, giving foreigners a chance to process for corporate or individual work visas.

Information Technology

Business and Management

Design

Engineering

Financial Sectors

Marketing

Medical and Health

Arts and Media

BusinessTech reports that the minister stressed that to qualify for a visa, the employer must provide evidence that they couldn't find a South African citizen with the same qualifications or experience in the relevant category.