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Citizen Submission: Employment Services Amendment Bill [B16-2026]
Submission details
To
Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, attention Mr Zolani Sakasa
Email
[email protected]
Deadline
Friday, 6 November 2026, 16:00
From
[Full name], South African citizen
Town or area
[Where you live]
Contact
[Phone] · [Email]
Oral presentation
I wish to make an oral presentation at the public hearings. [Yes / No]
Summary of position
I support the Bill’s aim of putting South African work seekers first, and its framework of quotas, labour-market testing and fines. I object to Clause 1(d), which amends the definition of “foreign national” in section 1 to exclude refugees and asylum seekers.
That change would take refugees and asylum seekers outside the whole of the new Chapter 3A. Employers would not need to check whether a South African is available before hiring them, prepare a skills transfer plan, or count them against a quota. For South Africans looking for work, this would weaken the very protections the Bill is meant to create.
I ask the Committee to:
keep the current definition of “foreign national”;
write into the Act a clear rule that South African citizens are considered first for employment; and
retain and enforce the Bill’s protections for local work seekers.
Who I am
I am a South African citizen who has been both employed and unemployed. I make this submission in my personal capacity, as an ordinary work seeker, and not on behalf of any business or organisation. I know first-hand what it means to look for work in this country, and what a single income means to a household.
My experience of employment and unemployment
Periods without work. [Optional - How long you were unemployed, and how many times. What kind of work you were looking for, and your qualifications or experience at the time.]
Looking for work. [Optional - How you searched: job boards, labour centres, the Department’s ESSA system, walking in to businesses, word of mouth. Roughly how many applications you made, and how many led to interviews.]
What it cost my household. [Optional - Who depends on your income. What your family went without, and how you got by: grants, family support, piece jobs, debt.]
Getting work. [Optional - How you found work in the end. What the job is or was, and what changed for your household once you were earning.]
What I saw first-hand. [MOST IMPORTANT SECTION. Anything you experienced yourself, for example a vacancy you were qualified for that was filled without being advertised locally, or being told no suitable South Africans had applied. Only include what you saw or experienced directly.]
What I learned. [Optional. For example, training or a learnership that helped you get work, which shows that skills gaps can be closed locally.]
My experience is not unusual. Many people in my community are in the same position. A job is often the only income in a household, and every vacancy matters.
Objection to Clause 1(d)
1. It works against the Bill’s own purpose. Section 2(1)(h)(iii), as amended, says foreign employment must promote work opportunities for and training of South African citizens and permanent residents. Exempting a large group of non-citizens from the labour-market test and from quotas weakens that protection at a time of very high unemployment.
2. It weakens the quota test. Proposed section 12B(7)(c) requires the Minister to consider the availability of skills “among South Africans, refugees and asylum seekers” when setting a quota. A quota could therefore be set higher because skills exist among refugees and asylum seekers, even where South Africans with those skills are still looking for work.
3. Asylum seekers have no determined status. An asylum seeker is someone whose application has not yet been decided. Applications can remain pending for long periods, and not all are approved. Giving undecided applicants the same hiring status as citizens is premature.
46-Year-Old Nigerian Asylum Seekers With Expired Documents Arrested By Hawks For Allegedly Running a Brothel In Ermelo CBD Where Young Women From Lesotho, eSwatini And South Africa Were Found
The Hawks arrested a 46-year-old Nigerian national during an operation targeting alleged brothel activities in Ermelo CBD, Mpumalanga, on Thursday, 22 October 2026. The operation was conducted by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), SAPS members and Department of Home Affairs officials following allegations of unlawful activities linked to commercial sexual exploitation.
The multidisciplinary team, comprising the Hawks’ Secunda Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit, Gert Sibande District Office and Ermelo SAPS, searched the premises. Seven people, including six females and one male, were found inside. Investigations revealed that three of the women were Lesotho nationals, two were eSwatini nationals and one was a South African citizen. The foreign nationals had valid passports.
Investigators subsequently identified the 46-year-old Nigerian national, who was allegedly operating from the property and was found in possession of an expired asylum document. Information gathered during the operation suggested that the premises were being used for activities potentially contravening the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act. He was arrested and charged for allegedly renting out rooms to the women.
The investigation is continuing to establish the full extent of the alleged unlawful activities and whether other people knowingly facilitated or benefited from them. Acting Mpumalanga Hawks Provincial Head Brigadier Bruce Davenport warned property owners, managers and occupiers against allowing their premises to be used for criminal activities. The suspect is expected to appear before the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 23 October 2026.
We are definitely moving into Apartheid 2.0 and I ask myself, if they can come up with Bills so quickly to silence citizens then surely, surely they can come up with measures to protect us from illegal immigrants wnd foreigners who are criminals, they just don’t want to‼️‼️‼️
South African Police Service @SAPoliceService, why are multiple foreign languages available on your Police Trainee 2026 recruitment portal?
Could you please clarify why these languages are included and whether the Police Trainee recruitment process is also includes foreigners?
Gay content creator Austin Mzukwa on Instagram flexing after his 50 year politician married blesser bought him his 3rd car ,all this under 4 months, Austin says, 2026 is the year for gay people winning.🥂🔥
Foreigners and Asylum seekers cannot keep shouting Xenophobia and continue to stay , that does not make sense, you are either in danger and must fokof to safety or happy to stay no in-between
Pick a struggle
Justice for Eunice Nortman, whom was struck and killed by a BMW SUV driven by a Pakistani national. These so called asylum seekers are driving BMW SUVs🙄
This is Crime Intelligence Officer Ennice Nortman who was run over and Killed by a Pakistani at Litchenburg Mall 💔driving a BMW
REMEMBER HER NAME
SAY HER NAME
Abahambe
This is Crime Intelligence Officer Ennice Nortman who was run over and Killed by a Pakistani at Litchenburg Mall 💔driving a BMW
REMEMBER HER NAME
SAY HER NAME
Abahambe