South Africa’s Sports Minister cracks down on employment of foreigners

By Mark Ogagan

South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr. Gayton McKenzie has kicked against the employment of foreigners in his ministry.

To this end he has written to chairpersons and accounting officers of the department’s entities requesting detailed information about non-South Africans employed by these entities.

Members of parliament’s sport, arts and culture portfolio committee alleged the Robben Island Museum prioritises foreigners for vacancies, urging McKenzie to take action.

“When I became minister, the first thing I asked was: how many foreigners are there in the department? I was told none,” he said during the committee meeting last week.

“I am drafting a letter to the acting director-general and I will CC Robben Island Museum. I assure the committee I will handle this matter personally and consider it dealt with. We cannot have a situation where foreigners are being given jobs while our children do not have jobs in the Western Cape.”

In the letter, McKenzie has requested all entities provide information about foreigners employed by them within three working days. This includes:

• name, nationality and length of stay in South Africa;
• status and nature of work permit if they are not permanent residents (date of issue and expiry);
• critical or scarce skills possessed that could not be found in the local workforce;
• expiry date of work contract; and
• person responsible for signing off on their appointment.

The exercise would not be limited to the Robben Island Museum.

“To limit the exercise to only one entity would be incorrect and the decision has therefore been made to include all entities for review,” he said.