Understanding South Africa’s reliance on foreign labour, and the way forward

South Africa’s labour market faces a difficult contradiction: unemployment is high, yet many businesses can’t find the skilled workers they need. This is especially true in sectors like logistics and construction, where foreign labour is often used to fill urgent gaps. While this approach helps keep operations running, it often raises concerns that jobs are being taken away from South Africans.

But framing the issue as a choice between local and foreign labour doesn’t capture the complexity of the problem. What’s needed is a practical, balanced approach - one that meets immediate business needs while supporting long-term local skills development.

Temporary Employment Services (TES) providers can help businesses strike this balance by handling legal compliance, ensuring fair hiring, and supporting programmes that transfer skills from foreign to local workers.

Skills shortages vs. employment needs

In many sectors, particularly construction, infrastructure, and logistics, demand for specialised, high-risk or niche skills far outpaces local availability. These shortages are often compounded by the need for flexibility in project-based or high-turnover roles - demands that foreign labour is sometimes better positioned to meet quickly. 

Foreign workers can also bring specialist expertise not yet widely available in the local talent pool. In these cases, such professionals serve not just as short-term resources but also as potential mentors and catalysts for local upskilling. The issue, then, is not whether foreign labour has a place in the South African economy – it clearly does – but how this labour is recruited, managed, and integrated into the workforce in a way that aligns with national priorities. 

Enabling compliance and ethical hiring

TES providers offer a compliant, ethical, and efficient framework for meeting urgent workforce needs without undermining employment equity or legal standards. By handling vetting, documentation, and permit validation, TES partners ensure that foreign workers are lawfully employed and that all contracts meet the requirements of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Labour Relations Act, and other applicable regulations.

Importantly, TES providers reduce legal and reputational risk for employers by acting as the legal employer of record, managing worker conditions, pay, and compliance on behalf of their clients. This arrangement offers much-needed operational flexibility while maintaining the integrity of South Africa’s labour laws.

Building local talent for the long term

One of the most strategic roles TES providers can play is facilitating skills transfer from foreign to local workers. Through structured mentorship, buddy systems, and training programmes, TES can help businesses develop a pipeline of South African talent for future roles. Foreign specialists become short-term enablers, not long-term replacements – helping to upskill locals and reduce future reliance on imported skills. 

This approach supports inclusive growth by uplifting local communities and reinforcing long-term economic stability. It also helps businesses align their workforce strategy with transformation and employment equity goals, which are vital in today’s South African business environment.

Strategic workforce planning is a shared responsibility

Creating a resilient, future-ready workforce requires collaboration between industry, government, and TES providers. Joint sector forums can help identify critical skills gaps, while shared investment in accredited training and mentorship will build a stronger local talent pipeline. 

Clear policy and streamlined immigration processes are also essential to support fair, lawful hiring. At the same time, businesses should be incentivised to invest in local skills development while managing foreign employment responsibly.

By linking hiring strategies to SETA-accredited programmes and forecasting future needs, companies can meet immediate demands and contribute to sustainable growth, job creation, and national transformation goals.

Finding the way forward

South Africa doesn't need a binary answer to the foreign vs. local labour debate – it needs a smart, fair, and inclusive solution. TES providers are uniquely positioned to offer just that: a scalable, compliant, and opportunity-driven model that addresses short-term skill shortages while laying the foundation for long-term talent development.

Foreign expertise should uplift, not displace local talent. With the right partnerships and policies in place, South Africa can close the skills gap, create jobs, and build an economy where both local and foreign expertise are part of the solution – not in competition, but in collaboration.

* Jacques Maritz is the national sales and service manager of Quyn International Outsourcing.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.

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