White paper on immigration fails Africa’s free trade aspirations – The Mail & Guardian

If South Africa intends to comply with the provisions of the AfCFTA, the Ministry of Home Affairs should relax rather than withdraw visa requirements for people from other countries, especially African ones. (Gallo)

Arguably, no issue convulses countries more than immigration. Most of the threats to world order over the past decade have been the rise of leaders who endorse some kind of protectionism and “secure the borders.”

Immigration is a hot topic in the world and on the African continent, because it is inextricably linked to other aspects of the current economic era, such as globalization, multiculturalism and diversity.

The Protocol to the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) for investment is very clear about its position on immigration. Article 7(2) provides that States Parties shall “facilitate the granting of visas and permits to foreign workers, employees and consultants, as designated by the investor.” As a signatory to the AfCFTA, South Africa is also obliged to implement this requirement.

If South Africa intends to comply with the provisions of the AfCFTA, the Ministry of Home Affairs should relax rather than withdraw visa requirements for people from other countries, especially African countries.

The White Paper cools immigration prospects

The department has been working to change South Africa’s immigration policy over the past two years. A White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection was submitted for public comment in late 2023. In it, the department presented a case in which South Africa demanded stricter border controls, as well as stricter requirements for obtaining visas and permits.

The White Paper did not please everyone, and many civil society organizations were not happy with the content of the document. They have a point.

South Africa does not need to make it harder for people to live in the country. In fact, the opposite is true: South Africa needs to make it easier for people – especially those from other African countries – to live in the country.

Critical skills

The ministry’s White Paper stipulates that visas will be granted primarily to immigrants who can pursue the professions on the critical skills list. For example, according to the list, we don’t have enough geologists. If trained geologists from Rwanda want to work in South Africa, they are more likely to get the critical skills visa because they are addressing a gap in the market.

This sounds feasible, but the situation is not that simple.

We need to ask questions about the reliability of the critical skills list, and whether it is the best way to assess who enters the country and who does not.

Governments are terrible at being at the forefront of anything, let alone when it comes to workforce developments across multiple industries. The structure of the government makes it difficult to identify trends and respond to them in a timely manner. How often is the critical skills list updated? If the list is updated fairly consistently, can the department gather the information in a relatively short time to continually update the list? Is the backlog in the department something to take into account?

All these questions lead to an important conclusion: the department (or any department) will inevitably fail to enforce a strict immigration policy.

If this is the Department’s solution to the immigration crisis, real change is unlikely to occur. The critical skills list attempts to solve the symptom (unskilled immigrants coming to the country in search of better opportunities) and not the disease (the government ratifying the AfCFTA while not adhering to the spirit of the agreement).

The AfCFTA is not radical; it aims for African countries to trade goods and services with each other. The AfCFTA is radical because it aims to promote all kinds of cooperation between African countries. This kind of cooperation should also ensure that we can move freely across the continent, without the need for a visa.

Free trade and free movement

Some may confuse “relaxing visa rules” with an open border policy. That is not the case. Instead, relaxing visa rules with trading partners means taking a page from the European Union’s playbook: free movement for African Union member states. It goes without saying that AfCFTA was conceptualized in part to create stronger ties between African countries. Why should free movement on the African continent be limited to goods and services?

Not only would this benefit other African countries – as South Africans would travel to their destination cities, boosting their tourism prospects – but South Africa would also benefit from a tourism boom. Free trade must go hand in hand with free movement, not least because the latter can improve the former.

Research most relevant to the provisions of the AfCFTA Protocol on Investment shows that immigrants can boost trade from their home country to the country where they live. Immigrants know the language, regulations, market opportunities and informal institutions of their home country. They can use this information to negotiate trade deals that benefit the country where they currently reside.

As a relatively influential country on the continent, South Africa is uniquely positioned to radically change Africa’s prospects for the better. All the country needs to do is resist the temptation of protectionism and isolation. Only by heeding the call of the AfCFTA Protocol on Investment and relaxing immigration policies for other African countries can South Africa reap the benefits of a united Africa.

Wiseman Zondi is a writer and analyst. He is a 2022 Rhodes Scholar with an MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford. He is a regular contributor to the African Free Trade and Defense Society. The author’s views are not necessarily those of society.