South Africa must fix a dysfunctional work permit
system or sacrifice economic growth, the country’s new Home Affairs minister
said, pledging to resolve a crisis that employers say limits investment.

A byzantine application process that can extend
beyond a year has contributed to a backlog of hundreds of thousands of
applications, while miring his department in lawsuits from people demanding
rulings on their submissions.

That’s been accompanied by a national debate where
foreigners are routinely accused of stealing South African jobs, in a country
with an unemployment rate of more than 30%. That’s despite the Treasury saying
a dearth of skills is the second-biggest threat to the economy after power
cuts, and skilled workers create jobs for those less qualified.

A German-South African business association, which
represents companies including Volkswagen AG, has said the chaos threatens
operations that support 100 000 jobs.

“This country’s economy will never grow if we
don’t open our doors to people who want to lawfully come here and make a
contribution and help us get on track,” said Leon Schreiber, appointed as
minister last month in a coalition government dominated by his Democratic
Alliance party and the bigger African National Congress.

“It is one of the jobs of political leadership
to go out and actually make these kind of arguments to say this is where the
problem actually is,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “Don’t
scapegoat and include people who are trying to actually help us build the
country.”

One of the 35-year-old minister’s priorities
includes adopting a points system to allow skilled workers to take up
employment based on their qualifications, job offers and income level.

Another is resolving confusion around a so-called
nomad visa, which is designed to cater to remote workers who want to base
themselves in South Africa. It became law earlier this year but has frustrated
potential applicants because the requirements are unclear.

“The points based system is, I think,
fundamental to overhauling the whole system because it’ll do away with these
different requirements for different categories,” said Schreiber, who is
the second-youngest member of the 34-member cabinet. “It will streamline
that whole process.”

He also said repairing “the hostile”
relationship between Home Affairs and permit applicants is key to turning the
department into “an economic enabler” focused on job creation.

“This is the only department that has the
capability to, within a relatively short period, bring in the skills that
companies need,” he said.

In addition to the work permit problem, Schreiber
said he will focus on complaints about getting tourist visas, with some
visitors being deterred by the difficulties in securing permission to visit
South Africa.

“There’s huge markets in China and India that
are sending a lot of complaints through about how those processes are
conducted,” he said.

To tackle the work permit problems the department
is working with the help of resources from Business Unity South Africa, a
grouping of the country’s biggest businesses, and Deloitte, he said. He will
meet with a unit of FirstRand for further assistance. Schreiber also plans to
revive the country’s Immigration Advisory Board.

Still, Schreiber touted some recent success.

Since April, the backlog of work permit, spousal
visa and permanent residence applications has been cut by 30% to about 213 000,
he said.

Home Affairs could “be central to addressing
the skills shortage in South Africa,” he said. “That is not a curse.
It’s a great opportunity.”