Times Of Swaziland: BE: NEED TO DECLARE STATE  OF EMERGENCY ON JOBS

BE: NEED TO DECLARE STATE  OF EMERGENCY ON JOBS
================================================================================
Stanley Khumalo on 04/08/2022 08:29:00


MANZINI – “The joblessness out there is so severe that we need to declare a
state of emergency on jobs,” says Business Eswatini (BE).
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BE, Nathi Dlamini, said this when sought
for comment regarding the introduction of the National Labor Migration Policy
(NLMP). The CEO said the frustration of young professionals had now reached an
untenable crescendo. Dlamini said the country needed investors badly and its
policies must be seen to reflect that desperation.
“It is time to lower the artificial barriers we have unwittingly erected
because they are slowing down our job creation effort. As it is, we have enough
social problems without having to create new ones,” Dlamini said. He said the
NLMP sought to provide the legal framework for the unhindered movement of
persons into and out of the country for employment purposes.
He said this was necessary as business competitiveness at shop floor-level and
at national level, was driven by skills, some of which may not be easily
available locally.
Framework
In light of this, Dlamini said there was a need for a legal framework to allow
for the hassle-free movement of critical skills across sovereign territories,
more especially with the advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCTA) or commerce without borders. He said the labour migration was a topical
issue worldwide and BE has had the privilege to weigh in on the matter through
the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Private Sector Forum. Dlamini
said: “It’s possible that the policy under consideration here in Eswatini
may affect certain business sectors. The extent of its effects will very much
depend on the analysis of our skills benchmarks and skills mismatch reports.”
The CEO went on to say there was a necessity to appreciate that the aim of any
business was to be competitive in order to thrive or even at worse, survive. To
achieve this, he said, businesses needed skilled personnel regardless of where
the skills may come from, but better sourced locally if available though.
Robotics
For example, Dlamini said, if a company needed a robotics or artificial
intelligence engineer, it would not matter where that skill came from, as long
as it could be found - somewhere.  He said the NLMP therefore sought to address
matters like that. The CEO said if there were sectors where Eswatini, as a
country, had enough requisite skills to achieve business goals, then there would
be no need to import any skill at all.  “That being said though, we
desperately need a critical skills list in the country because we have seen the
pandemonium being wreaked by its absence. The manner in which we handle work
permits in the country is a clear signal to foreign investors that they are not
welcomed here.”
He said it was as if there was full employment in the country and it needed no
one. Dlamini said the approach was weird because there was a dire need for
foreign direct investment (FDI) but without foreigners. The CEO said it was a
self-defeating approach that would worsen the unemployment situation. Dlamini
said companies were hesitant of coming down to invest largely because they knew
that to get a work permit in this country was like pulling out teeth. “While
localisation is critical and we take it very seriously here at BE, we are,
however, not so foolhardy as to be unmindful that we must first have these
foreign direct investors well established in the country first; let them create
the jobs we desperately need here, before we can talk about localising
anything.” He said businesses generally employed as per labour market needs,
if they or anyone else for that matter possessed the requisite skills they
should be able to penetrate the local market.
Migration
Dlamini said the NLMP provided for migration for employment purposes. He said
the citizenship issue was a completely different matter and not provided for in
the policy. “Countries with NLMP ( which have been influenced by regional and
international instruments), make it easier for that country to negotiate in
terms of what is termed Bilateral Labour Agreements with other countries and
agree  on migration and its terms and conditions for purposes of employment.”
On Tuesday, this publication reported that there was a new policy set to control
the movement of people seeking to work outside Eswatini, while ensuring their
reintegration into local labour markets upon return. This follows that Eswatini
has adopted the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) as supplemented by an
action (implementation) plan. This policy will ensure that migrant workers and
their dependants shall have their social security benefits easily carried out.
The policy, which is due to be submitted to Cabinet for approval, has since been
discussed and adopted by the tripartite Labour Advisory Board (LAB). The policy,
once approved, will ensure the reintegration of emaSwati who have been working
outside the country as it shall assist them in rejoining the local labour
markets.