The Employment Services Amendment Bill [B16-2026] (the Bill) was tabled in the National Assembly on 29 May 2026 and the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour has now opened the Bill for public comment, with submissions closing on Friday 6 November 2026 at 16h00. The Bill touches on an area of law that sits at the intersection of livelihoods, regional history and current public debate and it deserves careful, considered engagement rather than a rushed read.
At its core, the Bill introduces a formal permission-based framework for employing foreign nationals in South Africa. A new Chapter 3A prohibits employing a foreign national unless that person is authorised to work under a visa or permit issued in terms of the Immigration Act or Refugees Act, other legislation or an applicable international agreement.
Before recruiting a foreign national, employers must satisfy themselves that no locally available worker has the requisite skills, prepare a skills transfer plan for the position, offer terms and conditions no less favourable than those a South African citizen would receive and keep records evidencing the individual's right to work in the country.
Most notably, the Minister may also gazette maximum quotas limiting the proportion of foreign nationals employed within a given sector, occupation or region after consulting the Employment Services Board and subject to a 30-day public comment period before any such notice takes effect. Employers with fewer than 10 staff are excluded from quotas, subject to conditions, and a discretionary exemption mechanism exists for employers who need relief from an applicable quota.
Under the 2022 draft Bill, the Minister could exempt an employer or category of employer from the skills transfer plan requirement simply where doing so was consistent with the purpose of the Act. The 2026 Bill replaces this with a "practicability" threshold in terms of which the Minister may exempt an employer from the requirement to prepare a skills transfer plan where it is not practicable for the relevant category of employer, employee or worker and must do so on the advice of the Employment Services Board and by notice in the Gazette.
Enforcement under these new provisions will be significant. Fines for contravening the new provisions rise in tiers, from ZAR 100,000 for a first contravention to the greater of ZAR 1 million or 10% of annual turnover for repeated non-compliance.
It is worth noting what the Bill does not do. It does not prohibit the employment of foreign nationals and its stated purpose remains to facilitate and regulate the employment of foreign nationals, albeit in more limited circumstances, in a manner consistent with the constitutional right to fair labour practices and the interests of South African work seekers. The policy challenge that Parliament is grappling with, namely how to balance regional labour mobility with domestic employment pressures, is genuinely difficult.
For sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, construction and mining, where foreign nationals are often a long-standing and structurally embedded part of the workforce rather than a marginal one, the practical impact of a quota, a skills transfer obligation or a compliance audit will be immediate and operational, not abstract. Employers should assess what proportion of their current workforce could be affected and where their existing recruitment and record-keeping practices may already fall short of the Bill's proposed standards.
The comment period is the last real opportunity to influence how the quota mechanism, the skills transfer plan requirements and the exemption process will operate in practice, particularly where the change will have material commercial and social implications. We encourage clients with meaningful foreign national headcounts to consider making a submission. We are well placed to assist clients with preparing submissions and would welcome the opportunity to discuss the Bill's practical implications for your workforce.
Submission details
Written comments must be submitted no later than Friday 6 November 2026 at 16h00. Submissions should be emailed to Mr Zolani Sakasa, Committee Secretary to the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, at employmentservicesbill@parliament.gov.za. Stakeholders wishing to make a verbal presentation at the subsequent parliamentary public hearings should indicate this in their written submission.
