Visa chaos puts R1,5bn and 4 530 South African jobs in BPO on the line
21 May 2024
The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector contributes significantly to the national economy, injecting approximately R35 billion into the economy and supporting 100 000 South African jobs nationally, with 60% of those jobs being in the Western Cape.
“The BPO sector employs, trains and upskills tens of thousands of South Africans to provide world-class professional business services to global clients. The Western Cape Government is immensely proud of the partnership we have with this burgeoning sector. However, at least 4 530 existing local jobs at a cost of R1.585 billion and 300 new jobs for South Africans are at stake because of delays at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). These delays relate to processing and finalising of a small number of critical skills, spousal work visas, spousal, life partner, and permanent residency visa applications for training experts, who are needed to upskill and train employees in the sector, thereby enabling the creation of more South African jobs,” announced Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger.
Minister Wenger continued, “Based on preliminary calculations and information received from just six of the BPO companies based in the Western Cape, these delays have already cost our economy 50 jobs at an approximate value of R17.5 million. I am also aware of at least one application that was outstanding for two years as of last Friday, 17 May 2024.”
The efficient processing of visa applications is vital to the growth of the private sector, including the BPO industry and in pursuit of growing the economy, creating jobs and providing opportunities for skills transfers. In this way, the DHA should be a key partner in creating an enabling environment which supports economic growth and job creation. But these most recent examples from just one sector shows how the continued backlogs and bungling of visa applications is choking growth and jobs.