New Bill to require that firms check on foreign recruits

COMPANIES will have to do their own background checks on people they want to bring into the country if the Department of Home Affairs has its way with amendments to the Immigration Act.

At a parliamentary press conference on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the aim of the amendments was to "streamline and create checks and balances and centralise the process" for people wanting to enter South Africa.

"If a company wants to bring someone into the country, such as a CEO, then it makes no sense to have police clearances for every country that person has been in for the past 20 years," she said.

However, Dlamini- Zuma said the idea was to make companies "responsible" for ensuring that the correct information was presented on applications for job permits and the justification of their employment was properly presented.

Dlamini-Zuma said she was also in favour of an idea that companies wanting to import certain people as part of their investment in the country should also employ a number of local people as well.

The Immigration Amendment Bill is being debated before Parliament and has drawn criticism from a number of quarters.

The aim is to finalise the law before the end of the second quarter.

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