ANALYSIS | Untapped Resource: South Africa is losing out on the skills offered by refugees living in the country

South Africa is home to about 2.9 million immigrants who come to the country fleeing persecution and political instability in their countries. Many of them are skilled professionals but their skills are often not used and appreciated enough in South Africa. This is caused by complications that refugees and asylum seekers face when applying to have their qualifications recognised in the country.

In the end, many refugees and asylum seekers end up accepting menial and other low-paying jobs and abandoning the quest to be recognised professionally.

This week i came across a short documentary called Critical Skills, released in 2021 by The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town. The film follows Dr Ntumba and Dr Futu who are both medical doctors and both left their country(Congo) due to political instability.

However, the two doctors cannot practice in South Africa simply because the government, through the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), is failing to recognize their skills. To make ends meet Dr Ntumba works as a packer at a supermarket while Dr Futu relies on small jobs such as rench-digging.

This raises the question we should all ask ourselves: Are skilled refugees and asylum seekers an untapped resource for South Africa?.

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is the sole authority to recognize foreign qualifications in South Africa. Yearly, SAQA evaluates around 25,000 foreign qualifications. The challenge that we have is that applicants to this SAQA process require a host of documents and for refugees who have fled their countries due to war or persecution, having all these documents is very difficult.

Even if an applicant's SAQA recognition is achieved, another hurdle stands in the way of foreign applicants: registration with a relevant professional council. This process has been proven to be expensive and cumbersome.

It is very clear, South Africa is losing out on the skills offered by refugees living in the country. If we can effectively recognise the skills of refugees and asylum seekers we stand a better chance at addressing the skills shortage that we have in South Africa.

----------------------------z THE END








Reference:
• Prashana Rampersad "Skilled refugees and asylum seekers are an untapped resource for South African healthcare" Daily Maverick 2023

• Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town Critical Skills A documentary 2021

• Picture: Nito/Shutterstock

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