“In a country of 52% unemployment, they are saying that 40% of jobs should be given to African foreigners,” it reads. “Meanwhile we South Africans stand no chance of being employed in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Malawi, etc. This is the Pan Africanism they are shoving down our throats.”
Has the EFF called for 40% of South African jobs to be given to foreign nationals from other African countries?
Minimum 60% of jobs for South African citizens
The message is a response to remarks EFF leader Julius Malema made at a press briefing on 26 October. Malema was discussing the issue of foreign nationals working in South Africa. He said many companies employed foreign nationals because they were not protected by local labour laws.
“We therefore call on all employers, inclusive of farms, retail stores, restaurants, hotels and the entire private sector to ensure that a minimum of 60% of their employees are South African,” he said, according to reports by TimesLIVE and IOL.
He added: “The EFF labour desk in all parts of South Africa will visit different establishments to ensure that the employment of minimum 60% South Africans is a reality.”
The EFF later tweeted: “#EFFPresser Malema: We, therefore, call on all employers inclusive of farms, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, the hospitality businesses and the entire private sector to ensure that a minimum of 60% of their employees are South Africans.”
#EFFPresser Malema: We, therefore, call on all employers inclusive of farms, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, the hospitality businesses and the entire private sector to ensure that a minimum of 60% of their employees are South Africans.
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) October 26, 2020
Malema said the EFF was calling for a minimum of 60% of jobs to be reserved for South African citizens. This means the EFF would not be concerned if more than 60% went to locals.
He did not say 40% of jobs should go to foreign nationals from elsewhere in Africa. The claim is incorrect.
According to the Fact sheet on foreign workers in South Africa, published in April 2017 by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, from 2012 and 2014 only 4% of South Africa’s workforce was made up of foreigners. Foreign nationals were more likely than South Africans to be employed in precarious work and in the informal sector, as employers were able to misuse foreign nationals in the workplace, the fact sheet found.
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