All businesses to prioritise the hiring of a minimum of 60% South Africans citizens

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Cape Town – All businesses – not just those in the hospitality or construction sectors – were required to have a workforce of at least 60 percent South African citizens in their employ, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has clarified.

Gigaba said his department was preparing for a “mass inspection” of businesses countrywide to ensure they complied.

“This has nothing to do with xenophobia, in fact xenophobic violence is what we want to prevent,” Gigaba said in an interview with the Cape Argus. “We must prioritise the employment of South Africans, and businesses across the board have to comply.”

Gigaba added: “The risk of not employing South Africans is that it endangers the lives of foreigners and the property of companies. If you look at the [xenophobic] violence that erupted in 2015, it started precisely because of a company at Isiphingo in Durban that employed non-South Africans, and South Africans attacked the company.”

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90 Visa Exempt Countries for South Africans in 2017

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Those who wish to cross the Bahamas, Hong Kong, Ireland or Thailand off their travel bucket lists, are in luck, as the Passport Index of 2017 has declared the aforementioned countries along with an additional 87 countries to be visa-exempt.

The Passport Index edition of 2017 has been launched by the residency and citizenship solutions provider Arton Capital, which ranks the number of countries that can be visited without applying for a visa, by the measure of travel documents (passports).

Over 20 000 investors seek second residency or citizenship around the globe which had led for this specific investment to become a $US2 billion industry.

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INTERNATIONAL IMMIGRATION NEWS

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FOREIGN TAX BUYING TO BE LIFTED – BRITISH COLUMBIA

Following President Donald Trump’s newly instated immigration bans, British Columbia in Canada announced that they will be lifting 15% foreign buyers tax for anyone who will be living in Metro Vancouver with a work permit.

This follows after the foreign buyers tax was implemented in July 2016, which had a skyrocketing effect on the market due to the decrease in residential real-estate sales and prices.

This seems to be an effort to encourage and welcome those who seek refuge around the world to work, stay, and pay taxes in B.C.  They believe that the ‘best and the brightest’ should be able to stay in B.C and this change in tax law aims to attract these individuals.

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Russian Nationals Not Yet Visa-Exempt From South Africa

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Russian nationals have been warned that the introduction of the visa-free travel between South Africa and Russia of 90 days has not yet come into effect. This is due to South Africa still being busy with internal processes and the Department of Home Affairs will issue a directive once they are ready for the implementation.

There has been no official time-frame given, but the Russian Embassy expects the process to become effective by end of February 2017.