South Africa’s Home Affairs minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, has released the 2022 Critical Skills List that shows which skills are in high demand in the neighbouring country.
The list provides South African businesses with guidance on which foreigners qualify for critical skills work visas.
Foreign nationals can get such visas only if they possess skills or qualifications that have been determined to be critical for South Africa.
During his 2022 State of the Nation address on Thursday, 10 February, South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa mentioned in passing the most needed skills in the country. He said:
The revised Critical Skills List has been published for the first time since 2014, following detailed technical work and extensive consultations with business and labour.
The updated list reflects the skills that are in shortage today, to ensure that our immigration policy matches the demands of our economy.
A summary of the critical tech skills list is provided in the table below.
| Critical Skills List | |
| Job/Skill | Qualification |
| Chief information officer | Bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma, or Bachelor’s degree |
| ICT systems analyst | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Data scientist | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Software developer | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Programmer analyst | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Developer programmer | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Multimedia specialist (incl. game and web development) |
Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Applications programmer | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Computer quality assurance analyst | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Computer network and systems engineer | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Network analyst | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| ICT security specialist | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Aeronautical engineer | Bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma, or Bachelor’s degree |
| Aeronautical engineering technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Multimedia engineer | Bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma |
| Electronic engineering technician | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Mechatronics technician | Intermediate certificate |
| Industrial engineering technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Civil engineering technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Mechanical engineering technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Chemical engineering technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Agricultural engineering technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Energy engineering technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| Electronics engineer | Bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma, or Bachelor’s degree |
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