Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi has published an update to South Africa’s 2022 Critical Skills List, showing which skills are in high demand in South Africa.
The list highlights the professions that qualify for South African critical skills work visas, making it an essential resource for local businesses.
Such visas are only issued to individuals with skills or qualifications deemed critical for the country.
The country is losing significant amounts of skilled professionals to emigration, making it increasingly necessary to attract people with specific skills to South Africa.
During his 2022 State of the Nation address on 10 February 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa provided an update on South Africa’s work visa system.
He said the government had undertaken a comprehensive review of the work visa system led by former Home Affairs director-general Mavuso Msimang.
“This review explores the possibility of new visa categories enabling economic growth, such as a start-up visa and a remote working visa,” Ramaphosa added.
The skills added to the updated list relate primarily to specialist medical and health professionals. However, it did include some additional tech qualifications, including electronic engineering technologist and engineering management skills.
Critical technology skills
Most critical skills in the published list require a bachelor’s degree or advanced diploma as a minimum requirement, with only one requiring an intermediate certificate.
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 |
| Data management manager | Bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma, or Bachelor’s degree |
| 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 technologist | Diploma or advanced certificate |
| 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 |
| Engineering manager | Bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma, or Bachelor’s degree |