Princy Mthombeni argues that South African employers must hire South Africans first before turning to foreign workers. She tells Gabriel Makin that employers must prioritise South Africans and train a local replacement when hiring a foreign national.

Princy also discusses the Employment Services Amendment Bill, which would give the Minister of Employment and Labour sweeping powers to set foreign worker quotas by sector. At the FEDUSA conference, she challenged the minister directly, citing the Zimbabwean and Lesotho exemption permits as examples of how ministerial powers have been misused in the past.

Gabriel and Princy also discuss cutting social benefits for illegal immigrants (as the AfD in Germany has proposed), opposition to gas-to-power in Richards Bay, and the Integrated Resource Plan’s proposed 34 000 MW of wind capacity against just 8 500 MW of batteries. They examine why coal, which supplies around 80% of South Africa’s electricity, has no new-build allocation in the plan. Gabriel also shares new polling from the Social Research Foundation and The Common Sense on oil and gas, while Princy explains why she holds André de Ruyter responsible for Eskom’s decline.