Difficulty getting a work permit in Cape Town

Eish (as they say here in South Africa), the best thing for you to have done would have been to apply for an exceptional skills visa (a permit that you could obtain without necessarily having a job endorsement), but at the moment this category is about to be dissolved. I'm not sure if you can still apply or not. Otherwise, you're exactly right in realising that getting a job in SA is a bit of a Catch-22, meaning you need a job to get a permit, but no one wants to give you a job with out a permit.

If you're from the UK, the best thing to do is to tap into the expat network and find those individuals (higher-ups) who are open-minded about hiring foreigners. It's not such a big process for companies to sponsor someone, but most firms don't want to deal with the admin. Networking is really the best way to get a job in Cape Town, whether you're local or foreign. Like I said though, small, foreign owned businesses are usually the best about sponsoring.

Contact the chamber of commerce and try and get a list of UK owned enterprises in the area, and contact these people.

Otherwise, see if your husband's employer would be willing to sponsor you, or put you in touch with someone willing to sponsor. If they value him as an employee perhaps they'd be willing to keep you here to keep him here.

ok, further to my last comment. It is still possible to apply for an excpetional skills visa - the new legislation will only take effect once the president signs off on the bill. There's no telling how long this will take, so the best thing to do is to get your application is as soon as possible. It may be worth hiring an immigration lawyer - though they'll charge you a hefty fee.

I submitted the following docs to get mine:

original birth certificate
police clearance from any nation's in which you've resided in the past year (so the UK)
Forms that say you don't have TB and that you have a clean bill of health (to be picked up from Home Affairs, and signed off by Doctors)
Letters of recommendation from previous employers
Letter from SA standards board saying your qualified or a state institution (my rec would be to find someone from the University of Cape Town or similar to say that you're a qualified accountant)
Accreditation (university transcript)
Letter of motivation testifying that you have exceptional skills
Bank details proving you can support yourself here and you won't be a burden on the economy
CV

Otherwise, you'll just have to keep looking for someone to sponsor you, as per the post below

Thanks a lot Stephanie for your suggestions. Accounting qualification seems not to be in the list of qualifications that are considered for exceptional work permit, and we are not from the UK like you asked, I'm just undergoing my Masters there. Moreover, my experiences have been in banking and its seems like the banking industry here is solely for South Africans The situation seems like a dead end and I sincerely don't know what to do. Thanks for your help, I'm open to any more suggestions or contacts you may have for me. Thanks again.

As far as I know, and based on what I have read, the exceptional skills work permit is not limited to specific categories. You may be referring to the new quota based system - which isn't officially active. Still, if you don't think its worth it to go this route, then the best thing to do would be to approach small companies with job opportunities. These are more likely to endorse a foreigner who needs a work permit.

Otherwise, perhaps you should look into consulting with an immigration lawyer who's more familiar with the loopholes of law.

Hi Stephanie I am going to apply for an exceptional skills work permit. Do you have an example of the motivation and testimoninal from the institution/company? thanks, Jeroen