The first edition of The People Insider went out today, and it picked up the most interesting question in South Africa’s new labour law debate.

Why doesn’t the Bill mention AI?

That’s the part no one is really saying out loud yet. South Africa is busy rewriting some of the rules around hiring, dismissal, shift work and worker protections, but the law is still talking as if the workplace is mainly being shaped by human managers, fixed contracts and old-school employment categories. Meanwhile, AI is already moving into hiring, screening, planning and performance processes. So if this Bill is meant to modernise work, why is the biggest work-shaping force missing from the text?

That question matters even more because this is not a random policy moment for us. A few weeks ago, we published a letter to the president, arguing that South Africa needs practical reforms to make it easier for small businesses to hire, grow and survive. We wanted clearer probation rules, less friction for early-stage employers, tax and financial incentives to hire more and a system that understands how fragile small teams really are.

Then came the budget speech with some great SA small business reforms. And shortly after that, the new SA labour law amendments landed, with some genuinely meaningful changes for employers, especially around probation and flexibility.

So yes, some of what we wanted is starting to happen.

But now The People Insider has pushed the story one step further (sorry if you missed issue #1, sign up so you get the scoop next time). Because even if the state is finally starting to fix old labour frictions, there is still a major blind spot in the room.

If AI is already being used in recruitment, workforce planning and performance workflows, then it is already shaping employment outcomes.

It can influence who gets shortlisted and flagged, how managers evaluate productivity and influence scheduling, reporting and internal decision-making. Even where a human still signs off, the system underneath is already changing.

And South Africa's Draft National AI Policy is to be gazetted for public comment this very month, yet the labour Bill does not really engage with that reality.

Fortunately, you can comment on it: The public comment window closes on 28 March 2026 and you can do so directly to the Department of Employment and Labour.

But that’s not all The People Insider spotted.

The team also spotted that the Bill gives and takes away at the same time.

On the one hand, it becomes easier for employers to hire and dismiss during probation without automatically triggering the same unfair dismissal risks that have made early hiring feel so dangerous for smaller businesses.

On the other hand, though, it becomes more expensive to get things wrong later. Severance pay goes up. So while the barrier to entry comes down, the cost of exit rises.

Then it also moves to protect gig workers, saying that you can’t consider someone an independent contractor if you control how, when and where they work. For platform businesses, marketplaces, logistics operators and service businesses leaning heavily on flexible labour, that can cut right into your operating model.

Then there is the on-call worker issue.

For businesses running large pools of shift-based staff across multiple sites, written scheduling terms, notice windows and cancellation rules could materially change day-to-day operations. It is one thing to debate this in legal language. It is another thing entirely when you are actually staffing stores, sites, hospitals, venues or service teams with 200+ workers and fluctuating demand. If you cancel too late and still have to pay, roster quality suddenly becomes a margin issue.

The proposed Labour Law Amendment is about more than labour rights; it’s about the operating logic of work in South Africa.

Hiring is becoming more data-driven. Screening is becoming more automated. Performance processes are becoming more systematised. Workforce management is becoming more predictive.

We recently saw a WhatsApp time and attendance launch and see new AI-assisted performance review tools almost weekly in The Open Letter. 

This is exactly why smart business leaders won’t leave labour reform only to lawyers. Legal text tells you what changed. Operator thinking tells you what it will do.

This is exactly the kind of angle The People Insider is built to spot.

So if you employ or work with people in South Africa, that’s the next newsletter to sign up for.

This news first featured in our 12 March ‘26 letter on Bio Bean charffee braai logs.

See who all raised money in our overview of March funding rounds in SA. And come meet us at our Open Letter Johannesburg fintech & AI 2026 event.