South Africa is facing growing labour shortages after more than 160,000 foreign workers left the country following anti-migrant protests and tougher immigration enforcement.
The departures came after anti-foreigner groups set June 30 as an unofficial deadline for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa. According to an AFP tally based on figures from African governments repatriating their citizens, Zimbabwe accounted for the highest number of returnees, many of whom had worked in farming, construction and domestic services.
Farms and factories struggle
In one of South Africa’s biggest fruit-producing regions, Zimbabwean farmworker Aaron Majatamhe said many farms are now struggling to find enough workers to harvest crops.
“I see a lot of farm owners who are crying now… people have to harvest those naartjies but there is no one,” the 33-year-old told AFP.
He added that vineyards are also facing labour shortages.
“It’s time to cut off the grapes and there is no one.”
The labour shortage has spread beyond farms, with factories and even households reporting difficulties replacing workers who left the country.
A sugarcane farmer on South Africa’s north coast, who requested anonymity because he feared retaliation, said he lost up to 80 per cent of his cane-cutting workforce almost overnight.
“Production and supply have deteriorated to the point where it is going to be difficult for the mills to stay open,” he said.
Employers say locals avoid the work
Another farmer near Mid-Illovo, south of Durban, said most sugarcane cutters in the area were from Lesotho.
“There are fields we are supposed to be cutting, but there are just not enough people. Local people don’t like this job because it is back-breaking and physical,” he said.
However, labour unions strongly disagree with that claim.
With South Africa’s unemployment rate above 33 per cent, union leaders and researchers argue that many South Africans are willing to work but are often overlooked because employers prefer migrant workers, who are seen as cheaper and less likely to demand legal protections.
Patrick Williams, a local organiser with the Commercial, Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union, accused some employers of exploiting foreign workers.
“They are making a profit out of foreign nations,” Williams said.
He alleged that many migrant workers worked seven days a week, skipped lunch breaks to increase their earnings and were often paid below the national minimum wage.
Factories also affected
The impact is also being felt in South Africa’s manufacturing sector.
A manager at a clothing factory in Durban’s Chatsworth industrial area said the departure of experienced machinists from Malawi and Mozambique had slowed production.
“We can barely meet our targets because most were forced to go,” she said on condition of anonymity, adding that it would take time for local workers to gain the necessary skills.
Government promotes “locals first”
The South African government has responded to public concerns over migration by promoting a “locals first” employment policy while acknowledging that some industries still depend heavily on foreign workers.
Last week, authorities expanded the Trusted Employer Scheme, which speeds up work visa applications for companies that mainly employ South Africans, invest in skills development and operate in priority sectors.
Industry groups are calling for legal pathways that would allow seasonal foreign workers to return, warning that agriculture cannot replace experienced migrant workers overnight.
Siyabonga Madlala, Chief Executive of the South African Farmers Development Association, said the country should consider introducing a regulated seasonal worker programme similar to that used in the United States.
“There may be a need for a special dispensation allowing seasonal labour from SADC countries where local supply is insufficient,” he told Newsroom Afrika.
More than 60 per cent of South Africa’s immigrants are estimated to come from countries within the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Fear drives migrants home
For many migrants, safety has become a greater concern than employment. Police data show that at least four foreign nationals have been killed during the recent unrest.
Zimbabwean national Wayne Chimbadzwa Mutasa, who had lived in Robertson since 2014, said he decided to leave after security raids targeted foreign workers.
“The people who came into the houses of Zimbabweans were police officers saying that you are living here illegally,” he told AFP while preparing to return home.
Majatamhe, however, said he has remained in South Africa because he cannot afford to leave.
“We are afraid to stay even in this place, but the problem is, we don’t have enough money to go home,” he said.
Source: AFP
