Xenophobic protests leave SA factories short of workers

WEEKS after xenophobic protests drove thousands of migrant workers from South Africa, rows of sewing machines sat idle at clothing factories in Newcastle, highlighting the unintended economic consequences of a campaign aimed at freeing jobs for South Africans.

Newcastle, a manufacturing hub in KwaZulu-Natal, has been particularly affected, with factory owners reporting significant workforce losses following months of anti-immigrant protests and vigilante attacks.

Reuters visited three factories in late July whose owners said they had lost between 12% and 19% of their employees during the protests.

Some of the workers who left had sewing skills that are difficult to replace, while factory owners said relatively few South Africans were willing to take the low-paying jobs.

"People don't want to work in factories," said Mpho Nkosi, a 29-year-old South African administrator at one of the firms.

The protests were driven by the anti-immigrant group March and March, which has campaigned for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa.

The group declared June 30 as a deadline for undocumented migrants to leave, prompting many to flee.

March and March blames immigrants for some of South Africa's economic problems, particularly high unemployment, and argues that employers prefer foreign workers because they are willing to accept lower wages.

Researchers, however, dispute the claim that migrants are responsible for South Africa's unemployment crisis.

The disruption has exposed a complicated reality in some industries, where employers say migrant workers fill jobs that are difficult to recruit South Africans for.

Factory owners in Newcastle said they predominantly employ South Africans but rely on some skilled workers from neighbouring countries such as Eswatini and Lesotho because of their experience in the garment industry.

"We can't immediately replace these skills with locals," said Newcastle factory owner Alex Liu.

Another factory owner, Ronghua Yan, began training seven local employees after losing about 40 foreign workers in June.

However, he said financial constraints prevented him from expanding the training programme.

The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union estimates that around 15% of Newcastle's 15 000-strong textile workforce left during the protests.

But union representative Siyabonga Ntombela rejected claims that South Africa lacks qualified garment workers.

"We have plenty of qualified machinists in South Africa," he said.

Ntombela argued that the main problem was inadequate pay rather than a shortage of skills. He said commuting costs also discouraged South Africans from taking factory jobs, while some migrant workers had lived on factory premises.

Labour market researcher Siphelele Ngidi said attracting South Africans into manufacturing would require more than simply removing foreign workers from the labour market.

"It's not just the wage alone, it's also the working conditions and the possibility of upward mobility," he said.

Low wages

Newcastle's garment industry is dominated by factories owned by Chinese nationals who have operated in South Africa for decades.

The factories supply clothing to domestic retailers and form part of an industry Government has identified as important for reducing the country's dependence on imported clothing.

The sector is also critical to Newcastle's local economy.

However, working conditions and wages remain a major challenge.

Workers are typically paid according to the number of pieces they produce, meaning only the most productive workers may reach South Africa's national minimum wage of R30.23 an hour.

Many earn less.

Factory owners said they could not afford significant wage increases because retailers pay low prices for locally manufactured clothing.

A pair of jeans can sell to retailers for as little as R11.50, while a T-shirt can fetch less than half that amount, according to factory owners.

The industry was already under pressure before the protests.

In February, government inspections uncovered illegal labour practices at some factories, resulting in further disruption.

Liu said many factories subsequently lost retail orders, although he stressed that the violations did not apply equally across the industry.

The reduction in orders has eased the immediate pressure to replace workers who left, but Liu warned that the combined impact of falling orders and labour shortages could threaten the survival of some businesses.

He said his own factory was operating at a loss and that he would reassess the business by December.

"At the moment everybody's wait-and-see. I think there's a possibility we will see a lot of closures in the coming months," Liu said.

The developments have highlighted the difficult balance facing South Africa as it seeks to tackle extremely high unemployment while protecting industries that depend on migrant labour and ensuring that jobs created for locals are sufficiently attractive to fill.

For Newcastle's clothing factories, the departure of migrant workers has not automatically translated into more employment for South Africans. Instead, it has left some businesses struggling to replace experienced workers while simultaneously dealing with low margins, weak demand and rising uncertainty.