Employers and landlords feel impact as foreign nationals leave

Employers say the departure of foreign nationals has disrupted farming, accommodation and domestic work across several communities.

Employers and landlords feel impact as foreign nationals leave

Employers and landlords say anti-immigration protests have created uncertainty for them and foreign workers alike.

Departing migrants have left holes in parts of the economy – and not everyone is happy about that.

Ginger farmer Edward Latsky from Ohrigstad in Mpumalanga said intimidation and threats from the local community had chased away documented foreign nationals who worked for him for over a decade.

Farmer describes labour shortages

He is one of the few ginger farmers in South Africa and produces about 30% of the country’s ginger.

“I had to halt all work on the farm because buses and groups of people kept showing up to intimidate and even threaten us with death. The police did a good job of managing the situation but failed to stop the unrest or make any arrests, and the next day, it simply continued,” Latsky said.

“Of my 50 legitimate workers, only seven remain. Those who lived in the village were physically abducted and forced into taxis and many of their belongings – kept in their rooms – were stolen and looted while the police turned a blind eye.”

Latsky said all his workers’ paperwork were in order.

“But they don’t care if they documented foreigners or illegal foreigners; they remove everyone.”

He employed workers from the community nearest to the farm, “but now the other communities are unhappy”.

He put out the message that he needed 20 additional workers, but between 60 and 80 people arrived, accompanied by their ward councillors and leaders.

“When I selected the 20 who would be working for me today, an ugly situation arose, with the main agitators and ward councillors taking the lead,” he said.

Latsky was manhandled and grabbed by his collar.

Landlords and consultants lose business

An elderly landlord from Ivory Park outside Midrand says the recent anti-immigration protests has negatively affected her business because the majority of her tenants – mostly foreign nationals – have left.

There are two tenants remaining and they are preparing to go back to Malawi next week.

“I had 10 tenants, but most of them have left already. Some of them were even documented, but they were fearing for their lives,” the landlord said.

“The way the protesters handled the situation has caused fear in many immigrants, regardless of their status. Government needs to address things in a way that does not cause fear, even to legal migrants.”

Given Mashele, a consultant who assisted residents to secure accommodation, said he was out of business because most of his clients were migrants based in Johannesburg North.

“In this part of the city, there were many foreign nationals, but all of them left; even those who were documented have left,” Mashele said.

“As I deal with accommodation based in the townships in Johannesburg North, the protests affected me badly.”

Employers fear legal and safety risks

A 50-year-old domestic worker from Zimbabwe said her life was in limbo as her employer instructed her to leave, fearing he would be accused of employing and housing an illegal foreign national.

“Even if my employer did not ask me to leave, I was still going to have a problem because I was told that the police would be conducting roadblocks to arrest us.

“My husband and I left Zimbabwe many years ago when the country was in economic crisis under the late president Robert Mugabe. Now, we have to go back home and start a new life.”

A woman who had employed a Malawian as a gardener in Johannesburg said he could not get legal papers, despite multiple attempts at home affairs.

“I had to let him go – and it breaks my heart to see people hungry and cold in the dark – but it’s becoming too much of a risk. What if a mob comes here looking for foreigners and attacks us?”

She said she was also concerned that employers are now being targeted, with fines of up to R100 000 for employing illegal immigrants.

“We can’t afford that. So I’ll just have to get a garden service in…”