Why South African Workers Are Begging Foreigners To Return...

[00:00:00]We are losing our jobs because when you when they are taking the foreigners away that's the foreigners who are giving us jobs.

[00:00:07]>> Yes.

[00:00:08]>> We won't have jobs.

[00:00:09]>> Are you in the foreign factories here?

[00:00:10]>> Yes.

[00:00:12]>> For months the streets of South Africa had been only filled with crowds marching, chanting against foreign nationals and demanding they leave the country. groups like March and March and Operation Duda led demonstrations through South African cities. Then in the second week of June 2026, a different crowd showed up. This time it was factory workers, South Africans themselves marching not to push foreigners out but to bring them back.

[00:00:47]really their message ran in the opposite direction of everything the country had been hearing for months. These workers came from the clothing and government manufacturing sector and instead of calling for foreigners to leave, they were demanding that skilled foreign employees be allowed to keep their jobs.

[00:01:08]One protester said, "Mr. President, you can't chase foreigners. They are part of us. If you chase them, we are nothing.

[00:01:17]We will be hungry. Our children will have nothing to eat. Another protester said, "Most of South African people are lazy and they demand too much wages.

[00:01:31]Meanwhile, they do not have the skills.

[00:01:34]They are now learning."

[00:01:37]Hm. That points directly at the gap between what local workers were asking for and what they could currently deliver on the factory floor. You see, it was an uncomfortable thing to say out loud in public on camera. But it explained exactly why these workers were marching for people other protesters wanted gone. A speaker at the protest working in garment production said that factories had struggled for years to find enough skilled local machinist despite ongoing efforts to train South African workers for those exact roles.

[00:02:14]>> We are here today trying to save our jobs.

[00:02:17]>> Are you local? Are you local?

[00:02:19]>> We are local.

[00:02:20]>> And how are you losing your job?

[00:02:21]>> We are losing our jobs because when we when they are taking the foreigners away that's the foreigners who are giving us jobs.

[00:02:28]>> Yes. We once have jobs >> which are you in the clothing factories here?

[00:02:32]>> Yes, we are in the clothing factory.

[00:02:33]>> So I say that again. Are you saying that when they remove the foreigners as the government is saying you are going to be one of the jobs?

[00:02:39]>> Yes, you won't have jobs.

[00:02:41]>> Why is that?

[00:02:42]>> Most of the foreigners are machinist.

[00:02:44]>> We don't have local merchist.

[00:02:47]>> But people are saying machines are everywhere. The machinist are everywhere.

[00:02:50]>> That's a lie.

[00:02:52]>> That's a lie.

[00:02:52]>> That's a lie.

[00:02:53]>> That's a lie. No, but when when we post about the foreigners and the local, we can't get the locals to be machinist.

[00:03:00]They all tell us, "No, the machinist are everywhere. Thousands." We are lying.

[00:03:06]>> Are you Are you local guys saying that?

[00:03:07]Because the government is saying, "No, there are thousands of workers here."

[00:03:12]We go to they are our TEAM >> only because they know how to come first. That's all. But the forers both of them they know how to do THE daring daring hold on hold on please send a message to your president Mr. Ram and tell him what he just said. Now >> Mr. Mr. You can't chase the foreigners. They are part of us. They are our people. If you chase them, we are nothing. The places are going to be closed AND WE ARE WE'RE going to be poor. We are going to be hungry. We are childrens. What our children are going to eat? Nothing. We need foreigners almost 5 years. When you don't have a foreigners in the country, we won't have no job. WE WON'T HAVE NOTHING. WE ALL POOR. Foras will live here in South Africa. We won't have nothing. We won't have nothing. We need the foras here.

[00:04:15]They can't even make one garment.

[00:04:17]>> Who the people?

[00:04:19]>> But you know local. You're saying the truth. Is that the truth?

[00:04:22]>> I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TRAIN THEM. SINCE last year, we didn't have one good machinist >> to do even one government.

[00:04:29]>> But MK Labor Day says enters plenty of people out there for mission.

[00:04:33]>> They they supposed to give us that people. One one of them must come and bring ONE TO SHOW US HOW TO DO THE JOB.

[00:04:41]But they can't GIVE US ANY ONE PERSON TO REPLACE THE FOREIGNER.

[00:04:46]>> YOU CAN'T TAKE SOMEBODY WITHOUT >> YOU.

[00:05:00]because money.

[00:05:03]>> So the argument is that why aren't we employing the locals to be the machinist? Why are only foreigners the machinist?

[00:05:09]>> Why only foreigners? Why our local people? I'm not complaining our local people. I'm the I'm the local people. We don't have experience. Some of us and we are choosing the prices. We demanding so much price from our bosses.

[00:05:25]>> Yes. We demanding too much wages while we don't know why you are still learning. You you expecting the opposite to pay you there too much.

[00:05:34]>> So the the lady said that the locals have tried to employ them but they can't make it. They can't make it one week that they stay inside the wies is not enough for them and then they going out.

[00:05:46]>> Are saying they taking the locals they work two days three days and they gone.

[00:05:49]after they get their going out and look for another job and then they're going to complain from the labor people from MK they going to complain about what this country is this this is this is not that why they are damned that they don't want to work for you we're here to say we don't want the foreigners go we don't want Malawi go we don't want to go we don't want any other country to go when they go we are going to lose our country our bosses are going to When are we going to eat but Africans are raised in >> That's a big statement. That's a big statement you make.

[00:06:26]>> If you put on the machine and they send them instead of >> Yes, there were training programs that existed, but they just hadn't closed the gap fast enough. But fortunately, foreign workers had filled that gap. And when factories started losing those workers through deportations, fear through people simply just deciding to leave the country, production disrupted.

[00:06:55]Workers argued that the loss of these employees could harm the businesses themselves and leave many local workers without jobs of their own. Now, a factory that can't produce at full capacity doesn't just lose its foreign workers. It eventually has to lay off the South Africans standing right next to them.

[00:07:17]Now let's take a look beyond the factories. Do you know something?

[00:07:22]Demonstrators across multiple sectors argued that many foreign nationals were not just employees but business owners and investors who created jobs themselves. So when those foreigners left the country, businesses had to shut down or scaled back their operations.

[00:07:40]and that in turn produce job losses for the local workers those businesses employed. Now I'm sure you're getting the full picture. Good. This was part of the story that rarely made it into the headlines. A foreignowned shop wasn't just a foreign worker behind the counter. It was often a South African employee being paid back to stock the shelves. A South African security guard at the door. a South African supplier delivering goods every week. The protesters insisted that foreign labor and investment played an important role in sustaining livelihoods and supporting the broader economy. And now here comes the more interesting part.

[00:08:26]Just days later after that protest, there was a different group that made the same argument from a different angle. South African women took to the streets declaring directly, "We are South Africans. We say no to xenophobia.

[00:08:43]We need foreigners."

[00:08:45]They argue that foreign workers help sustain industries employing thousands of South Africans and that removing them without trained replacements ready to step in could lead to straight factory closes and job losses. Their message rejected the idea that pushing foreigners out would somehow open opportunities for local workers.

[00:09:07]Instead, they warned that removing foreign workers would not solve unemployment. Rather, it would deepen the economic hardship facing South Africans who were already struggling to get by. They described the foreign workers not as competitors taking something away from them but as co-workers and colleagues contributing to industries that supported their own families.

[00:09:33]H well these warnings weren't coming out of nowhere. You see South Africa's unemployment crisis was already severe before any of this started. The country's unemployment rate covered around 33%.

[00:09:50]Which is among the highest in the world.

[00:09:52]Now for young black South Africans specifically, that figure climbed past 45%.

[00:10:00]Against numbers like those, every job mattered, whether the person doing it was born in South Africa or had crossed the border to get there. in that context made the deportation campaign that followed even more consequential. South African authorities confirmed that more than 100,000 migrants had been deported over the previous 2 years. A process that cost the government millions of rand enforcement and logistics. And each removal had a ripple effect that didn't stop at the person being sent home. It reached the factory floor, the supply chain, the shop counter, and every South African job connected to it. South Africa's opposition leader, Julio Malma, who is the head of the economic freedom fighters, that's the EFF, challenged people involved in attacks on foreignowned businesses to consider what they had actually achieved. He asked plainly, how many jobs had been created after those attacks took place. You said they take jobs. I asked the question, 300 Ghanaians went back to Ghana 3 days ago.

[00:11:17]Show me 300 jobs which were created after those three Ghanaians left.

[00:11:23]Say no. Mahama took 300 people back to Ghana and as a result here 300 jobs that we created because ms which jobs are they taking from you?

[00:11:38]>> You see it was a question without an easy answer because you see the honest answer in most cases was none. Two stories one country. Hm.

[00:11:52]Well, by the middle of June 2026, South Africa was telling two completely different stories about its own economy at the exact same time.

[00:12:04]One story said foreigners were taking jobs and needed to leave. The other story said that losing those same foreigners was costing South Africans their jobs too.

[00:12:17]Well, South Africa remains one of Africa's most industrialized economies and one of the continent's main destinations for migrants with around 2.4 million immigrants living among a population of 63 million as of 2022.

[00:12:34]That scale was exactly why the factory workers's warning carried weight.

[00:12:41]Because you see, labor migration in the country stretched back decades, expanding from the mines and farms of the appetite era into hospitality, security, transport, and other services.

[00:12:55]After 1994, removing a workforce that is deeply woven into the economy was never going to be a clean or simple operation.

[00:13:08]>> Another day, >> another South African story yet again.

[00:13:13]>> Yet again, >> why always South Africa?

[00:13:16]>> Anyway, >> yes. Should South Africa prioritize jobs for citizens even if businesses suffer?

[00:13:28]>> It's a very nuanced conversation in the context that this situation is happening because um these businesses only get to thrive based upon the policies that the country has to be able to support them.

[00:13:45]>> All right. um the country South Africa in this government can look out for citizens getting jobs and that will happen as a result of existing programs because it's already been highlighted that there have been training programs that exist for certain jobs to be acquired but it seems it hasn't really moved faster. So that's where the government can keep an eye on to be able to help it citizens uh more rather than looking at just wanting to attack a foreign business who is not aware of the existing structures in their country aside the fact that you can be able to come there and work or have certain businesses established.

[00:14:24]>> All right. Is it unfair to hire foreigners when millions of locals are unemployed?

[00:14:32]Millions of locals are unemployed. Is it fair or unfair to hire foreigners?

[00:14:39]>> I wouldn't call it unfair hiring foreigners because the company decides who it is they want on on board. Right?

[00:14:47]And your expertise is what is going to be a determinant or a determinant factor to getting you a job. Now as to why millions of locals are unemployed that's a thing to do with the government and programs that have to be made accessible for the locals to be able to be employed. So when that is being ignored that is what is going to give the impression that oh foreigners are the ones that are being hired more with the locals left alone that's contributing to other factors that they experiencing whereas it's not in the power of the foreigners at all. So this is when conversations with the government forums amongst other petitions and protests have to be rather directed at the government to be able to help them establish these things because you go at the foreigners and then now you give them the impression that you just don't want them in the country and that they being there is giving the impression that maybe they are nuisance of sorts when it's even not the case or letting the companies that exist be known per your actions that you don't just want any foreigners here period. That's what it is the argument has been about. But it's not really the case. You just want to be employed, but the channel, the appropriate channels, the support to be able to get there is what is been looking really blurry or hasn't been stable for the most part.

[00:16:00]>> All right. So now, should skills matter more than hiring?

[00:16:07]Well, yes, skills are always going to be of course the the the considering factor for anything because when you are getting somebody on board, it's because of what it is they can be. It's not because of how charming they are. Even though that can be a contributing factor to your attitude towards work, but it's mostly the skills. It's because there are some people who might not be conversationalist at all and yet they will still get the job done or they might not be that much outgoing, maybe introverted or ambivverted, but in the end the job will be done. So for any company doesn't it's not even restricted to South Africa. It's just a general thing. Anybody would want somebody who has skills or is very much equipped to be able to take on the job that has been given to them. Yes.

[00:16:49]>> All right. So this leads me to this question. If foreigners actually contribute to the larger number >> of skilled labor, >> do you think they should be hired? And there's South Africans that are on scaled sidelined.

[00:17:04]>> Oh, we we can't say we sideline them.

[00:17:07]And that's why I say it's a much more nuance conversation because for the foreigners, they don't really have that power.

[00:17:12]>> Yeah, but I'm a company. I want profit.

[00:17:14]>> Yeah, you want profit. And so you're going to look at the expertise that is existing which is the foreign or the foreigners or the foreign nationals. And so that has to be a thing where the government really has to step in to ensure that programs are set aside for the locals to be able to enroll. and then they also get into the job market faster rather than just leaving it all in the hands of the foreigners and then creating the impression that oh they are the ones being picked because of such and such when actually they just haven't put certain things in place. Yeah.

[00:17:43]>> All right. Do you think South Africa's government is using the foreigners as scapegoats to maybe conceal their failures?

[00:17:53]Partly partly because we've seen it with the activist groups, but on a much general scale, it's not showing that there has really been some real support when it comes to the way the locals are supposed to be helped. And so it's just feeding into certain sentiments in my opinion for some government players, let me put it that way, who are hiding behind the fact that they know they're not really showing any competence in their ministries. And so they rather let this play out by the locals being angry at the foreigners so that it look like oh the the government is actually not paying attention or they scape goating the foreigners or they are going at the foreigners because they are actually the real cause when it's really not the case. Yeah. So many inconsistencies stemming from the fact that they just haven't created opportunities for locals to thrive in in the country.

[00:18:44]>> All right. So um can a country fight unemployment by deporting workers?

[00:18:51]>> You don't fight unemployment by deporting people. You fight unemployment by creating opportunities for >> Okay, hold up. Let make an emphasis emphasis on foreign workers. Foreign workers.

[00:19:03]>> No, you don't. That's that's not it can be one of the ways but it will fall under one of the categories that will not even really be considered until the situation is that critical. The most immediate of points or the most immediate of situations that have to be attended to with agency would be creating the opportunities or making it such that people will be able to be enrolled faster or get into the market faster rather than just scapegoating workers or saying we are gathering this number of people we are taking them out so that we can create because for the most part like Julius Malma was even highlighting that okay fine there are people who've left but where are the opportunities now you people have been saying they've been robbing you of So it's it's doesn't stem from they being kicked out anyway because they left and you still didn't get anything to do. So the government is the one that has to step in to create the opportunity for you so you be able to guess the job rather than just going at the foreigner and saying oh they responsible for X Y and Z so they should leave. It doesn't work.

[00:20:02]>> All right. Do you think businesses should replace foreign workers with locals?

[00:20:09]>> Replacing would make it extreme to some extent.

[00:20:14]You want a bit of a balance because for the most part all it is you're looking for as a company or as an agency or as an organization is expertise >> but at the same time you want to also be considerate to your people or for the place where you established at. So you're going to look at hiring more of the people who are there uh to balance out the numbers when it comes to expertise. Yes. So you are not necessarily looking to replace the people there. No, you are just considering a percentage that will make it more in there. So that it kind of gives that fair advantage for locals and foreigners who are there to come and work.

[00:20:48]>> All right. So um if the foreign workers in South Africa are creating jobs, >> do you think they deserve protection than what they are getting? Much more protection than what they getting.

[00:20:58]>> Oh yes. Yes. They deserve to have their businesses because that's that's a very good investment and also a very uh huge investment as well. not just for them but also for the people who are there because if I'm there and I'm creating jobs for your people. It means I want to see not just my business thrive but also see people be fed and that's the goal of investments anyway that in the end are people going to benefit are the locals who are there going to benefit from you being there or it's just a thing where you come you make your money bring in your people and then you leave. So when it happens like that and you're getting locals on board it means that you are giving everybody a fair chance at thriving. We are giving everybody a fair chance at also having something to do, giving everybody a fair chance at employment. So it's not just about looking out for the foreign workers. No, it's looking out also for locals who are there and looking for a means to an end or looking for a way to earn a living.

[00:21:50]Yeah.

[00:21:51]>> All right. So this brings us to the end of the chithat segment on book number seven. We would entreat you guys to subscribe. the oldies, the 80s and 90s kids, the genz's and the grandpappies and grandmas. Subscribe. All right. The name is Charisma. Mineman over there is Nana Quissy. And we say thank you very much for staying with us all the way up to the end of the video. Just as Charisma said, please remember to like this video, subscribe to the channel, and drop your thoughts in the comment section. You think kicking out foreigners is harsh or you think that on the other side is going to be beneficial for the people. And yes, we are on Facebook at book number seven. So, please go follow our page for more content just like this one and even more. But please do not go just yet.

[00:22:43]Watch these two videos next if you enjoyed this one. I'll see you in the next video.