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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
World
RFI

Migrant exodus leaves South African employers short-handed

Hundreds of Zimbabwean citizens waiting to be transported home after fleeing South Africa at a repatriation reception camp in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, 9 July 2026.
Hundreds of Zimbabwean citizens waiting to be transported home after fleeing South Africa at a repatriation reception camp in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, 9 July 2026. AFP - ZINYANGE AUNTONY

South Africa is suffering a drop in its workforce, following the departure of thousands of foreign workers in the wake of a wave of xenophobic attacks, anti-migrant protests and intensified immigration enforcement.

South African farmers are sounding the alarm – such as Lloyd Hadebe, deputy president of the Farmers' Association in KwaZulu-Natal, the region hardest hit by anti-immigration protests.

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