by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – IN their campaign to expel foreign nationals from South Africa, vigilante groups are mobilising locals under the pretext that they will secure jobs once the migrants leave.
However, with thousands leaving the country under the ongoing mass voluntary repatriation exercise, local citizens are worse off.
Not only are the majority still unemployed, they are also bearing the brunt of this ill-conceived operation. A shortage of basic commodities and a dearth of services that foreign nationals specialised in have set in.
It is an emerging township economic crisis, adding to the woes of a national economy that was already in dire straits even before anti-migrant sentiment heightened, culminating in the feared so-called June 30 deadline that triggered an exodus of foreign nationals.
The thousands of foreign nationals who have left have departed with their skills, leaving a gap that locals are finding difficult to fill, as they are not equipped.
Among the skills and services that were mostly dominated by foreign nationals, and which many South Africans regard as menial despite not being qualified in them, are vending, hairdressing, barbering, construction and welding, among others.
In the Protea Glen area, west of Soweto, some parts are experiencing a shortage of vegetables after the majority of Mozambican traders closed shop and were forced off the markets and street pavements where they operated.
These foreign nationals were seen as enterprising, always the earliest at the markets where vendors buy stock in bulk, and always opening their stalls promptly. On the other hand, leaders have conceded that most South Africans are not willing to do such jobs, which demand braving the chilly morning weather to be at the markets, and are largely reluctant to be associated with vending.
With the shortage of vegetables, locals are now forced to buy them at malls, where prices are higher, at times more than double what vendors charged.
That is because malls largely cater for the middle class.
At the mall in Protea Glen, these vegetables are available at Shoprite and Pick n Pay.
Unlike the informal traders, these shops do not offer much variety when it comes to green vegetables, largely stocking only cabbage and spinach.
Outside the mall, at the stalls and pavements that used to be a hive of activity with traders going about their business, the atmosphere is dull. The pavements and stalls still bear the inscription, “Please Go Home”, which vigilante groups painted during a campaign of intimidation ahead of the June 30 so-called deadline set by the militant groups.
“With the foreign nationals gone to their countries and some forced off the streets where they were operating, it is the locals who are now suffering as their main source of affordable vegetables has been shut down. The big supermarkets are profiting from this as citizens have no choice but to buy there, at much steeper prices,” local resident Samuel Nthodi said.
Nhlanhla Tholashe, from Soweto, lamented how he struggled to get his usual haircut after the closure of hair salons that were forced to shut after the barbers, mostly from Mozambique, left or still fear reopening because of the ongoing intimidation.
“Since 12pm, I’m still looking for a place to cut my hair,” he said in the evening.
“Perhaps someone has to go to Mozambique to get that haircut,” Tholashe joked.
He later challenged South Africans: “Open these salons and operate them now that foreigners are gone, as you demanded. Or they must come back and continue.”
Thando Maseko, of Emalahleni in Mpumalanga, shared a similar experience.
“I haven’t had a haircut since my regular barber went back to Mozambique. Many barber shops around here are closed,” he told CAJ News Africa in a chat.
Most salons run by foreign nationals charge between R30 (US$1.82) and R50 (US$3). In their absence, citizens have the option of seeking services at upmarket salons and international brands, where a standard adult haircut, according to research by this publication, costs between R150 (US$9) and R200 (US$12).
Youngsters and their parents in some townships bore the brunt this past weekend and on Monday ahead of the resumption of the new school term on Tuesday (today), as the youngsters struggled to get haircuts.
In Soweto, a woman, speaking anonymously, shared concerns similar to those of Maseko and Tholashe.
“They (foreign nationals) are gone. Now we don’t have people to help with gardening, cleaning the yard and removing weeds,” she said.
The homeowner regretted hiring a South African man to help.
“He only came at 10am, yet we had agreed he would be here at 8am. He didn’t clean the yard well at all.”
One of the oldest townships in South Africa, Soweto in Gauteng Province is still expanding westwards towards the neighbouring North West Province.
With the flurry of new properties, demand is high for services such as building, carpentry, landscaping, paving, painting and welding.
There is broad consensus among employers and educational researchers that South Africa’s basic education system is predominantly theoretical.
The curriculum heavily emphasises academic learning over practical trades and occupational subjects, leaving the majority of locals at a significant disadvantage compared to their counterparts from neighbouring countries, where practical trades form part of the curriculum.
Statistics South Africa reports that the country lost 345 000 jobs overall in the first quarter of 2026.
With the formal economy struggling to provide jobs, locals therefore also struggle to make a living in the informal economy, which has emerged as the larger source of employment.
– CAJ News