Clothing manufacturers in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province are struggling to maintain production after anti-immigrant protests prompted thousands of migrant workers to leave their jobs.
At factories in Newcastle, one of the country’s main garment-manufacturing centres, rows of sewing machines have been left unused as employers attempt to replace workers who fled during weeks of xenophobic demonstrations.
Owners of three factories visited by Reuters in late July said they had lost between 12% and 19% of their employees. Some of those who left were experienced machinists from neighbouring Eswatini and Lesotho, whose skills employers say cannot be replaced quickly.
The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union estimates that about 15% of Newcastle’s 15,000 textile workers departed during the unrest.
The protests were led by the anti-immigrant group March and March, which argues that foreign nationals take jobs from South Africans in a country where roughly one-third of the workforce is unemployed.
Researchers dispute claims that migrants are responsible for South Africa’s wider economic problems. Manufacturers also say foreign workers are often concentrated in low-paid sectors that struggle to attract local employees.
“People don’t want to work in factories,” said Mpho Nkosi, a South African administrator at one Newcastle clothing company.
Employers said most of their staff were South African, but experienced migrant workers had played an important role in maintaining production.
“We can’t immediately replace these skills with locals,” factory owner Alex Liu said.
Another manufacturer, Ronghua Yan, launched a training programme for seven South African employees after around 40 foreign workers left his factory in June. He said financial pressures prevented him from training more recruits.
Union representative Siyabonga Ntombela rejected claims that South Africa lacked qualified machinists. He said low wages, transport costs and poor working conditions were the main reasons local workers were reluctant to take the jobs.
“We have plenty of qualified machinists in South Africa,” Ntombela said.
At some factories, migrant employees live on site, reducing their transport expenses. South African workers often have to spend a significant portion of their earnings commuting.
Labour market researcher Siphelele Ngidi said wages were only part of the problem, arguing that working conditions and limited opportunities for promotion also made garment work unattractive.
Most clothing factories in Newcastle are owned by Chinese nationals who have operated in South Africa for decades. They supply domestic retailers and form a vital part of the city’s economy.
The government has supported domestic clothing production as part of efforts to reduce dependence on imports. However, factory owners say intense pressure from retailers has kept manufacturing prices and wages extremely low.
Workers are generally paid according to the number of garments they complete. Only the most productive employees may reach the national minimum wage of 30.23 rand ($1.83) an hour, while many earn less.
Manufacturers said retailers sometimes pay as little as 11.50 rand for a pair of jeans, with T-shirts fetching less than half that amount.
The sector was already under pressure following government inspections in February that uncovered illegal labour practices at some factories. Liu said the inspections caused retailers to withdraw orders from many manufacturers, including businesses that had not committed the same violations.
Reduced orders have temporarily eased the need to replace all the workers who left, but factory owners warn that the combined impact of labour shortages and declining business could force companies to close.
Liu said his factory was operating at a loss and that he would decide by December whether it could remain open.
“At the moment everybody’s waiting to see what happens,” he said. “There’s a possibility we will see a lot of closures in the coming months.”