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Local – South Africa’s recent wave of anti-migrant protests is driven by anger over unemployment, crime and years of weak economic growth. Protesters argue that removing foreign nationals from the country will free up jobs and services for South Africans.
However, economists warn that the departure of thousands of foreign workers could damage the very businesses and jobs the protesters say they want to protect.
Chief Economist of the Efficient Group and Chairman of Efficient Private Clients, Dawie Roodt, said foreign nationals were doing more good than bad for the economy.
He said the country had endured 15 to 20 years of stagnation, with rising poverty and hunger and 30 million people now dependent on the state for a monthly income, and that the decline had left ordinary people desperate and searching for someone to hold responsible.
“They want to blame somebody for where they are. And a very easy scapegoat, of course, is the migrants. It’s a migrant’s fault because they’re taking our jobs. They’re taking place in the schools. They’re taking place in hospitals.”
Migrants are Employing South Africans
Roodt said the cause of the crisis was a government following the wrong policies. Unemployment among foreign nationals in South Africa, both legal and illegal, is lower than among South Africans, and those who cross the borders tend to be enterprising.
He pointed to research showing that a large share of migrants run their own businesses rather than competing for existing jobs. Those businesses go on to employ South Africans, which means that removing foreign nationals would also eliminate the jobs they have created.
“If you look at how many entrepreneurs are typically part of the migrant society, you will find that, in a recent study that I read, for example, 60% of them are actually entrepreneurs, and they are employing South Africans.”
Labour Laws Keep Locals Out of Jobs
The central question in the debate is whether jobless South Africans would fill the gaps left by the removal of foreign workers. Foreign nationals occupy identifiable niches in the economy, with Zimbabweans commonly working in the restaurant trade and Malawians in domestic work, and protesters argue those positions would pass to unemployed locals.
Roodt said some South Africans would be employed, but the net effect was unlikely to be positive. Employers are deterred by the cost and complexity of hiring locally, with red tape making the process difficult even for established companies, while the economy has grown at less than one percent a year against population growth of one and a half percent.
“A very important reason why employers do not want to employ South Africans is because of labour legislation. Things like minimum wages and very strict labour legislation in South Africa.”
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