South African garment factories face labor shortage after xenophobic protests

Weeks after anti‑immigrant group March and March called for undocumented migrants to leave, thousands of foreign workers fled South Africa. In Newcastle, KwaZulu‑Natal, clothing factories reported a loss of 12%‑19% of their workforce, leaving rows of idle sewing machines.

Factory owners said skilled seamstresses from neighbouring Eswatini and Lesotho are hard to replace, while local workers are reluctant to take the low‑paying jobs. The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union estimates that about 15% of the region’s 15,000‑strong textile workforce has left. Training programmes for local staff have been launched but are limited by financial constraints. A Department of Employment and Labour spokesperson said the department was unaware of any widespread labour shortage.