Anti-immigration activists demand Umdloti businesses dismiss foreign workers

A delegation of seven people claiming to represent anti-immigration movement March and March visited businesses in Umdloti on Wednesday, July 22, demanding that all foreign nationals, whether documented or undocumented, be retrenched.

The visit, the second to Umdloti in the past month, led to tensions, with police called after both sides accused each other of intimidation. Days earlier, a video circulated on TikTok in which an alleged March and March supporter listed private addresses where foreign nationals are purportedly employed.

The group argued that foreign nationals are contributing to South Africa’s unemployment crisis and called on businesses to replace them with South African workers, including those who legally hold work permits.

However, when asked how many foreign nationals were in the country compared with the number of unemployed South Africans, members were unable to provide figures.

There was also no evidence of illegal hiring practices presented.

While those who spoke to the Courier declined to be identified, one was later identified through his TikTok profile, @DrKay503, as inyanga and reality TV personality Dr Khehlelezi. His real name is Bhongolwethu Mzozo and he is expected to contest the MK Party’s Ward 60 councillor position in Verulam later this year.

Labour and employment lawyer Ernst Booyse said the group’s demands were unlawful under Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act.

He said employers may retrench staff only for technological, financial, restructuring or other operational reasons, not on the basis of unfair discrimination based on nationality, a protection also enshrined in Section 9 of the Constitution.

“If a business gives in to this demand, foreigners can take the matter to a bargaining council for unfair dismissal, and they will win,” said Booyse.

He added that the CCMA hears disputes involving undocumented foreign nationals because it does not distinguish between foreign and South African workers. Employers who have hired foreign nationals without valid work permits cannot simply dismiss them, he said, but are responsible for helping regularise their immigration status. Once employed, workers are protected by labour law, while any requirement to prioritise South African citizens in recruitment cannot be applied retrospectively.

Independent fact-checking organisation Africa Check recently reported that Statistics South Africa’s 2022 Census estimated there were 2.4 million migrants in South Africa, representing 3.9% of the country’s population of 62 million. Citing Wits University researcher Dr Justin Visagie, it said migrants held about 3.7% of formal jobs in 2024 and described claims that foreigners are “taking jobs” from South Africans as “baseless”, noting that migrant-owned businesses also employ South Africans.