Labour and Civic Organization, along with unemployed youth shut down operations at City Deep market today alleging that too many undocumented foreigners are employed there.
Image: Timothy Bernard | Independent Newspaper
As thousands of South Africans take to the streets to protest against what they see as an influx of undocumented foreign nationals taking jobs, Statistics South Africa’s latest jobs survey shows that 80,000 jobs were shed in the first quarter - 121,000 year-on-year.
Employment has become one of the defining public issues in South Africa, underpinning Monday’s nationwide “March and March” demonstrations in cities including Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pietermaritzburg.
The movement argues that stricter enforcement of immigration laws is needed to protect jobs for South African citizens, calling for stronger action against employers hiring undocumented foreign nationals and tighter regulation of informal trade.
Critics, however, have warned that the campaign risks fuelling xenophobia and unfairly attributing South Africa’s deep-rooted unemployment crisis to migrants.
At the same time Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey gross earnings paid to employees fell by R43.4 billion, or 4%, during the quarter to R1.04 trillion.
Basic salaries and wages declined by R6.9 billion, while bonus payments dropped sharply by R35.8 billion, or almost 30%, between December and March. Overtime payments also fell by R700 million during that period.
Year-on-year, wages, bonuses and overtime payments increased, with bonuses showing the biggest growth rate at 12.4%.
The latest employment figures added to “a reasonably bleak picture” for South African consumers, said Dr Elna Moolman, Standard Bank Group head of South Africa macroeconomic research.
“In the first quarter of this year the credit bureau data that we track shows an increase in financial pressure on consumers and specifically a broad-based rise in non-performing loans and the proportion of consumers with overdue debt,” Moolman said.
Moolman added that consumers had also faced a significant increase in the cost of living during the second quarter, together with another South African Reserve Bank interest rate hike, and expected households to remain under pressure for the remainder of the year.
The QES showed that businesses employed 121,000 fewer people in March than a year earlier, while 80,000 jobs disappeared in the first three months of 2026 alone as employers cut staff, bonuses and overtime amid a challenging economic environment.
Moolman said the figures painted a worrying picture beyond the headline employment numbers. “This survey shows more than a one percent decline in jobs in the first quarter of this year relative to the first quarter of last year,” she said.
The payroll survey, which covers approximately 20,000 VAT-registered businesses and public institutions, found total formal non-agricultural employment fell from 10.548 million in December 2025 to 10.468 million by the end of March 2026. Compared with March last year, employment declined from 10.589 million workers.
The losses were concentrated in sectors that employ large numbers of South Africans. Community services shed 53,000 jobs during the quarter, while trade – including wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurants – lost 40,000. Transport and electricity also recorded declines.
The picture was not uniformly negative. Manufacturing and business services each added 7,000 jobs, while mining gained 2,000 and construction 1,000. However, these gains were insufficient to offset broader losses across the economy.
Part-time workers bore the brunt of the slowdown. Part-time employment fell by 56,000 during the quarter – more than double the decline in full-time employment, which fell by 24,000.
Community services accounted for 50,000 of the part-time job losses, while trade lost a further 13,000 part-time positions.
Moolman noted that the losses were recorded in both the public and private sectors, with particularly significant declines in the wholesale industry as well as hotels and restaurants.
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