South Africa's migrant exodus leaves employers short-handed

South Africa’s migrant exodus is leaving farms, factories and households short of labor, with employers struggling to harvest and process goods. Zimbabwean farmworker Aaron Majatamhe described citrus bushes left unpicked in South Africa’s top fruit regions and said the same shortage is emerging in vineyards. The situation follows anti-migrant protests and tighter immigration enforcement, after an informal June 30 deadline set by fringe anti-foreigner groups prompted the return of more than 160,000 people, according to an AFP tally using African government data. The impact was felt quickly in KwaZulu-Natal’s sugar belt, where one farmer said he lost up to 80% of his cane-cutting workforce overnight. Similar problems are reported near Mid-Illovo and in Durban’s Chatsworth industrial area, where skilled machinists departing from Malawi and Mozambique hinder output.