Foreigners Dominate South Africa General Jobs, 231,850 Workers Employed – SA Govt
Gauteng Leads With Most Foreign Nationals, Agriculture Sector Dominate
By Fanuel Viriri
Foreigners dominate South Africa’s entry level jobs with 231 850 foreign nationals found in 168 766 workplaces, South Africa’s Department of Labour has revealed.
Entry level jobs are the lowest jobs in the labour market that require little or no experience and no tertiary qualification, such as farm workers, cleaners, domestic workers, general labourers, shop assistants, cashiers, till packers, waiters, security guards and construction general workers.
According to the Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services semester one report for 2026/27 released on 12 November 2026, these are the jobs that are now dominated by foreign nationals, with Inspector General Aggy Moiloa saying “it was unfortunate because these were jobs that could easily have been occupied by South Africans”.
The report shows that out of 168,766 workplaces inspected nationally, 21,371 were found to be employing foreign nationals.
Agriculture leads with 46,533 foreign nationals employed by just 1,205 employers, followed by Wholesale and Retail with 41,359 foreign nationals across 6,698 employers, while other top sectors include Community, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Construction, Mining, Private Security, Financial Services and Education.
By province, Gauteng leads with 59,624 foreign nationals, closely followed by North West with 58,533, Western Cape with 34,675, Limpopo with 24,972, Eastern Cape with 20,385, KwaZulu-Natal with 13,295, Mpumalanga with 11,560, Free State with 5,173, Northern Cape with 3,571 and Head Office with 62.
Moiloa said Public Employment Services and Inspection and Enforcement Services need to collaborate and strengthen their partnership as enforcement depends on capacity on both sides, adding that the department is banking on Project 10 000 to recruit new inspectors to strengthen enforcement.
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