Johannesburg, South Africa – In the narrow lanes of Fordsburg in central Johannesburg, Junaid Mohammed* stands behind the counter of a family shop that has been in his family for decades. His father started it as a general dealer. Today, it survives on cheap Chinese imports and shrinking margins.

Junaid, who asks us to use a pseudonym, does not call it a decline. He calls it survival.

But the bigger change is not what he sells. It is who he employs.

Junaid only employs foreign nationals as store assistants and packers. “It was not a deliberate choice,” he says.

It began with cost. Then habit. Then necessity.

“It became expensive to hire locals,” he says.

South Africa’s minimum wage is about $1.87 per hour, roughly $324 per month, plus statutory contributions and strong labour protections.

Junaid says he cannot carry it.

He pays about $12 a day, below the legal minimum, and hires workers only when business allows.

“If we do well, we can hire more. But when we are not busy, we can say we don’t need you now,” he says.

Pressure beyond the shop

Outside, pressure is rising.

Across South Africa, vigilante groups such as Operation Dudula and the March and March movement have carried out “citizen raids” on businesses accused of hiring foreign nationals. Some have turned violent.

At the same time, the state is tightening enforcement. President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned vigilante action and promised to hire 10,000 labour inspectors.

For employers like Junaid, the squeeze now comes from both directions.

A violation of labour law could shut him down.

“I don’t know what I am going to do,” he says.

Labour, law, and blame

Anti-immigrant sentiment has hardened. Some groups blame undocumented migrants for unemployment and demand their removal.

The government insists enforcement is about legality, not politics.

But its language is blunt.

“The reason why you see a number of companies employing illegal foreign immigrants is because, for them, it’s cheap labour. It’s about exploitation. It’s about making profit,” South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Labour Jomo Sibiya, told Al Jazeera.

He added: “If this worker gets injured … they don’t have any obligation to take him to hospital or report it.”

Still, he distinguishes between documented and undocumented workers.

“We are not saying there shouldn’t be a foreign national who comes to work in South Africa … We are saying we can’t continue having job opportunities being taken by people who are illegally in the country.”

South Africa’s unemployment rate is about 33 percent. Youth unemployment is far higher, exceeding 60 percent for the youngest 15-24 demographic.

Government officials argue that high unemployment has made labour enforcement an economic as well as an immigration issue. They say employers who hire undocumented migrants can gain an unfair advantage by paying below legal wage standards and avoiding some of the obligations that come with formal employment.

Labour authorities also argue that undocumented workers are especially vulnerable to exploitation because their immigration status may discourage them from reporting abuses or seeking help from state institutions. That concern has become a central justification for the government’s push to increase inspections and penalise employers found to be breaking labour laws.

Supporters of the crackdown say stronger enforcement will help protect labour standards and create more opportunities for South Africans seeking work. Critics, however, question whether tougher immigration enforcement alone can address the country’s deep-rooted unemployment challenges.

In that context, foreign workers have become a political flashpoint.

The inner-city economy

But inside Johannesburg’s inner city, the picture is more layered.

Loren Landau, a migration scholar at the University of Oxford, says undocumented labour is concentrated in the sectors hardest to regulate.

“On the job front … there are huge advantages to hiring foreigners. You can always threaten them with deportation, or non-payment.”

He rejects the idea of simple preference.

“Definitely, employers will exploit that. It’s rational. The fact that immigrants are not going to go to the labour department to complain makes it more appealing.”

“It’s not an inherent preference. It’s a preference to maximise profits.”

Policy is now shifting towards legal employees.

“We are not saying there shouldn't be a foreign national who comes to work in South Africa … We are saying we can't continue having job opportunities being taken by people who are illegally in the country.”

by Jomo Sibiya, South Africa's deputy minister of labour

A draft plan proposes fines of up to 1 million South African rand ($61,700) for hiring undocumented workers.

Deputy Minister Sibiya says the aim is to cut demand.

“Cut off the demand, and you are going to see less and less people coming to work illegally.”

A city being reshaped

But migrants are also embedded in Johannesburg’s informal economy – running shops, moving goods, sustaining trade in struggling inner-city blocks.

Urban planner Tanya Zack says that role is often overlooked.

“A lot of money generated by migrants selling fast fashion … is important to an inner city that’s failing. If we could invest in infrastructure and policing to make it safer, you could capture more in the South African economy,” she says.

She disputes claims that migrants sit outside taxation entirely.

“There is no system for the informal economy. They are increasingly using card systems and digital banking.”

Cities, she argues, are already being reshaped – policy or not.

Enforcement without resolution

On the ground, enforcement is visible: raids, arrests, removals. Undocumented nationals from several African countries are being repatriated from South Africa, emboldening anti-immigrant groups.

Yet nothing feels settled.

Landau says the moment is becoming self-reinforcing.

“The day after Ramaphosa’s speech … Operation Dudula was back on the street. They have no reason to stop,” he said.

“It shows these movements are effective. It’s adding fuel to the fire.”

* Not his real name