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Debates about labor resources in South African agriculture are often conducted emotionally rather than based on objective data. Jolanda Andrag, Operations Director of Agri SA, analyzes the discussion about farm labor in the country, focusing on issues related to the corporate visa system, compliance difficulties, and the need for an industry-specific agricultural visa.

The discussion about migrant workers in South Africa has generated more controversy than constructive solutions. A more detailed analysis of the corporate visa system shows that there is no nationwide labor crisis, but the system does not function as smoothly as it should. Reform could be an opportunity to correct both bureaucratic and political aspects.

In mid-2026, the debate on migrant labor suddenly shifted from the political sphere to farm work. Protests demanding stricter adherence to immigration laws were succeeded by reports of foreign worker departures and farmers' difficulties in finding labor.

In sugar-growing regions in KwaZulu-Natal and some fruit zones, individual cases were extremely severe, accompanied by threats. One sugarcane producer reported losing up to 80% of their harvest labor force.

However, the overall national picture is less dramatic. Estimates suggest that in the second quarter of 2026, agriculture provided employment for approximately 944,000 people, which is 39,000 more than the previous year. The decrease in employment was only 15,000 compared to the previous quarter, consistent with seasonal fluctuations. Thus, farming in South Africa is not experiencing a general labor collapse.

Nevertheless, average figures mask local shortages. Agriculture is highly sensitive to delays, as crops cannot wait three months to be harvested. Approximately 400,000 out of 840,407 people registered in agriculture and related services according to the Statistics South Africa survey for 2024 were temporary, casual, or seasonal workers. In labor-intensive sectors like fruit and sugar production, demand can surge sharply for several weeks and then disappear.

Workers who return from season to season acquire skills in pruning, trimming, harvesting, cutting, and packing that cannot be replaced in the short term. Although the unemployment rate in South Africa in the second quarter of 2026 was 33.6%, national unemployment statistics differ from the availability of suitable workers in a specific location, for a specific crop, and at a specific week.

Therefore, the reasonable goal is not to choose between South African and foreign workers. South Africans should be prioritized, and employers must comply with labor laws. But where there is a genuine seasonal need, employers require a predictable legal pathway to attract workers from neighboring countries.

This is the function the corporate visa system should serve.

The corporate visa allows an employer to hire a predetermined number of foreign workers. This is not an exemption from complying with South African labor regulations. Applicants must prove that suitable South African citizens or permanent residents could not be found after thorough searching, and must demonstrate compliance with SARS, the Unemployment Insurance Fund, and the Compensation Fund. Furthermore, at least 60% of the employer's staff must be South African citizens or permanent residents.

Following complaints from agricultural employers, AgriSA began engaging with the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) last year. The Department subsequently provided detailed information on the applications reviewed, allowing for the examination of individual cases.

The review yielded a useful, albeit uncomfortable, conclusion: some problems perceived as visa processing issues were actually compliance issues.

The reviewed log contained 101 employer entries from 2022 to 2026. The majority of these entries were from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Mozambique, demonstrating how agricultural labor functions as a regional market for South Africa.

Failed or delayed applications could be linked to identified deficiencies, including non-compliance with UIF, the Compensation Fund, and occupational health and safety requirements. The 60/40 employment ratio requirement also proved problematic in several instances. Several applications that were reviewed or resubmitted specifically referenced this requirement.

This distinction matters. The visa regime cannot be judged solely by the approval percentage. Some negative recommendations indicate not an administrative failure, but that the regulation is performing its function. Employers requesting permission to hire foreign workers must first comply with South African labor law.

However, compliance alone does not explain everything.

Two administrative problems remain. The first is traceability. Parts of the DEL process still rely on manual movement of documents from provincial structures to the central office in Pretoria. An employer may know that an application was submitted and processed by the provincial office, but neither party can easily ascertain where the file is next.

For an industry regulated by harvest deadlines, this is not a minor inconvenience. The second problem is time. Applications are reviewed within limited timeframes. If an issue is not resolved within the set period, the applicant may need to resubmit. This is justified if the employer delayed the process due to incomplete documentation. It is much harder to justify the expiration of an application due to documents lingering too long in the administrative system.

A small group of cases passed through DEL but encountered difficulties later in the process, managed by the Department of Home Affairs or the visa facilitation service. None of this argues for weakening immigration control. It argues for improving administration. A strict, traceable, and predictable legal migration channel facilitates compliance. An opaque channel risks encouraging precisely the behavior the system is designed to prevent.

Policy is beginning to catch up with practice. A revised white paper on citizenship, immigration, and refugee protection provides for replacing corporate visas with sector-specific work visas for certain industries. Agri SA supported this direction in its proposal during the consultation process, arguing that agriculture is particularly suited to a sectoral approach.

Partly, it is a matter of information. Labor demand in agriculture is unusually uneven: it varies depending on the commodity, region, and season. The national system, based on individual applications, may struggle to distinguish between a real three-month harvest need and a general claim of labor shortage.

A well-designed industry-specific agricultural visa could handle this better. It could more closely link legal migration to documented seasonal demand while maintaining the priority requirement for South African workers. It would also allow the government to plan around known peaks in labor demand instead of constantly discovering them one application at a time.

Therefore, AgriSA proposed accelerating the implementation of an industry-specific agricultural visa as broader legislative reforms progress. The organization offered to support member awareness, improve industry coordination, and help develop a consolidated database of industry and seasonal labor needs. Such data could give the government a clearer picture of where, when, and for how long foreign labor is actually required.

This will not eliminate the need for enforcement. On the contrary. Employers will still have to comply with labor laws, and any industry system must prevent the use of foreign hiring to circumvent domestic labor obligations.

But it could make the deal clearer: agriculture provides better evidence of its labor needs, and the government provides a legal pathway capable of responding to them.

For the existing system, immediate tasks are more routine. Employers must resolve issues related to the 60/40 requirement, UIF, the Compensation Fund, and safety obligations. In turn, the government must ensure the traceability of applications from submission to decision and avoid pressuring applicants to start the process if the delay was caused by administrative, not employer, delays.

There may be cases not covered in the review. Agricultural employers with pending corporate visa applications, unexplained delays, or circumstances that do not fit the already identified problems. These can be addressed constructively.

For a farmer whose harvest window is closing, the question is how the next system can avoid creating another queue.

Despite continuous efforts by the agricultural sector to provide students with practical opportunities and promote Work Integrated Learning (WIL) as a vital step for young entrepreneurs in the agro-sector, a detailed analysis of the actual farm experience reveals a complex picture.

For many students in agricultural fields, the transition from classrooms to real agricultural operations involves practical growth, mental strain, a steep learning curve, and the necessity of adapting to a new lifestyle.

This dual reality was documented in a 2025 study published in the South African Journal of Agricultural Extension, authored by Reward Mathebula, Elliot M. Zwane, and Ernest M. Letsoalo.

The study, conducted among 73 government interns after graduating in the Mpumalanga province, showed mixed results. Out of 35 evaluation statements, 19 received negative feedback concerning structural deficiencies such as low wages and employment delays, while 16 reviews were positive, indicating skill acquisition and practical experience gained.

Sinetemba Gebashe, the host at Ithuba Lamahlavula Farming, describes the placement of interns, including students sent by the Department of Agriculture, as an extremely beneficial experience that strengthens youth confidence. He notes that some students possess strong theoretical knowledge but are not yet confident in executing practical tasks. Gebashe manages this by working closely with them, demonstrating methods, and assigning tasks that allow them to learn through doing.

At Gebashe's farm, interns assist in all core processes, including egg production, poultry management, record-keeping, harvesting, and general farming duties. Knowledge exchange occurs in both directions. He emphasizes that students bring new ideas and knowledge from their curricula, so not only the students but also he himself learns. His goal is to share acquired knowledge, provide youth with an opportunity, and perhaps help some see agriculture as a career and business they can build themselves.

Mabonngi Ndabandaba, a third-year student at Sol Plaatje University pursuing a degree in agricultural sciences under a mandatory WIL module, described her experience as 'bittersweet'. Without prior farm experience, her first hurdle was the placement process itself, as requirements vary across farms, and some do not offer WIL at all.

Moving far from home and adapting to farm life proved challenging, especially in the work environment interaction. Ndabandaba noted that the biggest challenge was establishing interpersonal relationships with people from different social strata and with varying ambitions. She highlighted the sharp contrast between university life and intensive farm operations, noting the difference in physical and mental demands compared to academic routines.

She explained that farm life differs greatly from university life: there are no lecturers, and you are expected to deliver the best results even under high production pressure. For instance, poultry farming requires productivity all day, starting with waking up at 6:00 AM to feed and ending with an evening check at 8:00 PM. Unlike university, where missing a lecture has no immediate consequences, farm work allows no room for idleness. She added that while students can skip classes in university without repercussions, farm work demands mental readiness for anything that might go wrong, such as livestock death. People may not realize that farm work requires adherence to strict schedules and complete dedication, which can be emotionally draining.

Looking back, she observed that full-time farm life limits personal freedom and requires giving up parts of one's lifestyle. She also insisted that academic theory must adapt to on-the-ground practical limitations. She stated: 'No matter how much you want to demonstrate what you read over two and a half years, you need to make room for farm reality. You can change things, but don't set overly high expectations given the farm's resources and capabilities.'

The gap between academic preparation and farm expectations sometimes leads to early departures. Ezile Mdliva, a former agricultural intern from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) who completed his internship at a dairy farm in the Eastern Cape, eventually resigned after eleven months of his one-year internship. He noted: 'The problem is that some interns, when they come for an internship, do not consider themselves interns and do not think they should do the same work as regular employees, and they are shocked when they are given work.' He also pointed out that higher education institutions inadequately prepare students for the working world, leaving them unprepared, placing students on farms only in their final year after many years of purely theoretical study.