Thousands of residents from Mabopane, Ga-Rankuwa, Winterveldt, and Soshanguve brought the Rosslyn industrial area to a standstill on Monday in a massive protest against chronic unemployment, accusing major corporations of favouring foreign nationals over local job seekers.
The protest, organized under the banner of the Rea Aga Community Projects, saw demonstrators march on the manufacturing hub, delivering a firm seven-day ultimatum to companies including Nissan, BMW, and The Lion Match to address their grievances.
The central accusation from the crowd is that companies are engaging in unfair recruitment practices, preferentially hiring foreign nationals, including those who are undocumented, instead of local South African citizens from surrounding townships.
The protest highlighted the deep personal toll of the unemployment crisis. One 33-year-old participant, Phuti Maribana, who holds multiple post-school qualifications, described her desperate situation.
“I get a R370 SASSA grant and it’s not enough. I just buy cosmetics, that’s all,” she said.
Another lady added “It’s so painful as a 34-year-old young lady. I still ask money for toiletries from my parents whilst I got kids too.”
Her frustration extends beyond the companies to the government. “You have a government that’s reluctant, that’s not willing to even do anything… they are not even willing to fight for the young people of South Africa to get employment,” she stated, dismissing government job creation initiatives like the EPWP as insufficient and not providing permanent positions.
The protest reflects a national crisis, with youth unemployment nearing 50%—a figure experts describe as a “ticking time bomb.” Many economists blame investment-discouraging economic policies for the situation.
A convener for the Rea Aga Community Projects argued that large corporations have abandoned their social commitments to the communities they operate in.
“When they came as investors, they came with promises,” the convener said. “The promises were that they are going to make sure that they increase job creation… empower small businesses… [and] build affordable homes. As soon as they became comfortable, all those promises that they had made, they forgot about them.”
The convener further accused the companies of monopolizing the local economy, stating, “They are controlling a system and we as South Africans cannot trade. Why? Because they are monopolizing a system.”
Following the demonstration, senior managers from BMW, Nissan, and other affected companies signed a memorandum of demands presented by the protesters. The key demands include the immediate dismissal of foreign workers who are not classified under the scarce skills category and that priority in hiring must be given to South African job seekers.
The companies now have seven days to formally respond to the community’s ultimatum.
