Small wonder firms love hiring them. South African mines, for example, employ about 120,000 foreigners, mainly from Mozambique and Lesotho. Farmers, too, employ a lot of foreigners. The asparagus crop on farms near Lesotho is picked largely by workers from across the border. In the spring, when they see the cane fires that signal that harvest-time has arrived, thousands of Basotho flock across the Caledon river to help out.
Migrants also do white-collar jobs.
Professionals from Zimbabwe, a country with good schools but a stricken economy, are much sought after by South African banks and universities. Roughly a quarter of doctors in South Africa's public hospitals are foreign. Yet what companies like in migrants, unskilled South Africans see as a threat. Since 1994, when the African National Congress came to power, several laws have been passed designed to improve working conditions for the poor, particularly blacks. These laws limit hours, increase benefits and make it expensive and time-consuming to sack staff, even if they are unproductive or dishonest.