compliance
3 May 2007
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has cautioned the Freedom Front Plus
(FF Plus) not to abuse the trust it is afforded by the public and deliberately
misinform them in pursuit of cheap political points. Minister Mdladlana was
reacting to statements attributed to FF Plus labour spokesman Willie Spies
accusing the Minister of "inciting hatred of farmers" through comments he made
during an address of a May Day celebration.
During his address of the workers' rally, Minister Mdladlana had said there
were still a few farmers who needed a red card for non-compliance with basic
conditions of employment of their workers with some even abusing the workers
physically. Reacting to Spies' claims today (Thursday), Minister Mdladlana
said, "We cannot generalise and say all farmers are bad because that would be
painting all of them with the same brush as the few who were still not abiding
by the law."
"There are many farmers who are doing well and taking care of farm workers.
They are also co-operating with the Department of Labour. In fact the
department has a good relationship with Agri-SA. We have an agreement to help
our inspectors gain access to properties of troublesome farmers and assist with
the training of farmers on the provisions of the sectoral determination," the
Minister said.
Enquiries:
Zolisa Sigabi
Tel: 082 906 3878
E-mail: zolisa.sigabi@labour.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Labour
3 May 2007
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
