Department of Employment and Labour’s IES to sustain inspection blitz to enforce compliance with labour laws
Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) Provincial Chief Inspector (PCI) in the Western Cape Province, David Esau said more inspections are set to be conducted post this week’s mega blitz inspections targeting the Hospitality Sector.
The Hospitality Sector mega blitz inspections started today, 24 January 2022 and will end on Friday, 28 January 2022. The focus of inspections is in the Cape Town Metropole, Coastline, Cape Winelands and Overberg regions.
The inspectorate will be testing compliance on the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA); Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA); Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA); Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA) and Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).
Department of Employment and Labour’s Western Cape Province PCI, Esau said there was nothing unique about this week’s inspections. He said provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape had conducted their blitz inspections.
Esau said the inspections are part of the department’s daily routine and inspectors were doing what they are hired to do. Esau said the inspections had nothing to do with the hype created by last week’s visits to hospitality establishments by other parties.
“The department’s programme is coincidental. We started the planning for this week-long blitz in October 2021. We targeted the hospitality sector because it is one of the biggest and vulnerable sectors in the province,” Esau said. He said the inspection was about ensuring compliance with labour legislation, especially the National Minimum Wage, Unemployment Insurance Fund and COIDA.
Esau said the country was still afflicted with Covid-19 and inspectors wanted to ensure compliance with regulations. He said the department pleads with unions to supply inspectors with necessary information.
He said one of the issues picked up so far was the fact that inspectors have missed the season, as some of the establishments have temporarily closed because the holiday season has just ended.
Esau said inspectors were on the ground to ensure that labour laws were complied with.
Some of the hospitality businesses visited today included the Fairway Hospitality Services trading as Place on the Bay and Primi Sea Castle in Camps Bay.
The Western Cape hospitality inspections continue tomorrow and Inspector General Aggy Moiloa will also be joining the inspections.
Media enquiries:
Mapula Tloubatla
Cell: 060 989 7509
E-mail: mapula.tloubatla@labour.gov.za
Petunia Lessing
Cell: 066 301 4645
E-mail: petunia.lessing@labour.gov.za
