Employers within the agriculture sector are still found to be in contravention of labour laws in KwaZulu-Natal
The continuing lack of consideration and the contravening of labour laws by some agricultural sector employers in the KwaZulu-Natal Province was revealed by the Department of Employment and Labour during a joint Parliamentary Portfolio Committees’ stakeholder engagement session in the Province’s Amajuba District Municipality yesterday, 12 August 2022.
The Department of Employment Labour’s Chief Inspector in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, Mr Edward Khambula, presented statistical findings on the Department’s farm inspections conducted in 2021/2022 and the first Quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year in the province, to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform and the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour - during the stakeholder engagement session in Newcastle.
The Portfolio Committee were on a visit embarking on a three-day joint oversight programme in Amajuba and UThukela District Municipalities in KZN, following the implementation of a National Assembly resolution - which was adopted on 10 November 2020 - for both committees to assess the legislation and explore opportunities for legislative review that will respond to the grievances of farm workers, farm dwellers as well as labour tenants in South Africa.
The applicable labour laws for the agriculture sector are the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (BCEA); Sectoral Determination 13: Farmworker Sector (SD 13); National Minimum Wage Act, 2018 (NMWA); Employment Equity Act, 1998 (EEA); Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA); Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (OHSA); Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (COIDA); Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001 (UIA); Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, 2002(UICA); and the Employment Services Act, 2014 (ESA).
It was revealed that a total of 23 percent of non-compliance by employers in the agriculture sector in KZN have been recorded to be in contravention of the BCEA/NMWA, OHSA, UIA/UICA, COIDA and the EEA in Quarter 1 of 2022/2023 financial year.
The Department’s inspectors visited almost 2 000 farms in the previous year; the 2021/2022 financial year to see if labour laws are being adhered to.
For the 2021/2022 financial year, Khambula said; “From the visited farms for inspections, it was discovered that 8 percent of employers are not paying the National Minimum Wage and they are also not adhering to the sectoral determination such as providing written contracts of employment to workers, issuing of payslips, attendance register and other workers would work overtime and maybe not get compensated accordingly for overtime work”.
“And again, under the safety conditions, we discovered that 58 percent of employers that were visited by inspectors are not adhering to the labour laws accordingly under the safety conditions. “And we also discovered that 70 percent of employers that were visited were not adhering accordingly under the unemployment insurance act and the unemployment contributions act,” said Khambula.
He said employers were most failing in the part of declaring their employees with the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
The compensation fund legislation discovered that 53 percent of employers that were visited are also having problems in terms of registering employees. Under the Employment Equity Act to promote affirmative action at work, it was discovered that 69 percent of employers that were visited are also lacking in compliance with the act.
Other stakeholders who attended the stakeholder engagement session include Mrs Sibhidla Saphetha, a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Land Matters and the Legislature in KZN; the South African Police Services Provincial Commissioner in KZN, Lt-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi; Legal Aid SA; SA Human Rights Commission; KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu); local leadership of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and several community organisations.
Department of Employment and Labour, realising decent work by regulating non-employment and employment conditions through inspection and enforcement, to achieve compliance with all labour market policies.
For media inquiries, contact:
Nhlanhla Khumalo
Provincial Communication Officer (KZN)
Cell: 066 488 0265/ Nhlanhla.Khumalo@labour.gov.za /Mediaqueries@labour.gov.za
