Employment and Labour issues 50 contravention notices and nine foreign nationals arrested in North West
Over 50 contravention notices and compliance orders have been issued against employers and nine undocumented foreign nationals have been arrested during a joint blitz inspection by the Department of Employment and Labour and other law enforcing agencies in Rustenburg, North West.
The three-day Blitz Inspection that started in Rustenburg yesterday, 11 March 2024, was led by the Inspection and Enforcement Services unit of the Department of Employment and Labour in the North West Province in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs, the Liquor Board and the South African Police Services (SAPS).
The first Blitz Inspection has led to 18 contravention notices, three prohibition notices, three improvement notices, and 31 compliance orders being issued to non-complying employers and to the arrest of nine undocumented foreign national workers.
These Blitz Inspections are part of an ongoing national programme by the department with the aim to gather all relevant law-enforcing government institutions to conduct inspections around major towns and cities in the country.
Its main purpose is to test the level of compliance in terms of the labour laws such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHS), Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases (COIDA), Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), Unemployment Insurance Contribution Act (UICA) and the Employment Act. It also focuses on other Consumer-related legislations in the Wholesale and Retail Sector and the employment of undocumented foreign nationals.
According to the Provincial Chief Inspector for the North West Province, Chris Sithole, the Blitz Inspections are unannounced visits and they hope to discover quite several employers that are not complying as in most cases during normal announced visits whereby employers tend to rectify their errors well in advice to appear as compliant.
“We (were) in Bojanala District on an unannounced visit, and I am happy that on day one we have managed to issue so many notices and orders to non-complying employers and hope that the remaining two days will also yield good results. We are not here to intimidate anyone, we are here to ensure that labour laws are upheld as it is our mandate to ensure that the country’s workforce is protected”, said Sithole.
The arrested foreign nationals who are alleged to be in the country illegally and also working without relevant work permits will be handled by the Department of Home Affairs and the SAPS as it is in their area of competency.
The employer will also be charged accordingly for contravening the Employment Services Act of the Department of Employment and Labour, which demands an employer to make sure that a person employed in South Africa from a foreign country should have the relevant work permit and a certain skill that is not found in the country.
For media enquiries kindly contact:
Botsang Huma
Provincial Communication Officer: North West Department of Employment and Labour
Cell: 082 497 7438
E-mail: botsang.huma@labour.gov.za
