Pretoria: At least eight foreign nationals and two employers were arrested in Tshwane on Monday, the first day of the week-long Department of Employment and Labour’s mega blitz inspection.
It is being conducted in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs’ Immigration Services and the SAPS.
Mishack Magakwe, the department’s Gauteng spokesperson, said the undocumented foreign nationals and the two employers were arrested in the Pretoria CBD on Monday.
The mega blitz inspection was led by the department’s Inspector-General Aggy Moiloa.
The department said the undocumented employees and employers were arrested at the MHC World (Metro Home City) store in the Pretoria CBD, at the corner of Du Toit and Johannes Ramokhoase streets.
“The week-long inspections in the Gauteng province are measuring the employers’ compliance with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Sectoral Determination, including the National Minimum Wage Act, Unemployment Insurance Act, and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act,” the department said.
“The Spar stores around Pretoria are currently under investigation as well.”
Moiloa said the eight employees at MHC World were arrested by Home Affairs officials.
“In this particular workplace, I think it’s about eight people that we arrested. They were found not to have the right documents because they are foreign nationals. The right documents in terms of the work visas and work requirements in that space. So, it was the inspectors from Home Affairs who arrested them,” said Moiloa.
“In terms of the immigration law, when you find such discrepancies or non-compliance, the employer also gets arrested because they would have violated the Immigration Act. The employer was taken alongside the people who (did not have) the right documents.”
The inspector-general said the mega-blitz inspections were also formed by various law enforcement teams “flooding” areas across Gauteng including Silverton and Midrand.
The national multistakeholder mega-blitz inspections started in late 2020 in the Eastern Cape.Gauteng is the eighth province under scrutiny, before the spotlight shifts to the Northern Cape.
“So far, as the Department of Labour goes, what we look out for is to test compliance with the various basket of legislation that we enforce. If national statistics are anything to go by, we are not expecting great compliance levels. We haven’t found that there are great compliance in the past,” said Moiloa.
“So, we will be inspecting up until Thursday. On Friday, we have a session or seminar where we are going to sort of take stock but also take time to reflect with our stakeholders around the compliance in and around GP.”
The department has also issued immediate prohibition notices against the use of eight other employees at the store, due to the contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The prohibited employees were found to be unqualified to work without proper personal protective equipment (PPE), such as suitable shoes and uniform, while working in the packing-of-appliances area.
“According to the regulation and the act, no one is supposed to work in hazardous areas unless they are provided with the proper PPE. Hence, such employees will not be rendering their work until their employers provide them with proper PPE,” the department said.
“However, the act is further stating that the prohibited employees are still entitled to their salaries even when they are off duty, as prohibited by the department until their employers comply.”
In the same store, two employees who had bought “their own work uniform, which the law is against”, are set to be compensated by the employer.
On Monday, the department announced that it would be conducting week-long inspections of employers operating in the wholesale, retail and hospitality sectors, to check the level of compliance with labour legislation.
The department and the SAPS were incorporated in the mega blitz “to ensure that, all institutions like hotels, bed and breakfast facilities and restaurants are fully inspected”.
IOL