Sweatshop shock: Parliament wants answers from big SA retailers over Newcastle factory scandal

The Department of Employment and Labour, Parliament’s Employment and Labour Portfolio Committee, and Department of Home Affairs with the assistance of the police found that factories in Newcastle had been breaking the country’s laws. Some of the country’s largest retailers will be called to account for allegedly selling clothes that were being produced by sweatshops in Newcastle, with Parliament’sEmployment and Labour Portfolio Committee (ELPC)saying these factories had beenbreaking the country’s laws, including the municipality’s bylawsand violating human rights. Some of the country’s largest retailers will be called to account for allegedly selling clothes that were being produced by sweatshops in Newcastle, with Parliament’s breaking the country’s laws, including the municipality’s bylaws The retailers, including Pick n Pay, Edgars, the Mr Price Group and Pepkor said the conditions in which clothing was being manufactured contradicted their values that are core to their established supply chain compliance processes.

TheELPC, which led an oversight visit to the Newcastle Industrial Zone last week,vowed to call the large retailers to appear before parliament for ‘supporting manufacturers who are breaking the country’s laws’. According to a source, who was part of the oversight visit,the factories were subjecting their workers to health-hazardous working and living conditions. According to a source, who was part of the oversight visit, the factories were subjecting their workers to health-hazardous working and living conditions After visiting the industrial zone, the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) released a statement on February 6, saying some employers were arrested during the joint inter-departmental inspection blitz forabusing immigration laws by hiring 34 illegal foreigners who were working in South Africa without valid documents.