Employers who flout labour laws and merely budget for and pay fines when found out will have to change course and comply: the Department of Employment and Labour is tightening the screws. This was the message at a “deep dive” with journalists held in Pretoria by Minister of Employment and Labour Nomakhosazana Meth and her deputy Jomo Sibiya. Meth made it clear that employers who appoint undocumented foreigners rather than South Africans and exploit them by paying less than the minimum wage will be dealt with severely.
This comes against the backdrop of increasing protests about the large number of undocumented foreigners in the country, who are accused of taking the available jobs and thereby leaving South Africans unemployed. The country’s unemployment figures have been stuck north of 30% since 2021. Among young people it is even higher, especially among those without tertiary education.
The department has already started to drastically increase the number of labour inspectors, and reform of current labour laws will see fines increased substantially. In future, the department will also lay criminal charges against such employers. Sibiya says the department “is changing the whole picture in terms of compliance”.
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He dismisses the excuse non-compliant employers raise that South Africans don’t want to work. He says this practice is especially prevalent in the construction and hospitality sectors, which are among the most labour-intensive sectors in the economy. The department is working with industry bodies in the hospitality sector, taking an advocacy approach.
The department is aiming for a better understanding of labour laws and says it is seeing some progress. Sibiya says individually owned restaurants are problematic and employers often find themselves on the wrong side of labour laws.
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