Department of Employment and Labour Inspector General Aggy Moiloa has ordered the inspectorate in KwaZulu-Natal Province to camp in the area of Mandeni where clothing and textile industries are located to ensure compliance with labour laws.

Moiloa said the Department needs to squeeze every space to ensure compliance “as employers were having a field day". She was today leading an inspection blitz in the iSithebe industrial area in Mandeni. Moiloa said the inspectorate should avoid the “wild goose chase syndrome" and camp in the area to sustain inspections.

“If it means we have to deploy inspectors every week in the Mandeni area, we will do so. We need to clean the area. Inspectors are by law empowered to ensure compliance with the labour laws of the country. Mandeni and Newcastle have for a long time been problematic and we now need to act," she said.

“We want to make a case study for future reference," she warned that it was becoming clear that the Department was dealing with intransigence employers in the textile and clothing sector.

Moiloa said the Department will also be embarking on night time inspection blitz.  

The Department of Employment and Labour has been on a three-day inspection blitz since Monday in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs, the Mandeni Metro Police, the South African Police Services (SAPS), Mandini Municipality, Department of Home Affairs and the textile sector bargaining council in the area of ILembe District Municipality.

The Inspector General said the Department will be acting on the historical non-compliance notices served and the historical debt as a result of non-compliance with wages and remuneration-related issues. She said every cent owed will have to be paid as a matter of urgency.

She ordered the Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) in KwaZulu-Natal to conduct further inspections in the new year to assess progress levels.

“Workers have been subjected to pain for a long time. We are seeing an increase in cases of mental illnesses. We also want to pursue prosecution," she said.

Chief Director: of Provincial Operations (CD: PO) in KwaZulu-Natal Edward Khambula said the inspectorate was keen to stay in the area until the situation improves. He said the inspectorate needs to be thorough and focus on the broader supply chain.

As the inspection teams were conducting their work preliminary reports were submitted showing sheer disregard and disdain for the country's labour laws. Inspectors were reporting on horrific working conditions where workers are not provided ablution facilities, lack of first aid kits, underpayment in regard to the National Minimum Wage, working in crammed spaces, factories that do not meet occupational health and safety standards, and none compliance with the Unemployment Insurance Fund and Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases legislation.

For more information, contact:

Petunia Lessing

Director: Media Liaison

Cell: +27 66 301 4645/ Petunia.Lessing@labour.gov.za

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Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour​

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