In its quest for service delivery, the Department of Employment and Labour in the Western Cape took its “Taking Services to the People" campaign to communities in the Cape Winelands District Municipality from 19 to 22 May 2025.

During the campaign, the department interacted with communities as well as farmworkers who raised issues affecting them, including unemployment, the unpaid Unemployment Insurance Fund as well as Compensation for Occupational Injures and Diseases claims, and the protection of workers.

On the second day of engagement, the Department was presented with a memorandum of demands from the Women on Farms Project, which is a non-profit organisation advocating for the advancement of women's rights in the Agricultural Sector along with women farmworkers. The organisation and women farmworkers' demand formalised the issues raised and focused on service delivery issues such as failure to pay claims on time, unacceptable behaviour of department officials, and long queues. They singled out several offices as the worst performing.

The memorandum put forward some suggestions, including deployment of additional staff, conducting an internal audit for the mentioned labour centres, fixing or replacing the UIF online system, and quarterly community engagements with labour centres or satellite offices. They also requested a meeting with the provincial management of the Department on 6 June 2025

The “Taking Services to the People" campaign came just at the right time as several services are provided during this campaign, including:

• Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases, as well as Unemployment Insurance Fund applications and claims, will be dealt with, and some paid on the spot.
• The Inspection and Enforcement Services is conducting inspections in the area and also addressing employers' and workers' concerns directly.
• Work-seeker registration on the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) database for employment opportunities, career counselling, as well as engaging prospective employers.

In April, the campaign focused on Piketberg, Citrusdal, and Riebeek Kasteel, and 5,946 UIF clients were served during the campaign, and 2,849 of applications were processed, of which 1,775 were paid on the spot. At a provincial level, the Inspections and Enforcement Services (IES) conducted 2,727 inspections where it was found that 2,215 employers complied with the country's labour legislation.

The Chief Director of Provincial Operations in the Western Cape, Mawele Ntamo, said the work done is only the sign of what is to come. “The work we are doing in our communities every day will be ramped up with each passing day. As the Department of Employment and Labour in Western Cape, we are going to leave no client unattended," he said."

For media inquiries, please contact:

Teboho Thejane

Departmental Spokesperson

082 697 0694/ teboho.thejane@labour.gov.za

-ENDS-

Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour

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