The Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) in the KwaZulu-Natal Province is set to embark on week-long mega blitz inspections targeting the Wholesale and Retail Sectors.

The mega blitz inspections will take place in the eThekwini Metro, Pietermaritzburg, Newcastle, Kokstad, and Ulundi regions from Monday, 7 to Friday, 11 February 2022. While the National Roving Team focuses on those five regions, local inspectors will conduct the same inspections in all other regions. The inspectorate will also conduct a joint inspection of the road freight and logistics industries in Phoenix and Isipingo.

The inspectorate will conduct compliance checks under the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA), the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).

Inspectors will not only test compliance and address noncompliance, but the mega blitz will also serve to advise, educate, and provide technical information and support to both workers and employers about the inspectorate's services.

The mega blitz inspections will be led by Inspector-General Aggy Moiloa, Chief Inspector Tibor Szana, and KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Chief Inspector, Mncedisi Khambula.

The Department of Home Affairs and the South African Police Service (SAPS) will also participate in the blitz inspections to ensure that all institutions, including supermarkets and spaza shops, are thoroughly inspected.

The sector is diverse, ranging from large Distribution Centers and chain stores to a high prevalence of SMMEs and informal, township, and rural-based outlets, including spaza shops. Supermarkets, general dealers, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, textiles, clothing, and footwear, home furnishings, appliances, and equipment, hardware, paint, and glass, and automobile dealers and repair shops are all examples of retailers.

Given the sector's impact in recent years as a result of the July unrest and Covid-19, Provincial Chief Inspector Mncedisi Khambula believes it is critical to reinforce compliance with labour laws and to ensure that employers continue to adhere to basic working conditions while also ensuring workers' health and safety at all times. Employers can, in the meantime, he says, ensure their house is in order prior to inspectors arriving.

"We are altering our standard　by informing employers to prepare the necessary documents prior to our arrival".　 Employers have no reason to inform us that they did not prepare　the necessary paperwork for us　if we take this approach. We are not allowing for any justifications".　Ordered books should save both the employer and inspector time during the inspection process"; Khambula stated.

Some of the documents required during the inspection include:

 

• Attendance Register (Last 2 months);

 

 

• Signed employment contracts/letter of appointment of an employee.

 

 

• Information about remuneration (pay slips/envelopes), overtime, leave pay (Last 2 months);

 

 

• Unemployment Insurance, registration number, as well as proof of last payments;

 

 

• Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act registration number as well as proof of last payments;

 

 

• A copy of the CIPRO Certificate and;

 

 

• A list containing the names and ID numbers of all employees are some of the records inspectors will be expecting employers to produce.

 

"Many businesses in the Wholesale and Retail sectors are now back up and running as a result of the impact that the July unrest and Covid-19 had on the industry". While we support economic recovery, we do not support worker exploitation. It is critical that we get on the ground and assess whether the working conditions are still being met";　concluded Khambula.