A multidisciplinary blitz inspection under the leadership of Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya shut down Mighty Bricks, a Chinese owned cement products manufacturing company in Rustenburg for failure to adhere to labour legislations as well as Municipal by-laws.

The teams comprised of Employment and Labour's Inspection and Enforcement Services, South African Police Service, Department of Home Affairs' Immigration Unit, Municipal Traffic department as well as inspectors from the Rustenburg Municipality.

The company was found to be zero compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).

With respect to the BCEA, the employer could not produce any payslips, contracts of employment for his employees as well as attendance registers. As a result, the employer was slapped with a fine of R15,000.

As for Unemployment Insurance, most of those present were not registered and the employer was issued with a compliance order for not registering and failing to declare employees.

The employer was also found to have employed a Chinese national who was on a visiting Visa and another undocumented  foreign national, as such, was fined R3 000 and the undocumented employee has been detained by the Immigration Unit.

A total of eight Prohibition Notices were issued among others for Operating forklifts which are not load tested, Operating the batching plant which is not maintained and operated by competent people, Moving plant equipment which is not maintained and operated by competent people, Failure to zone areas with noise above the noise ranting limits, zoned as noise zone, and Respiratory zone not marked or zoned and none provision PPE on the respiratory zone. These, led to the closure of the company.

When arriving at the factory, Deputy Minister Sibiya, accompanied by the Rustenburg Local Municipality Executive Mayor Shiela Mabale-Huma, were shocked to find machinery running without operators as they ran away just when the entourage approached the site. According to a mole, the employer told more than 70 foreign nationals to run away using one of the lifting machinery to go over the high fence. Some of them were watching from the top of a hill nearby the factory.

This prompted Sibiya to initiate an investigation to find out the culprit who tipped the employer. He said: “Among us, there is someone who tipped this employer. We will get the employer's number and find out who within us called prior to our arrival."

Deputy Minister Sibiya reiterated the intention of inspections. “Our presence here is not punitive, we want the company to comply," he said.

The company was also found to be running a loan scheme for employees charging 20% interest per R100.

In addition, the company was found to be operating a tuckshop as well as a chicken business in the premises selling to employees and the nearby community. The company also has a 10 000 litre fuel tank which was not certified as per the Municipal By-Laws. The tuckshop and the chicken business have since been closed off and the company was also slapped with another R10 000 fine for violating the municipal by-laws.

For media enquiries, 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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