Employment and Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya said the unprecedented national high impact inspection blitzes like ones conducted on Friday will continue unabated.

Sibiya said: “We are going to continue to conduct all these across the country. We have been doing this work for some time. We have ramped up things. When we collaborate, we see results. This is about enforcing the laws of the county. As a government we cannot allow the employment of illegals to continue. We want to cut the demand because the employment of illegal foreigners is being done deliberately.

The Department of Employment and labour on (24 July 2026) co-ordinated one of biggest multi-departmental, high-impact inspection blitzes to enforce compliance in all corners of South Africa. Sibiya and his Home Affairs counterpart Njabulo Nzuza accompanied by Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya led the Gauteng operations in the Centurion and Pretoria surroundings.

The national operation saw 114 workplaces inspected and only three were compliant. The operations led to the arrest of 137 foreign nationals

The purpose of this operation was to target systemic non-compliance with, inter alia, the following:

• Noncompliance with Employment Laws
• Noncompliance with Immigration Prescripts
• Noncompliance with by-laws of municipalities
• Arrest of people that would have committed criminal offences such as being in the country illegally.
• Profile the work that is done by government in response to burning issues.

In the National High Impact Blitz Inspection a total of 164 Labour Inspectors, 47 Immigration Officers, 123 SAPS officials, 56 Municipal/Law Enforcement officials, two Border Management Authority (BMA) officials, and a range of specialised stakeholders, including Environmental Health Practitioners, Agriculture officials, Liquor and Gambling Board representatives, Brand Protection officials, Consumer Protection officials, private security, Centlec, and media representatives, participated in the operation.

Inspections conducted during the operation revealed recurring non-compliance with key provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), and the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA). There was also non-compliance with the immigration act and by-laws.

Consolidated data from provinces showed that the national inspection blitzes impacted 4291 South African employees, total number of foreign employee nationals was 546. The number revealed that 119 notices were issued, 10 prohibition notices were issued, 29 contravention notices issued.

Compliance to the OHS Act was at a paltry 2,6%, compliance to COIDA was at nine percent, while compliance with UIF 0,2% and compliance to BCEA including the (NMW and sectoral determinations) was at 31%.

Nzuza said the number of arrests may appear minute, “but the message has been heard".

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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