Those who don’t comply with labour law will be dealt with harshly – Thulas Nxesi

Employers who are unwilling to comply with labour laws will be dealt with harshly – Employment and Labour Minister, T.W. Nxesi

13 July 2023

The Department of Employment and Labour Minister, Mr T.W. Nxesi, has said that the issues of violation of basic employee registrations are becoming more increasing, and the Department is looking into imposing more significant fines against unlawful labour practices by employers in South Africa.

The Employment and Labour Minister, Mr T.W. Nxesi, was this afternoon (13 July 2023) addressing the employers of the Golden Ridge Estate during the farm company’s workplace inspection led by the Minister at Kirkwood in the Eastern Cape.

The Golden Ridge Estate is a Kirkwood based farming estate in the Eastern Cape and the second biggest GDP contributor in the province.

“One of the things we are going to be harsh on is that, some of the employers violate labour laws, and we come back to them and we find they did not correct because we start by corrective measures. And they continue to violate labour laws, and then they get a fine in court but the fine is insignificant to them and they continue to violate labour laws.

“Now part of the law which we are cooking is that if we are to find you (as an employer in violation of labour laws) and if we have given you warnings to do the corrective measures, and for the third time we find you violating, we are going to deal with your profits and a certain percentage of your profits. And we send a very clear message,” said Minister Nxesi.

The Minister further explained the Department’s current stand on the Employment Equity Act to the farm owners and said that employers must be transparent in order to justify the lack of the implementation of training and mentorship of Black and other employees in their companies.

“The most sensitive issue, which I must emphasise, is the question of the foreign nationals in the midst of high unemployment in South Africa. You can employ them provided they are legal and provided they have papers. But it must be a particular quarter. You have the security sector and the retail sector, but we cannot come up with something which is a one size fits all. It’s going to depend on the various sectors,” said Minister Nxesi.

The Minister earlier today administered the provision of the Department’s services at the Tamboville’s Community Multi-purpose Centre during the Department’s “Taking Services to the People” initiative at Kariega in the Eastern Cape.

The Department of Employment and Labour Chief Director: Provincial Operations in the Eastern Cape, Ms Nomfundo Douw-Jack, said that this week’s “Taking Services to the People” programme was a responds to a clarion call from the residents of Kariega.

Issued by Sabelo Mali, Ministerial Liaison Officer, Department of Employment and Labour, 14 July 2023