‘Comply or shut down!’ – Labour Inspector warns clothing, textile sector

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Department of Employment and Labour Inspector General Aggy Moiloa has ordered the inspectorate in KwaZulu-Natal Province to camp in the area of Mandeni where clothing and textile industries are located to ensure compliance with labour laws.

Moiloa said the Department needs to squeeze every space to ensure compliance “as employers were having a field day”. She was leading an inspection blitz in the iSithebe industrial area in Mandeni.

She said the inspectorate should avoid the “wild goose chase syndrome” and camp in the area to sustain inspections.

“If it means we have to deploy inspectors every week in the Mandeni area, we will do so. We need to clean the area. Inspectors are by law empowered to ensure compliance with the labour laws of the country. Mandeni and Newcastle have for a long time been problematic and we now need to act,” she said.

“We want to make a case study for future reference,” she warned that it was becoming clear that the Department was dealing with intransigence employers in the textile and clothing sector.

Moiloa said the Department will also be embarking on night time inspection blitz.  

The Department of Employment and Labour has been on a three-day inspection blitz since Monday in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs, the Mandeni Metro Police, the South African Police Services (SAPS), Mandeni Municipality, Department of Home Affairs and the textile sector bargaining council in the area of ILembe District Municipality.

Inspector to act on non-compliance

The Inspector General said the Department will be acting on the historical non-compliance notices served and the historical debt as a result of non-compliance with wages and remuneration-related issues. She said every cent owed will have to be paid as a matter of urgency.

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She ordered the Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) in KwaZulu-Natal to conduct further inspections in the new year to assess progress levels.

“Workers have been subjected to pain for a long time. We are seeing an increase in cases of mental illnesses. We also want to pursue prosecution,” she said.

Article sourced: Labour department