Job seekers from Clay Oven, Ginger Park, Kya Sands, Diepsloot, and parts of Cosmo City have been instructed to submit employment applications via email after a protest outside Montecasino raised concerns about recruitment policies and illegal foreign workers.

A captain of the public order police, West Rand, said the casino establishment refused direct engagement with the demonstrators, explaining that recruitment is strictly managed by its centralised human resources division.

Read more: Hope fades as Kya Sands job possibilities stall

This followed a private meeting between the captain and management. “They want these people who want to apply for jobs to apply via email. They gave me the email address. The site is also on the website,” the captain said.

According to the captain, the establishment explained that its recruitment process differs from that of smaller businesses where job seekers can negotiate directly with the owner.

“Here, you are talking more to a guy that is in a very large corporation. So, for him, it’s better to stick to company policies and say, ‘No, I cannot engage with you’.”

Public order police also raised concerns about a CV collection box used by the demonstrators, citing potential violations of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) through public exposure of personal details.

The establishment denied claims that it ignored a memorandum or tore up the collection box after protesters claimed management did so. “They say that one is a false accusation,” the captain said of the memorandum allegation.

On the box, he said: “They say the box was there all day. The people themselves, later they said, ‘We are getting nowhere,’ and they tore it up.”

Also read: Chaos erupts at Montecasino protest as two sisters are arrested

Regarding allegations that undocumented foreign nationals are employed at Montecasino, the captain said the establishment maintained that immigration officials conduct regular inspections. “They say Tsogo Sun gets inspected every month by the department of home affairs, immigration,” he said.

According to the captain, the establishment reported that immigration officials visited about two months ago and checked its outlets, restaurants, and records. However, the explanation did little to convince the protesters.

Protest leader Norman Ngobeni said the group gathered information directly from internal staff and remained convinced that undocumented foreign nationals are working at the establishment. “We don’t just come here. We come with full information, and the full information that we get, we don’t just get information from the public. We get the information from the staff, from their staff,” Ngobeni said.

Ngobeni questioned the effectiveness of submitting applications by email, arguing that it does not guarantee employment for local residents. “It doesn’t give our people a guarantee that they are going to hire them, because they are not hiring them, even if they come and submit the CVs.”

The group maintained that its protest was aimed at securing employment opportunities for local residents. “We want them out so that our people can work,” Ngobeni said, referring to foreign nationals the group believes are working at the establishment unlawfully.

Ngobeni also accused businesses of taking advantage of what the group described as weak government enforcement. “We are not happy with that. We are really not happy.”

Montecasino representatives were again at the scene, but when approached for comment, they again refused to add anything further.

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