Workers were locked inside factories and paid far below minimum wage during Mandeni’s shocking multi-agency inspection blitz.
Department of Employment and Labour inspectors found workers locked in factories subjected to illegal pay and unsafe conditions during a multi-agency blitz.
The department has warned employers against confining workers behind high, locked gates.
This comes after a joint inter-departmental inspection blitz was conducted this week in KwaZulu-Natal, at the clothing and textile factories in Mandeni’s Isithebe Industrial Estate.
Inspectors find Mandeni workers trapped behind gates
The employment and labour department said these practices expose workers to dangerous conditions.
Advocate Michael Msiza, acting Chief Director of Statutory and Advocacy Services, said it is unacceptable for employees to be exposed to possibly fatal situations.
Msiza added that it is illegal to install steel doors and lock workers inside the factory.
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“It is illegal to lock people in behind high walls and locked gates, as this may pose serious health and safety issues. Workers have a right to freedom of movement both inside and outside the premises,” he said.
The department embarked on a three-day inspection blitz in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs, the South African Police Service, and the Mandeni municipality.
The teams had to use force to open some of the inspected factories.
Officials force factory manager to open
During a departmental inspection on Thursday, the blitz found the Rongshou Clothing factory locked.
Department spokesperson Teboho Thejane said the manager locked workers inside, and officials had to force him to open the premises.
“One can assume that this conduct highlights a serious level of concealment and illegality happening inside. Sealing a factory on its own is tantamount to non-compliance,” Msiza added.
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The chief director said the recent trial of seven Chinese nationals, each sentenced to 20 years for child labour and human trafficking, revealed horrifying practices happening behind locked gates and high walls.
During the inspection blitz at Rongshou Clothing, authorities arrested eight illegal immigrants from Mozambique and Malawi.
Thejane said the factory’s inadequate ablution facilities posed risks to people’s health, safety, and dignity.
Earning R5 an hour
Workers were paid R5 per hour – way below the current statutory rate of R28,79 per ordinary hour worked.
Thejane added that there was also non-compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and firefighting regulations.
The objective of the inspections was to measure and test compliance with various labour-law legislations, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, the National Minimum Wages Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act, and the Employment Services Act.
