VEREENIGING – Dozens of MK members took to the streets of Vereeniging CBD on May 13 during a march in what they termed as forcing the government to work.
The MK Labour Desk, which is a civic movement dealing with labour issues, said it aims to address unemployment.
Speaking to Ster, Labour Desk Co-ordinator Velile Mcira explained their stance following the march.
“As part of addressing the 32% unemployment in SA, we’ve realised companies employ illegal foreigners. That number is too high and contributed a lot to the unemployment rate,” he said.
Mcira said some acts govern the march and visits to different companies and shops operating outside the Immigration Act.
He stated that Section 38 of the South African Immigration Act strictly prohibits the employment of illegal foreigners, foreigners whose status does not authorise employment, or foreigners working in breach of their conditions.
“The campaign came as a result of the government not doing anything about the high unemployment rate in the country, and failure to enforce the law according to the act. As the MK Labour Desk, we are forcing the government to enforce the laws to protect the rights of workers,” he said.
Mcira said they have reached out to scores of departments in an attempt to help successfully address the issues within the precincts of the law.
“We are not doing anything outside the law. This is a continuous programme. We are not going to embark on any campaign without involving the necessary departments,” he said.
According to the labour desk, they will be conducting further marches in different towns in the region.
“We are going to do this twice a week in all the towns in Gauteng, as we have started in Vereeniging. Next week, two days will be dedicated to scanning companies that are not compliant.”
Mcira said their march proved to bear fruit as successes speak for themselves.
“To show we are winning, we visited a company where 19 illegal people were employed, and the department dealt with them. During some of our visits, we established that employees are being paid below minimum wage. The company was instructed to pay the difference that they owe to the person,” he said.
Mcira said six foreign nationals were arrested during their march. Emfuleni Local Municipality has since distanced itself from the marches.
“The Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) wishes to clarify that it has no involvement in the planned march. We wish to place it on record that ELM has not received any written notice for the march from the MK Labour Desk Sedibeng, and as a result, claims that our Public Safety Department will form part are incorrect and misleading,” said the municipality.
“The municipality urges political parties to refrain from organising or encouraging marches without the necessary approvals, as this may lead to unlawful gatherings, traffic disruptions, and potential conflict. ELM appeals for political parties to respect and follow all prescribed legal processes when organising marches,” read the statement.
Mcira fired back on the municipality’s statement, claiming that, “They [ELM] are ignorant of the law. We are happy, whether they are in or not, if they don’t understand their mandate. It was critical that they were part of the campaign. Shops are not paying for services that they need to pay for. We were actually assisting them.”
