Employment and Labour Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya says authorities will conduct another unannounced inspection at a steel manufacturing company in Alberton, Ekurhuleni, following a tip-off that more than 200 undocumented foreign nationals are allegedly employed there.
Sibiya made the announcement during a multidisciplinary inspection of the company, which was aimed at assessing compliance with labour, immigration and municipal laws.
He was joined by the Deputy Ministers of Home Affairs and Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, as well as the Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor.
Sibiya says officials were informed that some of the workers they were looking for had been told not to report for duty on the day of the inspection.
He says the authorities will return to the company to establish whether there are further violations.
“We found that quite a number of illegal immigrants were told yesterday not to come today,” Sibiya says.
He says the inspection will not be a once-off exercise and that officials will continue engaging with the employer to ensure compliance with the law.
Sibiya says the government is intensifying multidisciplinary inspections to enforce labour and immigration laws and protect workers' rights. Similar inspections have been conducted across the country in recent months.