{"id":813871,"date":"2025-02-25T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=813871"},"modified":"2025-02-25T08:00:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T06:00:07","slug":"government-sends-a-warning-to-businesses-hiring-foreign-workers-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/813871\/government-sends-a-warning-to-businesses-hiring-foreign-workers-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Government sends a warning to businesses hiring foreign workers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has revealed that 68 employers have been arrested with R680,000 in fines for violating employment and immigration laws, which is a stern warning to businesses hiring foreign workers in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This data was detailed in a recent Parliamentary Q&A<\/a><\/strong>, where the DEL was asked for a breakdown of all arrests of employers who were charged and convicted of violating the law by employing illegal immigrants without valid work permits in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the DEL explained that it conducts blitz inspections in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and the South African Police Service (SAPS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“During such operations, DEL\u2019s mandate is to enforce the implementation of labour laws to ensure the protection of workers in those particular companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the same time, DHA scrutinises the validity of visas and work permits through the application of immigration laws,” the DEL said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In the event of noncompliance with immigration laws, DHA arrests the noncompliant employers and employees,” it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statistics below indicate the arrests made by DHA during the joint operation, which spread across the different provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DEL noted that each of the 68 employers arrested paid an admission of guilt fine of R10,000. Therefore, the total amount paid in fines was R680,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the DEL highlighted that 322 employees were arrested and taken for further processing as per immigration requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

34 employers and 34 employees were arrested in the Eastern Cape, and the fines totalling R340,000 were the steepest in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, while the Eastern Cape had the most employers arrested, Limpopo recorded 163 employee arrests with only eight employer arrests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Free State only recorded two employee arrests, while the Northern Cape and North West were the only provinces with no arrests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Province<\/th>Employers arrested<\/th>Employees arrested<\/th>Total fines paid<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Limpopo<\/td>8<\/td>163<\/td>R80,000<\/td><\/tr>
Eastern Cape<\/td>34<\/td>34<\/td>R340,000<\/td><\/tr>
Mpumalanga<\/td>15<\/td>30<\/td>R150,000<\/td><\/tr>
Western Cape<\/td>2<\/td>43<\/td>R20,000<\/td><\/tr>
Gauteng<\/td>4<\/td>34<\/td>R40,000<\/td><\/tr>
Kwa-Zulu Natal<\/td>5<\/td>16<\/td>R50,000<\/td><\/tr>
Free State<\/td>0<\/td>2<\/td>R0<\/td><\/tr>
Northern Cape<\/td>0<\/td>0<\/td>R0<\/td><\/tr>
North West <\/td>0<\/td>0<\/td>R0<\/td><\/tr>
Total <\/strong><\/td>68<\/strong><\/td>322<\/strong><\/td>R680,000<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Government crackdown<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

This data comes after the DEL committed to ramping up its inspection raids at the end of last year as part of its zero-tolerance stance on hiring illegal foreign workers in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth announced<\/a><\/strong> that the department had conducted nearly 2,900 inspections across all provinces in under a week in October 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These operations targeted various noncompliance issues, including wage violations, immigration breaches, and safety standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent compliance inspection drive, the DEL collected over R10 million in fines from noncompliant employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department\u2019s efforts are set to intensify, with plans to expand the labour inspectorate from 2,000 to nearly 20,000 inspectors over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This drive by the DEL aims to increase the capacity for thorough audits and inspections across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Minister Meth, the goal is not only to enforce compliance but also to promote social justice and safeguard workers\u2019 rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meth emphasised that fair labour practices boost employee morale and productivity, ultimately contributing to a stronger economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal experts have urged South African employers to take proactive measures to ensure compliance, particularly concerning the employment of foreign nationals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) legal specialists advised<\/a><\/strong> businesses to review the employment status of their foreign workers to avoid potential breaches of immigration, employment, and criminal laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other legal firms have also expressed a word of caution to employers in South Africa following the developments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African law firm Dentons urged<\/a><\/strong> businesses to adhere to the comprehensive immigration and employment laws that regulate the engagement of non-citizens in the workforce when employing foreign nationals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Understanding and complying with this legal framework is essential to ensure companies don\u2019t violate prescribed laws and avoid the consequences of noncompliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These laws govern work permits, visa requirements, and labour rights, ensuring that foreign workers are engaged lawfully and ethically,” the firm said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 300 employers and employees have been arrested with R680,000 in fines for breaking the law, which serves as a stern warning to other businesses in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":813303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[17130,17963],"class_list":["post-813871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-department-of-employment-and-labour","tag-parliamentary-qa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813871"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":813982,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813871\/revisions\/813982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}