The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has fined 68 employers a total of R680 000 for hiring illegal foreign nationals without valid work permits in contravention of immigration laws.

In a parliamentary reply, Minister Nomakhosazana Meth said her department conducts blitz inspections in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs and the police.

Meth said her department’s mandate was to enforce the implementation of labour laws to ensure the protection of workers, while the Department of Home Affairs scrutinised the validity of visas and work permits through the application of immigration laws.

“In the event of non-compliance with immigration laws, the Department of Home Affairs arrests the non-compliant employers and employees.”

Meth said during the blitz, 68 employers and 322 foreign nationals were found on the wrong side of the law across the nine provinces.

“With respect to the 68 employers arrested, each employer paid an admission of guilt fine to the amount of R10 000. Therefore, the total amount paid in lieu of fines is R680 000 while the 322 employees were taken for further processing as per immigration requirements,” she said.

Meth’s response showed that Eastern Cape led the pack with 34 employers that flouted the laws and were fined a collective R340 000, followed by Mpumalanga with 15, Limpopo eight, KwaZulu-Natal five, and two in the Western Cape.

She also said of the 322 foreign employees that were arrested, the largest number, 163, were from Limpopo.

The Western Cape followed with 43 foreign nationals, Eastern Cape and Gauteng at 34 people each, Mpumalanga 30, KwaZulu-Natal 16, and Free State two.

In a response to another set of questions, Meth said her department received 6 255 work permit applications between April 2023 and March last year.

She said the role of her department was to make recommendations on corporate work visa applications regarding the availability of local labour in various categories.

The Department of Home Affairs makes final decisions or waive any recommendation made by any of these three departments after following their final internal processes or after consulting further with other departments such as those in the security cluster.

She added that of the applications her department received and processed, 5 383 were rejected.

A total of 872 work visas for migrant workers were recommended.

The applications were mainly from foreign nations from Zimbabwe with 445, Lesotho with 250, Mozambique 86, and Namibia 70.

The applications were for mining, agriculture, and education and training.

Cape Times

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R680 000 fines issued to employers hiring illegal foreign workers

Labour Department’s compliance drive welcome