On Wednesday four undocumented workers alongside a human resource manager were arrested during blitz inspections at Tang restaurant at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg.
The joint operation which has exposed some of Gauteng’s upmarket eateries, including the Tang restaurant in Sandton, was taking place inorder to address issues of compliance in the hospitality industry.
The Home Affairs, Department of Labour and the Hawks are taking part in a blitz inspection operation across Gauteng, conducting raids at restaurants.
On Wednesday, police arrested four undocumented workers, including a human resource manager at Tang restaurant, located at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg.
The raids came after a viral video by a disgruntled Babel former employee, Mihlali Nobavu, who expressed her dissatisfaction over her former employer’s treatment and alleged that the restaurant violated the Labour Relations Act.
Since the video, labour inspectors have been embarking on unannounced inspections of restaurants and they are going to all kinds of place, even in upmarket Sandton.
Aggy Moiloa, the Labour Department’s Inspector General speaking on eNCA, explained that the blitz inspection was part of their reactive response to the social outcry of the exploitation of restaurant workers.
“We thought that since we have always flagged the hospitality sector as one of the problematic sectors, we might as well do a full blown blitz which is something we do quite often.
“The bulk of our inspections are about 80% proactive, however we do react to media issues that we pick up along the way and complaints,” said Moiloa.
Nobavu’s video has opened up a can of worms, fuelling the discussions around the non-compliance in the hospitality industry, with more people coming forward with their stories about the exploitation happening in restaurants.
Moiloa said that there is a deep issue in the way the restaurants operate with many non-compliant, with Babel allegedly not complying to a single law.
“It’s something that we’ve picked up that there’s simply no culture of compliance and the fact that it is one of those sectors that is inundated with foreigners who most are undocumented.
“And when that happens, exploitation becomes inevitable, hence from time to time we go out to blitz sectors of that nature.”
As the blitz operations continue, it shall be interesting to see what more skeletons investigators find; more undocumented and under paid workers?
IOL Lifestyle