Restaurants will be the focus of an integrated nationwide blitz of the hospitality sector, according to the Department of Employment and Labour.
This comes after the department made findings on Babel and Ocean Basket restaurants in Pretoria. The two restaurants were found to have violated the National Minimum Wage Age Act. This was established during a combined operation over the weekend. Three people were arrested in the operation, which was sparked by a viral social media post by an employee of Babel restaurant.
Multidisciplinary team of inspectors
The nationwide clean-up will be led by a multidisciplinary team of inspectors starting on Tuesday. This will continue until September 20.
Milly Ruiters, Chief Inspector of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) at the department said the Bargaining Council, the Department of Home Affairs, and the South African Police Services would also be participating.
Reports on the work of inspectors on the ground, according to Ruiters, will begin to come in on Wednesday.
Ruiters claimed that the blitz was not particularly remarkable. She said this was other than the fact that the restaurant industry in particular was starting to have issues.
“As part of our work, we normally conduct both proactive inspections and reactive inspections. In our strategy we have identified both problematic and high-risk sectors as a matter of focus,” she said.
She further revealed that a total of the department’s 1, 984 “boots will be on the ground” during the next four days.
Inspection to focus on various laws
“The inspector team will assess adherence to the following laws: the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act, the Employment Services Act (ESA), the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA), and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA),” she added.
The raid was sparked by Mihlali Nobavu, the young woman who documented her hardship as a restaurant employee. She did this in a series of viral videos that trended on social media.
Nobavu claimed that she was paid nothing in basic pay, and that her employment was non-contractual.
She said she worked long hours (1pm to 2am) without taking a break. Because of this, she had to give her runner a share of the little tips she got. Her runner helps wait staff clear tables and serve clients.
