Several groups of workers were carried away in police vans from a construction site on Lower Long Street in Cape Town’s CBD this morning, as the Department of Employment and Labour visited the site for a compliance check.
The department was joined by SAPS and Metro Police personnel as they brought work to a halt and called out all those working on the site.
SmileFM was on the scene as the workers and management teams filled Jetty Street.
Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya was also there. He said his department, in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs and the Builders’ Council, visited the site to ensure labour law compliance.
“We are here to check whether they are complying with our labour laws, Occupational Health and Safety Act, whether their workers are registered with the UIF compensation fund, whether they get paid salaries that they need to be paid… We are just here to check whether all our labour laws are observed, respected and implemented,” Sibiya told SmileFM.
By extension of this, Sibiya noted that they also checked whether the non-South Africans working on the site were legally in the country and legally able to work there.
“Because we are having Home Affairs, we are here to check whether they do have people who are non-South Africans who are working on this site. If they are non-South Africans, are they illegal, are they illegal in the country?”
All the construction workers were split into various groups, initially into groups related to the company they work for and then into whether they are South Africans or foreign nationals.
Some of the groups were taken away in police vans:
Sibiya confirmed that Tri-Star Construction was spearheading the project and was working with several subcontractors. He said that overall, Tri-Star was following due process, but noted some concerns with the subcontracted companies and their employees.
“The only negative is the subcontractors. The subcontractors have employed quite a number of illegal foreign immigrants. We have picked up quite a number of them. Some, we are still verifying them.”
He said that by 10:30 on Wednesday morning, 80 people had been identified as possible illegal immigrants. However, their documents and information still needed to be verified.
“But there are those who are illegal already, that we have verified, which is very negative,” said Sibiya.
Some people were later seen being removed from the building, as authorities walked through the site for a final check:
Sibiya said it was important to ensure compliance on the site, especially in terms of citizenship/immigration status, because he wants to ensure that South Africans are not being compromised.
“That is one of our areas of focus: to make sure that employment goes to South Africans deserving… Don’t allow people who are illegal in our country to come and do work that is supposed to be done by South Africans. We want to prioritise South Africans,” said Sibiya.
Further to this, Sibiya confirmed that what is under construction on 17 Lower Long Street is a housing project. A gym used to occupy the space before construction on this new project began.
