According to a department statement, the inspections are to ensure that employers are meeting the conditions and standards set out in South Africa’s labour laws.
The inspections will focus on ensuring compliance with employment equity targets, unemployment insurance fund contributions, and occupational health and safety requirements.
The inspectors will also investigate if employers are complying with the Basic Conditions of Employment, Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases, and Labour Relations Acts, among other ‘relevant sectorial determinations’.
The minister will be accompanied by labour inspectors and law enforcement agencies.
On Sunday, 23 April, Oliphant will host an Imbizo with sugarcane farmworkers, in Ndwedwe, KwaZulu-Natal, to discuss unlawful wage deductions, the productivity-based pay system (umjarho), and employers not paying public holiday rates or providing adequate protective clothing.
The department of home affairs will also be represented, as many of the workers are foreign nationals.
