Cape Town – The National Roving Team (NRT), along with the departments of labour and home affairs, reportedly teamed up with law enforcement officers to conduct a joint inspection on a market in Marabastad, Pretoria on Monday.
The raid was aimed at cleaning up criminal activities and assessing compliance with labour and immigration laws.
At least 20 people were reportedly arrested for contravening immigration laws and employing undocumented foreign nationals, reports said.
News24 reported that similar operations were conducted in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and Mpumalanga.
The report said that the Marabastad market was closed for business after inspectors found it to be non-compliant.
“The Tshwane fruit and vegetable market in Marabastad was served with a prohibition notice. In terms of an inspector’s report, the market has been shut down because conditions threaten, or are likely to threaten, the health and/or safety of persons in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act of 1993,” the report quoted Labour department spokesperson, Teboho Thejane as saying.
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Traders were prohibited from using the building due to lack of firefighting equipment, operating with open electrical wires, and non-compliant with electrical installation requirements among other things, the report said.
According to IOL, the operation was led by NRT which consisted of a team of inspectors who were specialists in various disciplines of labour legislation such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund, Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Labour Relations and National Minimum Wage.
The Department of Employment and Labour Chief Director for Statutory and Advocacy Services in the Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch, Advocate Fikiswa Bede said that the NRT inspectors were beginning to make an impact across the country.
Bede was, however, worried that many traders in the Marabastad area seemed unaware of issues pertaining to compliance, the report said.
“It is either people here are ignorant of the law or they are just carrying on with their business without regard of consequences,” Bede was quoted as saying.
According to an immigration official who was part of the operation, follow-up inspections were needed to curb non-compliance, the report said.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
