Labour Dept admits not enough done to prevent employment of undocumented foreign nationals

JOHANNESBURG - The Department of Labour has admitted it has not done enough to prevent the employment of undocumented foreign nationals.  

Deputy Minister of Labour Jomo Sibiya made the concession on the sidelines of sentencing proceedings in the human trafficking case against seven Chinese nationals.  

The group was convicted of kidnapping 91 Malawians, including 37 children, and forcing them to work under deplorable conditions at a Johannesburg factory.  

The case was postponed on Friday to give the defence more time to review last week’s judgement.  

Responding to the delay, Sibiya said the employment of undocumented workers worsens the country’s unemployment crisis.  

“Illegal immigrants working or being employed, it’s supposed to be jobs occupied by South Africans, and we have a huge percentage of our people who are not working.”  

He described the case as groundbreaking and hopes it will deter similar crimes.