New Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie. Picture: Facebook
Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has applauded the blitz operation taking place at restaurants in the Gauteng province, voicing his support for stricter regulations on the hiring of illegal foreigners in the hospitality sector.
His comments come in the wake of a crackdown on Babel Restaurant in Menlyn, Pretoria, and other upmarket eateries like Tang in Sandton, where multiple employees were arrested for allegedly being undocumented foreigners who were working and living in the country illegally.
The blitz operations are being led by Home Affairs, Labour and the Hawks.
McKenzie, who campaigned in the May 29 elections on the ticket of deporting all foreigners who were in the country illegally, said he was pleased by the operation which is cracking down on non-compliant restaurants in the hospitality sector.
McKenzie tweeted said he was not in the Government of Nationalit for vibes and that they were “fighting for what we believe in, we are listening to opposing views, we differ respectfully“.
“I was pleasantly shocked when I heard @GwedeMantashe eloquently put the case against hiring illegal foreigners in restaurants and elsewhere. We will fix SA."
In another tweet, he added:
“All these raids, all this new energy in making sure companies don’t hire people that are illegally in SA,provinces upping the fight against illegal foreigners should tell everyone that it is no longer business as usual.
“The GNU wants the laws of this country to be respected by all”.
The crackdown McKenzie referred to began with a TikTok video posted by Mihlali Nobavu, a former employee at Babel Restaurant.
Nobavu exposed alleged exploitative working conditions at the restaurant, which included paying employees below the minimum wage, withholding wages, and forcing staff to rely solely on tips as salaries.
Her video quickly gained traction, leading to an investigation by authorities.
Three undocumented foreign nationals working at Babel and a Mr D delivery scooter driver, who had picked up an order at the Ocean Basket Menlyn, were arrested during the raid.
Two Babel employees, chef Amina Lameck from Malawi and stock manager Kelechi Maduike from Nigeria, were placed in police custody.
A third individual, Emery Niyomuremyi from Burundi, who worked as a food delivery driver, was arrested at the Ocean Basket Menlyn, while collecting a meal order.
The Babel restaurant manager, Raui Kobeissi, was fined R10,000. The undocumented workers were reportedly set to be deported.
McKenzie has previously expressed his dislike for illegal immigrants, notably after a devastating fire in Johannesburg. He criticised government aid to illegal foreigners affected by the fire, stating, "Let them go home, this is not home."
He has consistently called for deportations and stronger enforcement of immigration laws, emphasising the need to prioritise South African citizens and address illegal occupations of hazardous buildings.
The blitz around the province continue.
Speaking on CNBC Africa on Wednesday, the Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) chief executive, Wendy Alberts, said they were concerned about some of the practices by some owners, adding non-complaint businesses had to be taken to task.
“Over the last years, we've been blitzed by the Department of Labour, Home Affairs and there’s always this conversation going on about foreign nationals in the industry, non-compliance, exploitation, etc.
“We need to get this conversation to head and we need to invite the correct parties around the table to bring us statistics.
“We can certainly have these open conversations with Home Affairs, Immigration, the Department of Labour, and the bargaining council as to why there is this constant conversation about non-compliance in our industry,” she said.
* The article has been updated to reflect the arrested delivery driver was not an Ocean Basket employee.
IOL
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