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30 Sep 2010

Labour Minister, Membathisi Mdladlana, has expressed anger and frustration at the low salaries being paid to inspectors in his department.

He was speaking at the conference of inspectors jointly organised by the Norwegian government, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Department of labour outside Pretoria today (Tuesday).

The event was held under the auspices: "Strengthening labour inspections system in South Africa".

"I must admit that I have the most horribly paid inspectors within the civil service. Their counterparts from departments of health, minerals and energy as well as transport have far better wages than ours. I feel very strongly about this as it is a subject that is very close to my heart," he said.

Mdladlana said the solution lay in the integration of inspectorates from all government departments that would ensure that they enjoyed the same conditions of service.

He said it was about time that people realised that inspectors worked under "extremely dangerous conditions" to the extent where many have asked to be provided with bullet proof vests to shield them from recalcitrant employers.

The minister said he would stand full-square behind inspectors to ensure that they did their work with no hindrance.

"Theirs is to ensure that workers operate in conditions of health and safety day in and day out," he said.

The two day conference took place ahead of the historic launch of the Roving Safety Representatives (RSR) and green cars in Tzaneen, Limpopo, on Tuesday, 5 October.

This is part of the department's goals of ensuring that inspectors were easily identifiable in all corners of the country as they conduct monthly blitz inspections across all sectors of the economy to ensure compliance with all labour laws.

Contact:
Mzobanzi Jikazana
Cell: 083 641 2355

Source: Department of Labour

Issued by: Department of Labour
30 Sep 2010

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