Labour Department bogus officials' not so lucky this time

2 Jun 2011

Two men posing as Labour Officials to employers were not so lucky today when they attempted to sell labour legislations claiming the current ones the employer has were outdated when the police pounce on them. This follows an incident this morning (Thursday, June 02) when an employer at Gemini Scrap Metal in Bloemfontein was almost robbed of more than R2000 by two men from a company called Manpower Law Solutions.

The men travelling on a Gauteng registered Polo VW vehicle sold them labour legislations such as Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Employment Equity Act (EEA) and Occupational Health and Safety Acts claiming that the current ones needed to be replaced.  “The Department of Labour wants to put it to record that all labour legislations remain legal and only change after public consultations and a public announcement is made on the new amendments effected. As Department, we do not sell or use any consultants to sell any products. Our core responsibilities are to advice and enforce labour laws in workplaces,” says Chief Director, Provincial Operations Marsha Bronkhorst.

The employer called the department of Labour to confirm the official after paying about R2038 for legislations charts sold by one of the men going by the name of Fernando van der Merwe from the said company, only then that they discovered they were robbed and immediately called the police who managed to track the culprits and retrieve the cheque the employer paid them with. A similar case was reported of such unlawful activities being conducted by a woman driving a Red Hyundai registration number JMT701GP claiming to work for the Labour department through a ‘contracted company’ called SA Legal Act. The alleged perpetrator was said to be operating in the Eastern Free State late last year.

Department of Labour urges employers to be careful of people who visit their workplaces without identification to carry out inspections or sell any legislative documents as it might be an act of criminality with the aim of swindling their money.Any one who visits workplace selling such should do it in the name of their company and if employers decide to buy, they are doing so at their own risk. However anyone posing as a representative from the department with aims of conducting inspections or sell legislation posters is doing so under false pretence. Any such suspicious activities should immediately be reported to the Police.

The Department of Labour’s inspectors are the only officials who are allowed to carry out labour inspections and will do so by prior arrangement. They will be able to identify themselves and they are never allowed to receive any money from employers. All labour legislations can be sourced from the offices of the Department of Labour nationwide or on the departmental website www.labour.gov.za. 

Enquiries:
Wisane Mavasa (Provincial Communications - Free State)
Cell: 082 806 1351/ 05 505 6284

Issued by: Department of Labour
2 Jun 2011