The Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch has established the National Labour Inspection Task Team to target the Informal Economy sector of South Africa.

The Task Team, which is a team of inspectors from different provinces given the mandate to come up with directives that will be utilised to conduct researched inspections in the informal economy, was established last year (2022) and the first meeting of this unique project in Africa took place in June 2022.

The task is derived from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommendation 204 adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2015.

The Department of Employment and Labour’s Principal Inspector: Occupational Health and Safety in Gauteng, Siphokazi Kope, said “in light of the Labour Administration Convention, No.150 of 1978 and Recommendation No.204 respectively, there is a need to intervene in the informal economy and transition the Informal Economy into Formal Economy”.

“It is acknowledged that current South African labour laws are not adequately addressing employment conditions for workers in the Informal Economy sector. It is evident that workers in the Informal Economy Sector do not enjoy all the employment conditions or rights as those employed in the formal economy sector,” said Kope.

Kope said this earlier today (17 February 2023) during the Department’s IES Employment Standards conference which has been taking place since Wednesday (15 to 17 February 2023) at the Durban’s Coastlands Hotel, Musgrave in KwaZulu-Natal, under the theme: “Evolve, Pursue and Overtake”.

“In the new financial year, we will be having a target, a small target to test compliance in the informal economy. For the informal economy, it’s still a recommendation and it’s not obligatory. We still testing, somehow you will see it as a recommendation. So we have decided, because South Africa is a member state of the IOL and SADC, we have decided to take part and ensure that we are first of the African countries that have tried inspections in the informal economy. So we are having targets in that space just for the teams we are putting it as a project,” said Advocate Fikiswa Bede – the Department of Employment and Labour’s Chief Director: Statutory and Advocacy Services.

Siphokazi Kope, said the targeted informal economy inspections are a pro-active and re-active approach inspections.

“This is a planned inspection initiated as a result of the Labour centre, Provincial, National Inspection plan which is derived from the Annual Performance Plan (APP) to ensure compliance with employment law.

“This is an inspection in response to a request for an inspection, complaint or a case in the informal economy,” said Kope.

Kope said the term “informal economy” refers to all economic activities by workers and economic units that are – in law or in practice – not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements.

“Their activities are not included in the law, which means that they are operating outside the formal reach of the law; or they are not covered in practice, which means that – although they are operating within the formal reach of the law, the law is not applied or not enforced; or the law discourages compliance because it is inappropriate, burdensome, or imposes excessive costs to those who operate in the informal economy,” said Kope.

Kope added that: “Workers in the informal economy include both wage workers and own-account workers (Self-employed person). Most own-account workers are as insecure and vulnerable as wage workers and move from one situation to the other. Because they lack protection, rights and representation, these workers often remain trapped in poverty.”

Issued by Teboho Thejane, Departmental Spokesperson, 17 February 2023