{"id":27525,"date":"2026-03-03T08:47:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=27525"},"modified":"2026-03-03T08:47:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:47:54","slug":"labour-department-urges-construction-firms-to-prioritise-hiring-south-africans","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/labour-department-urges-construction-firms-to-prioritise-hiring-south-africans\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Department urges construction firms to prioritise hiring South Africans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa\u2019s (SA) Department of Employment and Labour has called on construction companies to prioritise employing South Africans, following a compliance raid at two building sites in Clayville, Ekurhuleni.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The multidisciplinary operation, conducted last week, resulted in the arrest of 50 undocumented foreign nationals. Authorities say the raid targeted construction companies found to be flouting labour and immigration laws.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya has warned employers that hiring undocumented workers carries serious consequences, including fines and possible imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sibiya says non-compliance levels remain high, with some employers disregarding labour, immigration and occupational health and safety regulations. He cautioned that employing undocumented individuals in hazardous construction environments not only breaks the law but also places other workers at risk.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sibiya stressed that the department\u2019s enforcement drive is aimed at protecting both workers and the broader public, while addressing SA\u2019s high unemployment rate.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He urged companies to make use of local skills, saying the country has capable workers who should be given priority in employment opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16392,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-27525","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Department of Employment and Labour has called on construction companies to prioritise employing South Africans","published_date":"2026-03-03 08:45:12","news_description":"Department of Employment and Labour has called on construction companies to prioritise employing South Africans","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27526,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27525\/revisions\/27526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=27525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}