The Department of Employment and Labour took its labour law compliance drive to Cape Town on Tuesday, hosting a third advocacy session with the Chinese business community as it presses foreign-owned firms to bring their workplaces in line with South African law.
The session was organised by the department’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch and ran from 09:00 to 13:00 at the Lagoon Beach Hotel in Milnerton, according to a media advisory issued by the department on 3 August 2026. It followed earlier sessions in Newcastle and Johannesburg.
Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya led the engagement jointly with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to South Africa, His Excellency Wu Peng. Inspector General Aggy Moiloa and Chief Inspector Milly Ruiters also attended, the department said.
A partnership framing, with conditions attached
Sibiya opened by acknowledging the scale of the commercial relationship. “Our relationship with China is an important one. China remains one of South Africa’s key trading partners and a valued investor,” he said in remarks published by the department. “We appreciate the contribution that Chinese businesses continue to make towards economic growth and employment in our country.”
He framed the session as co-operative rather than punitive. “The purpose of this engagement is not only to promote compliance but also to build stronger partnerships,” Sibiya said. “We believe that through open dialogue and cooperation, we can create workplaces that are fair, safe and beneficial to both employers and workers.”
That tone sits alongside a firmer line the Deputy Minister has taken publicly. Addressing Chinese business owners at China Mall in Johannesburg earlier this year, Sibiya told delegates that investment would not be allowed to come at the expense of workers. “We would rather have no investment if it compromises the livelihoods of our people. Our people come first and we must protect them,” he said, as reported by The Citizen in April 2026.
The commercial stakes are substantial. China has been South Africa’s largest trading partner for more than a decade, and a zero-tariff arrangement for South African exports to China took effect on 1 May 2026 following the Framework Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Prosperity signed in February.
Enforcement that has reached the courts
The department has precedent to point to. Speaking to labour inspectors in October 2025, Sibiya highlighted the case of seven Chinese nationals sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for offences including human trafficking, child labour and failure to register with statutory social funds.
The group ran Beautiful City Pty Ltd in Village Deep, Johannesburg, where authorities found undocumented minors working in a cotton fibre sheet factory. They were arrested in November 2019.
Sibiya used the case to argue for stiffer penalties generally, saying labour laws “should be amended and given a bite” because some employers simply budget for fines, and warning that “if you break labour laws, you can be sent to jail”.
The legal position on hiring is not ambiguous. Section 8(1) of the Employment Services Act 4 of 2014 states that an employer “may not employ a foreign national within the territory of the Republic of South Africa prior to such foreign national producing an applicable and valid work permit, issued in terms of the Immigration Act”.
A jobs crisis in the background
The drive comes as the labour market weakens. Statistics South Africa reported that the official unemployment rate rose 1,3 percentage points to 32,7 percent in the first quarter of 2026, from 31,4 percent in the final quarter of 2025. The expanded rate reached 43,7 percent, and unemployment among those aged 15 to 34 climbed to 45,8 percent.
For the department, the case put to Cape Town’s Chinese employers was that compliance and investment need not pull against each other — and that consistent enforcement protects law-abiding businesses as much as it protects workers.
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