KZN workers allegedly paid R100 for 12-hour shifts as labour concerns deepen
Workers at some businesses in KwaZulu-Natal are allegedly being paid just R100 for 12-hour shifts, deepening concern over labour conditions in a province alr...
Workers at some businesses in KwaZulu-Natal are allegedly being paid just R100 for 12-hour shifts, deepening concern over labour conditions in a province already shaken by factory closures, migrant-worker flight and political pressure on employers.
The allegations, reported in local coverage on September 1, point to a grim reality in parts of the provincial economy: long hours, low pay and workplaces increasingly dependent on vulnerable workers, many of them migrants. The issue sits inside a wider national fight over undocumented labour, with government warning of tougher sanctions for companies that break labour laws.
Low pay, long shifts
The reported R100 wage for a 12-hour shift, if confirmed, would amount to just over 8 rand an hour. That is below what many workers and labour advocates would regard as a living wage in a province where transport, food and housing costs continue to climb. No further details on the businesses involved were provided in the source material.
KwaZulu-Natal has already been under pressure from a separate crisis in clothing manufacturing. In Newcastle, factories have been closing as immigrant workers leave amid fears of xenophobic violence, according to the eThekwini Clothing and Leather Association. The sector depends heavily on foreign-born labour, and business owners have warned that production could collapse if migrants disappear from the workforce.
Iqbal Ismail, chairperson of the association, said his sector would “one hundred percent collapse” if migrant workers suddenly left the factories. His own business employs 150 workers, only 30 of them South African.
Broader labour crackdown
The labour backdrop has tightened sharply this year. Deputy President Paul Mashatile has not ruled out naming and shaming businesses that employ undocumented migrants, alongside fines that could reach R100,000 for a first offence and climb as high as R1 million or jail time for repeat offenders under planned changes tied to the Employment Services Amendment Bill.
Mashatile told the National Council of Provinces that stronger penalties are being considered for employers who violate labour laws by hiring workers without proper documents. The warning comes after protests led by anti-illegal immigration groups, including March and March, pushed the issue higher up the political agenda.
At the same time, reports from other parts of the country suggest the campaign against undocumented migration is already reshaping the labour market. Businesses in transport, agriculture and manufacturing have complained of skill shortages after thousands of migrant workers allegedly lost jobs in recent months.
Factories, raids and pressure
In KwaZulu-Natal, the clothing industry has also faced raids that exposed what some reports described as sweatshop conditions, prompting retailers to pull business from certain factories. That has left owners nervous, workers unsettled and supply chains fragile. The result is a sector caught between enforcement, labour shortages and rising tension around foreign nationals.
Pressure has not come only from government. In Mpembeni, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, the Dube Traditional Council told foreign nationals to stop selling certain goods, including sand, blocks and liquor, under a notice dated April 1 this year. The council said the directive had to be followed by April 30.
For now, the allegation of workers being paid R100 for a 12-hour day lands in a province where labour disputes, migration politics and factory survival are all colliding. And the gap between what some workers earn and what they work remains stark.
