The management at Babel restaurant in Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, have broken their silence about allegations that workers at the posh eatery are subjected to unfair labour practices and don’t have basic salaries.
They promised to “rectify” their unlawful acts within five days during a visit by EFF leaders in Tshwane at the establishment on Monday.
The visit followed a public outrage sparked by claims of workers’ mistreatment exposed by a former waitress identified as Mihlali Nobavu, who took to TikTok on weekend to share her ordeal.
On Sunday, officials from the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Labour and the Hawks conducted a sting operation at the establishment, resulting in the arrest of a manager and two undocumented migrants.
In social media video clips that have since gone viral, Nobavu recounted how she spent a R1 000 on buying her own uniform after she was employed and told it was one of the requirements.
In addition to her uniform, she was told to buy her own equipment such as bottle openers, cigarette lighters, cigar lighters and cutters.
She also detailed that she worked without a contract of employment and that workers at the restaurant didn’t have basic salaries but depended on tips for survival.
She claimed workers were forced to pay a daily non-refundable breakage fee of R200 towards broken or stolen cutlery.
Her horrific story elicited anger from the public since it was shared on social media on Saturday.
Many social media users frowned upon the unfair labour practice at the restaurant and applauded her for exposing it.
Others pointed out that workers’ mistreatment was actually a norm within the hospitality industry.
One user wrote: “This Babel thing is just the tip of the iceberg. The girl who made the Babel issue known is being forced to keep quiet but luckily she won’t. There’s more which has not yet been displayed to the public!”
Speaking on behalf of the restaurant on Monday, a consultant Itumeleng Kgogome denied there have been attempts to force Nobavu to delete her social media posts.
He said the company had undertaken to rectify issues raised by the aggrieved former employee on social media.
The company, he said, would implement a rotational system for workers as one of the burning issues aired on video clips.
“To ensure that we comply with the law fully, all the employment contracts will be there and any department that will come here will find those things,”he said.
He conceded that the company missed out on addressing some issues when it started, adding that a team has been put together to rectify them.
He said the eatery won’t close because “as we know unemployment in South Africa is very huge and actually closing the doors is going to force other people not to put food on the table”.
“The company didn’t have an HR team and it is a fairly new company, but one thing (is) that our staff that are permanent have contracts. When it comes to waitresses; they come in two days and three days a week but that will be rectified to ensure that they have contracts,” he said.
He said in the next five days the company will make sure workers’ contracts are signed and embark on consultations with them “to make sure they are happy as well”.
EFF chief whip at Tshwane council, Godwin Ratikwane, denounced workers’ exploitation, saying it was uncalled for for workers to be forced to contribute money for broken cutlery.
“It is not either or when it comes to national minimum wage versus gratuity. You have to comply with the national minimum wage,”he said.
He said tips were optional for customers and that one can decide not to “pay the 10% because when I walk in here you don’t tell me that part of what you are going to pay is 10%”.
He suggested that workers who were never remunerated for weeks can still be paid in terms of Section 73 of the labour Relations Act.
Gauteng provincial manager at the labour department Albert Matsaung said an employer and two undocumented migrants who were arrested on Sunday were expected to appear before a magistrate’s court within 48 hours.
Pretoria News
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