Swazi Observer

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MPS WANT COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON LABOUR BROKERS

By Mbono Mdluli | 2019-08-14

MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) want a comprehensive report on the state of labour brokers in the country.

The MPs want to know about all the registered labour brokers and their operations.

Mangcongco MP Oneboy Zikalala has since filed a notice to move a motion in the House of Assembly on this issue.

Zikalala wants Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo to table a report of all registered labour brokers within two weeks after the motion had been moved.

Furthermore, the report should outline the policy guidelines and also explain how the huge sums of money were deducted from their clients (workers).

It is still not clear when the motion would be moved by the Mangcongco lawmaker, as the House of Assembly adjourned indefinitely on Monday.

This comes at a time when there is a motion in Parliament that was moved in order to ban labour brokers.

The motion was moved at the beginning of last month by Motshane MP Robert Magongo and was seconded by Kwaluseni MP Sibusiso Mabhanisi Dlamini.

Labour brokering is a labour practice in which an individual or organisation organises workers for certain organisations.

The workers organised by the labour brokers are under the responsibility of the broker and the company forwarded the workers has no responsibility for the workers.

At times, under this arrangement, the organisation or company will pay money to the labour broker, who will inturn deduct his/her own per cent, before paying the rest of the money to the workers.

Magongo pleaded with his colleagues to support him in passing this motion because many of Emaswati were suffering in many industries that embraced this practice.

“The problem starts with unemployment. Emaswati remain at home unemployed for a very long time. This forces them to tolerate any situation once they get the jobs, more especially because they fear being fired once they demand that their rights be respected,” Magongo was quoted as saying.

Dlamini said it was important for MPs to ensure that they protected Emaswati from this bad practice. He said it was painful for Emaswati to work until they reached 60 years of age, only for them to return home with just a monthly salary and nothing to show for their loyalty to a labour brokering firm.

In response, Minister of Labour and Social Security Makhosi Vilakati told the MPs that a Bill addressing labour brokers was on its way. He said for now, the Bill was still with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). He said it could take about three months for the Bill to be tabled in Parliament.

This means by October, the Bill would be tabled.

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