Babel manager fined R10 000 as undocumented workers appear in court

Three illegal foreign nationals employed by two restaurants in the east of Pretoria appeared before the Hatfield Magistrate’s Court on September 17.

Two of the employees will appear in court again on September 19 and 20 while the other will appear on October 2 for a formal bail application.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the manager of the Babel restaurant was fined R10 000, while the illegal foreign nationals were charged with being in the country illegally.

NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the illegal nationals, Emery Niyomuremyi (35) from Burundi, Amina Lameck (34) from Malawi, and Kelechi Maduike (38) from Nigeria, are all facing charges of being in the country illegally.

Mahanjana said Babel and Ocean Basket restaurants in Menlyn Mall allegedly employed all three accused.

She added that both Lameck, who is employed as a chef, and Maduike, who is employed as a stock manager, work at Babel, while Niyomuremyi works at Ocean Basket as a delivery man.

Mahanjana said the three were arrested on the evening of September 15 at the restaurants by the Department of Home Affairs together with the Department of Employment and Labour after they conducted a raid at both restaurants.

“The raid comes after a video was circulated on TikTok by a disgruntled former Babel employee expressing her dissatisfaction regarding her employer’s treatment and alleging that the restaurant is violating the Labour Relations Act.”

She said the manager of Babel restaurant, Raui Kobeissi (42), who was also arrested with the three, was released at Brooklyn Police Station after he paid a R10 000 admission of guilt fine.

Recently, Rekord reported that the two restaurants found guilty of labour violations have been given 14 days to pay over R1.3-million owed in wages and comply with legal labour practices.

The Labour Department confirmed the timeline to Rekord as the eateries were found contravening labour practices.
Thobeka Magcai, the spokesperson for the Minister of Labour and Employment, said the employers had contravened the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 and the National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018.

Ocean Basket in a statement refuted claims that their Menlyn branch hires undocumented foreigners and that they engage in unfair labour practices.

“We have spent the last 24 hours investigating the Menlyn Ocean Basket branch using an independent labour lawyer, internal auditors, as well as an accounting firm,” read the statement issued by Ocean Basket.

The statement said after hours of thorough scrutiny Ocean Basket found that:

– There are no illegal foreigners currently employed at Ocean Basket Menlyn, and this has been confirmed by the Department of Home Affairs, which visited on Sunday.
– All staff receive their monthly wages, tips and commissions as per their employment contracts.
– No money is currently owed to any staff members.
– Its practices comply with the South African labour legislation.
– Absolutely no contact has been made, or documentation supplied to Ocean Basket by the Department of Labour as evidence of where they got the figures released to media, neither has it been asked for co-operation in resolving this.
– Ocean Basket has been referred to personnel at the department but no one has answered any questions or agreed to meet or supply the evidence supporting these figures.

“Our call to action is to ask the Department of Labour to join us at the table and work together to understand what has taken place here,” read the statement.

Ocean Basket said it was concerned that the department issued a statement without first discussing its findings with the establishment.

“These actions have had a detrimental effect on our brand’s credibility and reputation.”

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