The Department of Labour has today (20 February 2013) completed its first round of public hearings for the taxi and hospitality industries in the Mpumalanga region that saw hundreds of enthusiastic stakeholders attending.

According to Titus Mtsweni, the department's Acting Director for employment standards, sectoral determinations came into effect in the taxi industry in July 2005 and in the hospitality industry in July 2007.

The meetings started in Kwamhlanga on Monday and proceeded to Witbank the following day before winding up in Lydenburg and Nelspruit at which officials urged those attending to "use the public hearings to make inputs in order to influence the outcome of the Process."

They said once the hearings were concluded in all provinces, the team will forward all the inputs to the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) - the body that advices the minister on wages and other working conditions.

From then on, the ECC will make recommendations to the Minister who will then make final determinations for the sectors. Mtsweni said the roadshows will proceed to Springbok and Upington in the Northern Cape next week.

Contact:

Page Boikanyo

Departmental Spokesperson

Cell: 082 809 3195

Issued by: Department of Labour