Do we take the health and safety of consumers seriously enough?
I don’t think so. This has been demonstrated by Tiger Brands. The exposure of their Polokwane plant is just the tip of the iceberg.
Do we need a section 32 inquiry?
If course. We want to see accountability. Companies need to be made to pay, so that a message can be sent out to others that this is completely intolerable.
Who needs to call a section 32?
Department of Labour.
Why hasn’t your affiliate, the major union at the company, done anything to make it happen?
We are meeting today and we hope that that union will make that call on the Department of Labour. In fact, we hardly have anything that warrants the title “Department of Labour ”. We’re on our own. Consumers are on their own.
Is this why health and safety regulations are not enforced?
It’s because we don’t have strong trade unions. They’re too much focused on wages and not on the issues they should be focused on. Unions must appreciate that defending workers’ rights is not limited to wage negotiations every year or three years. It’s about looking after their health and the health of their... communities.
There’s no shortage of legislation to help them do this, is there?
We have every progressive law we need to protect consumer rights.
Why haven’t unions done more to make sure they ’re enforced?
We have about 160 labour inspectors, and practically no health inspectors. They’re the responsibility of local government, which is far too disorganised to enforce regulations, especially when it comes to food. And our consumer organisations are too weak. They’re not active in the townships or rural areas.Are you concerned that the Department of Labour is not taking a lead in these things?
It’s an indictment on them and on all of us.
Including your own affiliate?
Our executive is meeting today, and this is likely to be on the agenda.
What will you do to make sure the Department of Labour appoints a section 32 inquiry?
We ’ll picket, we’ll demonstrate, we ’ll hold sit-ins in their offices. The number of health inspectors needs to be increased, the department must be more proactive instead of waiting for a disaster like this, and it must work with the unions to build their capacity and train shop stewards so that they can be whistleblowers.
More immediately, it must call a section 32 inquiry?
I hope we will come out of this executive committee meeting with guns blazing.
Can there be accountability without a full inquiry?
It’s impossible. Class-action is important but it only takes the cream off from the profits of these companies, it doesn’t address any of the issues.
If there is a section 32 inquiry, will you push for the findings to be made public?
They must be made public so that we educate the public about the importance of a more vigilant consumer, more vigilant Department of Labour, more vigilant Department of Health. We ’ve got to bring inspections from local government back to the Department of Health...