The Department of Labour will continue probing the 1 296 companies it maintains have not submitted equity reports for past year, Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana said on Friday.
He was dismayed at the controversy the ”naming and shaming” of the companies has caused, Mdladlana said at an opening of a R100-million car component manufacturing plant in Pretoria.
After his office released the list of names on Monday, several dozen of the companies claimed they had been wrongfully targeted and produced Department of Labour letters thanking them for submitting their reports.
”I am totally perplexed by the hullabaloo that our announcement has caused,” said Mdladlana.
His department had said it was following up on database entries showing submissions for 2004, but not 2005.
”I am therefore not sure whether this uproar is meant to derail or stop us from carrying out our investigations.”
The companies would face ”serious fraud charges” if they were found to have used ”unlawful tactics”, including changing their names, to avoid complying with the provisions of the law, he said. — Sapa