South Africa has asked a court to fine the local unit of China’s Huawei Technologies for violating rules on hiring locals and ask the company to amend its operations, the labor ministry said on Thursday. Six. About 90% of the company’s employees are foreign nationals, violating “fair employment” regulations that impose a 40% cap, the department said, citing a 2020 audit.
The ministry said it had filed court papers asking for a fine of ZAR 1.5 million (approximately Rs 75,00,100) or 2% of the local company’s 2020 annual turnover for the defendant’s rule violations. tie.
“We are asking the honorary court to issue them an order saying they must implement an equal employment plan that will fix the status quo,” labor ministry advocate Fikiswa Mncanca-Bede told Reuters by phone. phone.
In a brief statement, Huawei South Africa said it was “committed to continuing to work further with the Department on our equity plan. Huawei commitment to comply with local laws and regulations. “
The ministry said Huawei was licensed under the Immigration Regulations, which require it to employ 60% of South African nationals and 40% of foreign nationals.
It said Huawei has instead employed more of that number of foreign workers and plans to hire more.
“The department has determined that the cause of its actions is clear and all violations have been committed,” it said.
The move is the first time the South African government has brought a legal challenge against the Chinese tech giant, which is already dealing with US sanctions over allegations its equipment could be stolen. used by the Chinese government for espionage.
Huawei and Beijing have repeatedly denied the allegations.
However, the labor department has cracked down on a smaller Chinese company for alleged poor working conditions and human trafficking at its Johannesburg factory. That case is still in court.
Huawei is one of the major information and communication technology companies in South Africa, selling a wide range of products from mobile phones, smart devices, television sets and telecommunications equipment to cloud computing solutions. cloud and data storage.
It has not made public the number of people it employs in South Africa.
