Labour Department examines horse-racing industry

THE horse-racing industry is facing tough questions from Parliament, with members of joint committees to get a report from the Department of Labour tomorrow on the alleged abuse of grooms.

Lemias Mashile, chairperson of the portfolio committee on labour, told Independent Media their meeting would determine whether there should be an inquiry into the industry, after a number of complaints.

Mashile said they had received complaints from riders, trainers and grooms about abuse and failure by employers to meet the basic conditions of employment.

“We are trying to get to the bottom of what is happening there,” he said.

He said it was a big industry, with races in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town where trainers, grooms and riders eked out a living.

But, he said, after their earlier engagement with these people, Parliament had tasked the Department of Labour to conduct an investigation. It was that report from the department that would guide them on how to proceed, and whether there should be a full-scale inquiry by Parliament into the industry.

He said from the informa- tion received, the workers in the sector were abused by employers. Some of the grooms were forced to travel with horses in the same trailer.

“We want to understand why the employers are not complying with the basic conditions of employment. You have major races, like the Durban July handicap and others, and employers have to comply. We did engage the representatives of those people in Parliament,” he said.

“We tasked the Department of Labour to go and investigate. We are now going to have a report from them and determine whether we will need to visit those places or we will escalate this to the full-scale inquiry.”

The joint meeting between the portfolio committee on labour and trade and industry would make a decision on the way forward.

Mashile said this was an important sector that the country, and Parliament in particular, could not afford to ignore.

The people who worked in the industry must be accorded the same rights as any worker in the country, and employers must meet all the minimum requirements of the labour laws of the land, he said.

They would not wait any longer because the sector covered all the country’s major cities.

Parliament would provide direction on how they would help grooms and other people working in the industry, said Mashile.