Bust: boss who runs ‘factory of horrors’
Workers slaved in dangerous, dirty conditions for R50 a day
ARMED with bolt cutters, government law enforcement agents stormed through the decrepit factory’s only entrance — a large industrial steel door leading to a dusty, dimly lit sweatshop.
The windows, covered in thick layers of filth, were blacked out with dark paint that shut out all natural light from the Mdantsane factory.
On the factory floor, watched by close-circuit surveillance cameras, a row of middle-aged women sat hunched making mattresses, squinting and silent.
Cai Yun Furniture factory manager Fanzi Weng, 40, with heavy bags under his eyes and brows furled, descended from his office, demanding an explanation.
The search warrant and paperwork from labour officials sent the Chinese national scurrying back to his office to retrieve his three cellphones.
The operation included members of the police tactical response team and officials from the provincial departments of home affairs, labour and social development.
Regional home affairs spokesman Siya Majakajaka said his office was investigating other sweatshops that had cropped up in the East London region, many of which opened and closed so quickly that they evaded inspections.
On the cluttered factory floor, machines hummed and electric saws hissed. Weng cursed under his breath. He was detained for various offences, including irregularities with his work permit.
Weng, who is scheduled to appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court tomorrow, has also been accused of violating the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
The factory, the size of a soccer field, had no fire extinguishers, hose pipes or even smoke alarms. Officials described it as a “factory of horrors”.
The Sunday Times began investigating the Cai Yun Furniture factory two weeks ago. The investigation found that:
ýWorkers, mostly from the former Transkei, toiled at the machines six days a week, sewing virtually nonstop from 9am until 5pm and pausing only for a 15-minute lunch break;
They each earned R50 daily on condition that they assembled about 20 single beds a day;
They had their wages docked for taking sick days and were coached to lie to government inspectors about working conditions; and
They were locked in the factory for up to nine hours a day and lived in a filthy, ratinfested truck container and an outbuilding on the premises.
“If [the factory] had to burn, we would burn along with it,” said Zukiswa Bhunigwe, 38, who began working in the factory in January. “We all want to leave, but where else do we go?”
The Eastern Cape recently recorded the highest number of job losses among the nine provinces, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey released by Statistics South Africa.
More than 69 000 people lost their jobs in the last three months of last year in the province, followed by 40 000 in KwaZulu-Natal and 16 300 in Gauteng.
Bhunigwe, a mother of two, said when she left her rural home in Peddie, she never imagined that she would be forced to “work like a slave” for R50 day.
She said she often feared for her safety in the factory.
Flammable fabrics lay everywhere. Stains suggested that oil was allowed to drip on the concrete floor.
Although labour officials said the workers were grimly grate- ful just to have a job, the workers complained of aching shoulders, stiff backs, dry coughs and sore throats.
Without even a first-aid kit, the workers used discarded pieces of cloth from the floor to bandage severe cuts.
Tamsanqa Meme, 41, who makes frames for the couches, said he would have quit months ago but he needed the money. He saves R200 a month, which he sends home to his family.
“Go see where we sleep,” said Meme. “Go see our toilets. Pigs live under better conditions. They even monitor how long we stay in the toilet. If you are there too long, you are told that time will be deducted from your wages.”
Zamekhaya Majiba, 32, a carpenter, said: “In other factories, three or five people do the job I do alone.”
Although Weng declined to comment, it has been established that the factory premises are among 120 leased to small businesses by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation.
Weng pays about R15 500 to lease the premises.
He denied owning the factory, but other family-owned businesses, including Luckily Supermarket and Hui Fan Fashion, have afforded Weng a comfortable lifestyle. He has a luxury home and a fleet of cars that includes a Mercedes-Benz Viano, which retails for between R708 624 and R913 482.