Cape Town – Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana on Tuesday said he trusted that members of South Africa's Chinese community would be more compliant with the country's labour legislation now that a court ruling had rendered them as “coloureds”.

The minister was briefing reporters on the outcome of a recent court case, initiated by the Chinese Association of South Africa and two Chinese individuals, seeking to clarify their status according to racial definitions.

These racial definitions have an impact in the current environment, given that employment equity legislation and black economic empowerment legislation favour historically oppressed individuals.

Mr Mdladlana was to be one of the respondents in the application, but government did not oppose it in the end.

He conceded that the court's ruling could be of benefit to Chinese people in terms of black economic empowerment laws, as they would now be legally regarded as historically coloured.

But his focus as Labour Minister was on compliance, or the lack of it, with legislation governing the recruitment and treatment of workers in South Africa.

Mr Mdladlana said he hoped people of Chinese descent in South Africa would make sure that they complied with the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

He added that the department would now expect better cooperation from Chinese employers with his department, saying that Chinese South Africans would not be able to claim that they cannot speak any of South Africa's 11 official languages – including English.

While the court's decision would probably have little impact in terms of people of Chinese ethnicity benefiting from employment equity legislation, the minister said that “on the BBBEE (broad-based black economic empowerment) there could be serious challenges there”.

“Now that they are South African Coloureds they have absolutely no reason not to understand firstly, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which gives rights to all the people of this country, including poor people and those who are working in factories.

“But secondly, their understanding of the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act will be expected to be above board, since they have now been classified as coloureds,” Mr Mdladlana said.

Patrick Chong, chairman of the Chinese Association of South Africa, told BuaNews on Wednesday that he was “disappointed” at the remarks made by the Minister of Labour on Tuesday.

Mr Chong said he felt the remarks, if quoted correctly, were “very strange, very sad” and that he hoped the whole matter would be properly clarified in due course.

He added that the Chinese Association of South Africa would be releasing an official statement on the matter later on Wednesday, through its attorneys. – BuaNews