Low wages and high levels of debt are some of the drivers of violent strikes in the South African mining sector, University of Pretoria research and short courses attorney Charlotte van Sittert suggested during the twenty-seventh Annual Labour Law Conference last month, in Sandton, adding that employers should play a role in assisting workers to manage their finances.

In October last year, the Mail and Guardian reported that the mining sector was one of the sectors experiencing trouble with over-indebtedness and possible exploitation. The services sector, which includes real estate and financial intermediation, has the highest number of staff with garnishee orders, but employees in the mining sector have more garnishee orders per individual. The average number of orders for every garnisheed employee across all sectors was 1.76, while the mining sector alone recorded an average of 1.43 garnisheed employees.

“Garnishee orders, technically known as emolument attachment orders, are issued by magistrates courts and compel employers to deduct money owed from workers’ salaries,” Van Sittert explained.

She added that South Africa being the only country without a limitation on the amount that can be deducted from salaries or wages has meant that mineworkers are often left with ‘close to nothing’ in wages after deductions. As a result, this has led to dissatisfaction and ongoing wage strikes in the sector.

“Consequently, mine houses are affected by this as it leads workers to mental exhaustion, physical illness and absenteeism, which all, in turn, lead to decreased productivity,” Van Sittert pointed out.

This being the case, she mentioned that employers could help workers by assisting in auditing existing garnishee orders if irregularities are suspected; ensuring proper payroll systems are in place; forming strategic alliances with reliable financial advisers and attorneys and implementing financial wellness programmes for employees – both those who have been garnisheed and those struggling to meet their commitments but have not yet had legal action taken against them.

For employees already being garnisheed, Van Sittert indicated that the employer could introduce damage control systems that looked into checking the creditors of the garnisheed order so that its legitimacy could be assessed. Also, the employer could generate awareness among employees of their rights as debtors facing garnishees. These rights include the right to a free statement of account and the right to have the order rescinded.

For employees with no legal action taken against them, the employer could implement financial literacy training, which would teach them how to manage their finances better. The employer could also remove easily accessed loan schemes from the workplace to prevent workers from being tempted to take additional loans. Also, Van Sittert highlighted that the employer could identify and refer debt-stressed employees to debt counsellors in order to get help before having a legal order filed against them.