Employment and labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth says her department is in discussions with finance minister Enoch Godongwana about funding for a major expansion of South Africa’s labour inspectorate, as the government steps up enforcement against employers hiring undocumented foreigners and violating labour laws.Meth said the talks with the National Treasury relate to funding additional labour inspectors after the department previously estimated that hiring 10,000 inspectors would cost about R10bn over the medium term.The plan was first announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his state of the nation address earlier this year as part of a broader crackdown on labour law violations and undocumented migrant employment.Meth previously said the estimated annual wage bill for 10,000 inspectors would amount to about R3.7bn a year, including salaries, benefits and operational tools.Speaking during a media briefing on labour migration and labour market reforms, Meth said strengthening the inspectorate was central to the department’s enforcement agenda.“Yes, if you look at the budget of the finance minister, no budget was allocated to the government part. But we take it that what the president said is law. So, regardless of us having enough capacity financially to find that, we have since set aside R5m over the [medium term],” Meth said. Senior officials from the department at the briefing said labour inspectors would be deployed more aggressively across sectors, including retail, hospitality, logistics and app-based delivery services, as the government intensifies workplace inspections.The department has argued that the current inspectorate is too small to regulate the scale of South Africa’s labour market. In parliamentary replies earlier this year, Meth said labour inspectors managed to cover only between 2% and 5% of workplaces over nearly two decades of inspections and enforcement work.The expansion is partly aimed at improving enforcement against businesses employing undocumented migrants and violating minimum wage, workplace safety and employment equity laws.“We are moving towards charging them criminally because it’s illegal,” deputy minister of labour Jomo Sibiya said. The labour department said they are also engaging companies operating in the e-hailing and delivery sectors, including firms linked to scooter and app-based delivery services, over replacing foreign workers whose permits are expiring with South African employees.Several delivery and logistics companies had approached the government for assistance as special visa dispensations introduced during and after the Covid-19 pandemic began lapsing.