It was chaos inside Sandton City Mall on Wednesday when authorities from the departments of Employment and Labour as well as Home Affairs conducted raids. Anxious waiters and waitresses were seen hastily fleeing from the opulent eateries located in Africa’s richest square mile in order to avoid arrests. The raids form part of the government of national unity’s strategy to enforce the rule of law in the hospitality sector. Raids conducted in Pretoria this week found some restaurants flouting laws. Ocean Basket and Babel in Menlyn were found to have employed undocumented foreign nationals. According to reports, some of the workers fled in Sandton because they are undocumented foreign nationals. They are working in the country illegally. Blitz started in Tshwane on Tuesday Among the six restaurants in the vicinity that were raided on Wednesday, were Tang and Doppio Zero. The department found that the majority of the establishments paid their staff solely commission and gratuities. Advocate Michael Msiza, the Gauteng chief inspector at the Department of Employment and Labour, said they started the blitz on Tuesday in Tshwane. “At Tang, we found a number of things that were wrong. But the main one is that they have not been paying salaries to their staff members. Staff not paid salaries, no safety precautions in place “They owe their employees! What we need to establish now is the duration of the time that their staff has been working. Calculate that and they have to pay them. This is regardless of their nationality,” he said. Msiza revealed that because of installation safety concerns, gas usage is not permitted at the restaurant. This implies that they must provide evidence that the gas used at the restaurant is safe to use. Until then, they will not operate as usual. “We discovered that the establishment employs about 100 staff members. Half of those are foreign nationals. According to law, companies are not allowed to employ foreign nationals. Unless they can prove that they have a skill that cannot be found in the country. “At this restaurant, they do not have first aiders for such a huge number of workers, that is wrong,” he added. Undocumented Zim national pleads that SA is all the home he has Meanwhile, five restaurant staff, including a manager were apprehended by the police. The manager was found to have employed undocumented foreign immigrants. This after Home Affairs flagged them for invalid work permits. Before getting inside the police van, one Zimbabwean national said South Africa is all he has known for all his life “Yes, I am Zimbabwean, but all I have known is this country. If they take me back to Zimbabwe, who am I going back to there? I came to South Africa at the age of three. And I have a wife and a child, my whole life is here,” he said. He further said he was trying to make ends meet with his job “I was not found by the side of the road trying to rob people, I was at work. Who is going to fetch my child from school now?” The raids will continue until September 20, according to the department.