Huawei and SA government in talks to settle ongoing labour dispute out of court

If you had anything besides love on your mind last Valentine’s Day, you would have noted that South Africa’s labour department and Huawei aren’t getting along. That’s because the Chinese tech company, according to the Department of Labour, employs a 90% foreign workforce. The allowable limit, according to SA’s laws, is just a 40% complement of foreign nationals at any company.

Huawei, in a new statement issued yesterday evening, has signalled that matters are proceeding in a favourable manner for all concerned. By which they mean, nobody’s going to court any time soon. Which might well be the best possible outcome. Court cases are awfully messy, with resolutions held up by participants trying again until they get the result they want. Or until they run out of appeals. Whichever comes first.

Huawei expecting much to change?

A Huawei spokesperson said, “The Department of Employment and Labour and Huawei Technologies South Africa (Pty) Ltd, have entered into talks to reach a settlement agreement.” They continued, saying both parties “… have agreed to stay court proceedings instituted by the department against Huawei on 11 February 2022 pending the outcome of the negotiations.”

The Chinese company’s meeting with SA’s labour department involved a spot of showing off. Huawei “…demonstrated its extensive ICT skills transfer and training programs” for the department. This was an attempt to show how valuable the company would be for helping the country adopt various new technologies. The company spokesperson said the Department of Employment and Labour advised Huawei to expand its training programs further in line with SA’s Employment Equity act.

“Discussions are ongoing. Huawei is committed to being fully cooperative with the Department, and both sides are positive that this matter will be concluded shortly.”

At present, there are no signs of exactly how the matter will conclude. Only that it will. As soon as we’ve got more concrete information from either Huawei or the Department of Labour, we’ll have further updates.