By BAKANG MOKOTO
3 July 2025 – The Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade has expressed its deep concern regarding the reported treatment of a cashier employed at a filling station in Maitland, Cape Town, following their purchase of a second-hand vehicle. The committee said the employee was reportedly subjected to invasive and demeaning conduct by the employer after acquiring a pre-owned car.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Sonja Boshoff said according to media reports, the employer questioned how the cashier could afford the vehicle on their salary and demanded access to their personal bank statements. Boshoff said this unacceptable behaviour ultimately led to the cashier’s resignation.
“While we cannot pre-empt the findings of any formal investigation, the reported conduct of the employer is deeply troubling and raises serious questions. To interrogate a worker’s financial independence, especially in this humiliating manner, is not only patronising, it borders on racial discrimination, abuse and a toxic workplace culture. This is not the South Africa we are building.
“Job creation must be rooted in empowerment and dignity, saying. Employers must recognise that they hold a responsibility not only to provide jobs, but to foster an environment where employees are treated with fairness, respect and basic human decency,” she said.
Boshoff further said when a worker is forced to resign for exercising financial autonomy, something is gravely wrong. She added that as the committee, they condemn this reported conduct in the strongest possible terms and calls on the Department of Employment and Labour to immediately dispatch labour inspectors to the filling station in question to assess the working conditions and broader organisational culture.
“The reported actions of the employer fly in the face of our constitutional values and the vision of inclusive economic development. Demanding bank statements from an employee is not only a gross violation of privacy, it is despicable and must not go unchallenged.
“The matter should not be left unresolved for too long. This incident must be thoroughly investigated and mediated with the aim of achieving an outcome that restores dignity and justice. Not just for the worker, but for any other workers who may be experiencing similar conditions in silence,” said Boshoff.
The Guardian 