Fired security guards have been sleeping outside health department in Johannesburg for four months

Dozens of former security guards are sleeping outside the offices of the provincial department of health in Johannesburg city centre.

• Dozens of former security officers have been sleeping outside the offices of the provincial Department of Health in Johannesburg since April.
• They were dismissed in March by their employers, who were contracted to the department.
• They say they want their jobs back and also want unpaid benefits including provident fund contributions.
• The department says it cannot get involved in disputes between employees and employers.

Dozens of security guards have been sleeping outside the provincial Department of Health offices in Johannesburg for four months. They say they are owed money by security companies contracted to the department and want the department to intervene.

The group of about 100 guards are sleeping in the heart of the city, where pedestrians and motorists pass daily.

They are members of the South African Cleaners, Security, and Allied Workers Union (SACSAAWU) who were employed to guard various healthcare sites in Gauteng. They say they were dismissed suddenly on 31 March without explanation or severance pay. They say they are owed provident fund contributions and bonuses.

They started protesting outside the department in April and in May moved their protest outside ANC offices in Luthuli House and then outside the offices of the Star newspaper. Twenty-four of them were arrested. They then returned to the department of health offices to continue their protest.

Portia Mothibi says she worked at Discoverers Community Health Centre in Roodepoort for ten years, first for Mjayeli Security and then for Tshedza Protective Services. She says both companies owe her money.

She said her family want her back home, “but I can’t just walk away without getting my job back”. She says her main goal is to get her job back then she will worry about getting back the money owed to her.

Mothibi said when they began the protest they hoped the Gauteng Department of Health would intervene.

She said the companies she worked for did not pay the minimum agreed at the National Bargaining Council, which is R5,865 a month, and should never have been contracted to the department.

Portia Mothibi says she worked at Discoverers Community Health Centre in Roodepoort for ten years for two security companies and neither paid what she was due.

Tshidi Sekgala from Soshanguve in Tshwane said she had worked for Ally’s Counter Force since 2015. She was one of those arrested during the protest outside Luthuli House in May.

“It was heartbreaking because we were arrested and put in jail for seven days for nothing. All we wanted was our unpaid provident funds.”

“We tried going to the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) and the Bargaining Council but the companies didn’t show up. We have nothing to show after working for more than ten years.”

She said the protesters relied on donations for food.

SACSAAWU secretary General Andries Diphapang Potsane, who is also sleeping outside, said they have handed over a memorandum of demands to the Department of Health.

“We handed over a memorandum to the Department of Health. We wrote letters to the MEC complaining about the exploitation of our security officers, and then we found out that the Department of Health decided to terminate the contract of service providers,” he said.

He said most of the security personnel were underpaid. “Some of them were earning R4,200 while the PSIRA (Private Security Industry Regulatory Agency) rate was R5,700. Some of them don’t have UIF benefits but contributions were deducted from their salaries. Some of them don’t have provident funds, but it was deducted from their salaries. When they try to claim UIF they don’t get it because the companies they worked for were not complying – but they were awarded tenders by the department.”

The protesters say they survive thanks to donations.

Potsane said he and the union members who were arrested outside Luthuli House in May have been in and out of court. “The case has been postponed three times now and on 20 September we will be appearing for the fourth time. There is no strong case against us.”

Gauteng Department of Health Spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the companies were no longer contracted to the department. “The Department cannot get itself involved in labour relations matters relating to employer-employee issues of other companies,” he said.

“The department has on countless occasions advised the group to raise their labour-related issues relating to their former employers at the Department of Labour and CCMA.”

In a short response to GroundUp questions, Department of Employment and Labour spokesperson Teboho Thejane confirmed that the issue was before the CCMA.

GroundUp sent emails to Ally’s Counter Force, Tshedza Protective Services and Mjayeli Security. No-one responded to our emails and no-one at any of the companies picked up the phone when we called.

PRISA confirmed Tshedza Protective Services is registered. But Ally’s Counter Force and Mjayeli Security are not. The Department of Health has not yet responded to our question on whether the companies were registered if and when they were contracted by the department.

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