Lifeguards panic as contracts cut

36 have six-month jobs slashed to 2 months

THIRTY-SIX lifeguards who applied for sixmonth contracts with Buffalo City Metro might not have jobs at the end of January, after BCM changed the contracts to two months.

On September 22, BCM invited applicants to submit CVs for sixmonth “seasonal lifeguard job positions”. An advert for the posts stated that work would run from December 10 to July 31.

A lifeguard who asked to remain anonymous said he received a call from BCM on December 8 reminding him he had to start work on December 10, and informing him he had to sign his contract the following day.

The lifeguard said it was only then, over the phone, that he learnt the contract was no longer for six months but for only two months.

“I honestly thought they had probably made a mistake because the advert clearly stated work was for six months. When I went to go sign the contract, it was indeed for only two months.

“We are not fighting with BCM but we just want them to communicate with us because this has left us confused. They could have informed us during the interviews or even after we were selected for the job; we don’t know what is going on.”

Lifeguards said they had asked a few people at work why the contracts had changed but did not get a clear answer, while the metro’s human resources [HR] section said they did not know who had changed the contracts.

Others said it was because of an error in the advert for the posts published in the media.

Another lifeguard said some people had travelled from as far as Durban and Cape Town for the jobs. They said there had been other six-month jobs advertised but they had missed out on those opportunities because they had applied for the BCM jobs.

“They did not tell us anything; after two months we will (do nothing) while we could have applied for other posts that were actually for six months,” he said.

BCM community service portfolio head Helen Neale-May said she was not aware of the matter, and would follow up on it immediately.

“There must have been a mistake or misunderstanding from HR – lifesavers definitely have contracts for six months and it is the normal seasonal workers who work for two months.

“I will follow up on the matter because I was not aware of this.

“I will also go down to the beach and have a look at what’s going on there.” —