Security guards march on Tshwane

Outsourced workers demand to be absorbed into metro

Pressure is mounting on Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga to ensure more than 3 000 security guards outsourced by the metro do not lose their jobs.

The affected guards turned on the heat at Tshwane House yesterday and protested for hours, demanding to be addressed by Msimanga.

The guards, employed by 27 companies contracted by the previous ANC administration, face becoming jobless in the coming months.

The contracts awarded to private security companies are all due to end and those that have ended were extended by three months.

In a typical outsourcing arrangement, this meant the workers should leave with their employers when contracts with the metro expire.

A number of universities abolished outsourcing last year after protests by workers and students.

The guards, supported by the #OutsourcingMustFall movement, are demanding to be absorbed by the metro when their employers’ contracts end.

“If the mayor says 3 000 people must go sit [at] home, how many families are going to suffer,” asked Isaac Ngwenya, one of the guards.

Ngwenya said this was tantamount to retrenchment.

“We want to sit with the mayor and get a way forward.”

Annikie Khoza, a mother of four from Kanana, an informal community near Hammanskraal, said she feared the prospects of losing her job. “I’ve just left my parents house to work towards creating a home for my children. How will we survive if I suddenly lose my job?”

Mpho Morolane, an activist part of the #OutsourcingMustFall movement, urged the workers to continue the fight. “We want to show the mayor of Tshwane we’re serious when we say we want insourcing for all the vulnerable workers.

“We cannot be abused by the ANC and also by those in council now. We will fight until we get insourcing.”

The metro denied that it would not absorb the security guards. Alderman Kissoonduth, MMC for community safety, said they had started the absorption process by employing meter readers directly. “Security personnel will have access to these opportunities on a needs basis.”