Supercare jobs safe, Compass says

COMPASS Group Southern Africa’s purchase of cleaning company Supercare Services Group would not result in any job losses, the catering and support service provider said.

Compass SA is largely owned by London-listed Compass Group, which generated R200 billion for the year to September 2011 and employs over 470 000 people in 50 countries worldwide. It holds a 75 percent stake in Compass SA.

Black economic empowerment group Thebe Investment Corporation owns the remaining 25 percent stake.

Compass SA now employs 27 000 workers, 7 000 of whom work for the Compass Group and 20 000 for Supercare.

Monwabisi Kalawe, the new chairman of both companies, told Business Report that the branding of Supercare would remain unchanged as it was a well-known brand.

He said the Competition Commission had approved the deal at the end of February.

He added that no major changes would result from the acquisition, meaning that the cleaners from Supercare would all be retained. “There are no plans to retrench any staff from either of the companies. Things will carry on as normal.”

Responding to criticism by trade unions that both the groups operated as labour brokers, Kalawe said that a large part of their staff had permanent positions, while some were contract workers.

However, the general secretary of the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union, Zenzo Mahlangu, said the union was not concerned about the acquisition because it would not make any difference to the behaviour of these companies.

“What concerns us is that most of the cleaning, catering, and security companies behave like labour brokers,” he said.

Mahlangu gave an example, saying that if the cleaning company lost its contract with a certain company or government department, workers on its books were retrenched – some with very low pensions.

He differed with Kalewe’s statement that the company had permanent staff, saying that three-year contracts were not permanent employment.

Responding to the questions of what such an acquisition meant for small upcoming cleaning services, Kalawe said the local market was large enough to cater for all aspiring service providers.

“Compass SA is delighted to have acquired such a highly respected company as Supercare. It has a reputation for the quality of its services and strong customer relationships with both South African and international clients. This will make us one of the largest employers in the country.”

But he said the deal would not create any new jobs given the current tough economic conditions in the country.

Philip Kruger, the chief executive of Supercare, said the cultures and values of both companies were similar and Compass SA’S international alignment would be beneficial.