The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has called on the Mpumalanga provincial treasury to stop doing business with security firms that fail to comply with requirements of the national bargaining council for the private security sector.
The call by Numsa, SA’s largest trade union, comes after it and members of unions such as the Abanqobi Workers Union, Kungwini Amalgamated Workers Union and the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union, marched to the Mpumalanga provincial treasury on Thursday “to demand that they stop doing business with security companies which are noncompliant”, said Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim.
“There are 462 security companies, including some contracted to the Mpumalanga provincial treasury, that are deducting millions of rand from the salaries of security workers, but they have failed to pay that money over to the service providers. This is fraud and it denies workers their well-deserved benefits such as healthcare insurance and a provident fund. Many of these noncompliant companies are also charged with protecting government departments including National Key Points,” he said.
The private security industry has grown fast over the years as property developers, retail giants, the mining industry, the public sector, high-net worth individuals, captains of industry and private citizens turn to the sector for protection.
In September 2022, the sector, which employs far more people than the 180,000 employed by the SA Police Service, signed a four-year pay deal for a 13% rise in its first year that came into effect in March. Workers will get a 6.5% rise in the second year and 7.5% in the next two years.
Jim said that in terms of the deal, which employment & labour minister Thulas Nxesi extended to nonparties, all employers must register and comply fully with the main collective agreement.
Compliance, he said, included registration with the Private Security Sector Provident Fund, the NBCPSS Health Insurance administered by Affinity Health, and payment of the minimum wage and the agreed allowances and overtime.
“We also want President Cyril Ramaphosa to authorise the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to investigate all the provincial departments that award noncompliant companies with security contracts. We have given them seven days to respond to the memorandum. Failure to do so means we will be left with no option but to intensify our protest action,” said Jim.
Mpumalanga finance MEC Nompumelelo Hlophe’s spokesperson Siphesihle Nkosi did not respond to a request for comment.
Department of community safety, security & liaison spokesperson Moeti Mmusi said the department notes “concerns contained in a memorandum that was presented to the MEC for community safety, security and liaison on behalf of the premier. The memorandum will be responded to in the next seven days.”
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