I am writing this letter as a concerned citizen of Glenvista. My concern arises from the state in which this community’s guardians, who watch over us night and day through all seasons of the year, are being treated.
Without the Wendy house (guard house) the security guards would be exposed to all sorts of elements. The images show one the guard houses at the corner of the Allen Road and Wilkinson Avenue, in Glenvista Ext 3. This dilapidated guard house leaves much to be desired. This is a place of work, which someone reports to every single day – to watch over the residents in this community.
This is the kind of workplace that someone’s father, husband, breadwinner – you name the titles – on a daily basis wakes up to report to and is expected to give of his best, yet is not treated with an ounce of dignity. This guard house is not fit for a human; it is not a safe and decent working environment.
With the state of the guard house it is, in my view, as if the security guards did not have any rights at all. This means that they are indeed exposed to all sorts of elements. This is in my view at the very least tantamount to a [breach of the] constitutional right to dignity in the workplace and in breach of the employer’s duty to provide a reasonably conducive workplace. The community of Glenvista should not for a second think that this is solely the employer’s fault; it is also the Glenvista community’s fault.
I say this because the security company is hired by the community and therefore paid by the community – which means that the community is the ultimate boss of those security guards. As the ultimate boss, as any reasonable boss would do, the Glenvista community should ensure that its protectors are provided with better working environments. This is as simple as the community instructing the security provider to change the guard houses and provided decent guard houses (including increasing their size), which the security company would be obliged to do if it hopes to retain the business of the community.
It is now time for the community to save our fellow citizens from the indignity, humiliation and ill-treatment that they are suffering at the hands of not only the security provider but also the community itself. The guard houses, I assume, should be in a state that is suitable and fit for the security guards to fulfil their duties. The conditions of work, I assume again, are stipulated in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Labour Relations Act and other pieces of legislation. Surely there are security bodies that also govern conditions of employment provided by security companies for their employees.
We are all responsible for this. We are responsible for keeping quiet and doing nothing about the injustices toward the security guards who we expect to be trustworthy and loyal to the communities they watch over but who are being treated without trust, the trust of respecting their humanity.
Should this employer fail to attend to the working conditions of its employees and provide guard houses that are more conducive to the security guards being able to carry out their duties (protecting them from the elements, rain, the cold weather etc.) than the current ones – immediately the said employer should be reported to the Department of Labour and, hopefully for his failure to rectify such an injustice, be fined a substantial penalty. Building a great country starts with how we treat each other in our communities. Nelson Mandela’s legacy begins with us and where we live.
Concerned Citizen
Thabile Security Services has been contacted for comment on numerous occasions but the CHRONICLE has not received any comment to date.
READ:
For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za
Add us on WhatsApp today! Alberton Record: 060 644 5264 Comaro Chronicle: 079 427 8074 and Southern Courier: 079 404 5789.
