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Pretoria guards demand job security
Members felt like the City of Tshwane didn’t recognise the important role security guards played in protecting the city
Security officer walks past were 7 security guards were shot by group of man at Goudkoppies Landfill depot in Soweto, 13 January 2022, four of the workers died at the scene and the fifth succumbed to gunshot wounds, two are still in hospital. Picture; Nigel Sibanda
Members of the Independent Democratic Union of South Africa (Idusa) disrupted traffic in the Pretoria CBD as they marched to Tshwane House to hand over a memorandum that demanded security workers be included in the city’s budget.
Idusa Tshwane representative Joshua Mudau said members felt like the City of Tshwane didn’t recognise the important role security guards played in protecting the city.
Abandonment
“They just abandon us. In 2021 they absorbed 1 000 workers but the rest were left outside. It’s not fair, the vetting process was also unfair because many other security officers didn’t get an opportunity to apply.” Mudau said they play an important role.
“Imagine 24 hours without security guards in the city, it would be chaos. They must give us a chance to apply and undergo the screening,” he said.
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Expert weighs in
Security expert Dr Johan Burger said due to the extra burden of the administration around extra security guards, private security services for the city seem to be a better option.
“I don’t know how binding the 2018 decision is, but with all the property and infrastructure the city is responsible for, they have no choice but to use security officers who are appointed exclusively for this purpose,” he said.
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