Disgruntled Tshwane guards plan to go awol this week

Disgruntled security guards seeking insourcing say they will suspend their services this week ahead of the Tshwane council meeting on Thursday, April 25.

This comes after the guards held a meeting with ActionSA councillors at Princess Park on April 21.

EFF and ANC councillors caused disruptions late into the council meeting on March 27 inside the chambers after a motion to insource the security guards was unsuccessful.

EFF Tshwane leader, Obakeng Ramabodu promised the guards that the party would table the motion once again at the next council meeting on April 25.

“We are going to table the motion again in the next council,” Ramabodu said while expressing disappointment over the rejection of the EFF’s urgent motion by ActionSA and the DA to support the insourcing of security guards.

ActionSA at the time had accused the EFF of political gimmicks. In the statement by ActionSA Gauteng Premier candidate, Funzi Ngobeni, the party said that they did not vote for the EFF’s motion because it was a duplicate of the existing motion brought on by ActionSA last year.

Ngobeni said that the party had conditioned its entry into the coalition upon the requirement to insource security guards and cleaners and accused the EFF of political grandstanding.

The security guards had gathered at 21:00 on March 26 at Church Square the night before the March 27 council meeting and arrived at 22:00 at Tshwane House where a night vigil was held. They stayed overnight waiting for the meeting to begin. The insourcing motion was only brought up around 20:00 and discussed until 22:00.

The security guards say they plan to do the same, stay away from work, sleep in and conduct another night vigil for the upcoming council meeting.

Spokesperson Hlengiwe Ngwenya said the guards will not report for their duties on Wednesday, April 24.

“On the 24th, it’s a shutdown. No day shifts, no night shifts. We will report to Church Square at 17:00,” Ngwenya said.

She encouraged members to bring copies of their IDs to the march for the attendance register, as they will not be writing down names.

During an interview with the YouTube channel, Politically Incorrect, at the Princess Park meeting, ActionSA councillor, Tshepiso Modiba from Atteridgeville said they only voted against EFF’s urgent motion last month because the coalition is working on processes to insource the guards.

“Currently as a coalition, we are working on a business case study to find out how feasible insourcing the security guards and cleaners will be for Tshwane” Modiba said.

“If we as ActionSA are able to table a motion, it would have to go through the council and be passed, then the resolution would be that the motion would have to go through a feasibility study which we are currently doing. We’re 10 steps ahead of the EFF. In that study, things like training, personnel and salaries would be covered along with other variables. So we are waiting for that full and comprehensive study to tell us how we are going to move forward.”

He predicts the feasibility study will be completed by April 30.

Modiba said that ActionSA was committed to insourcing, as it restores the dignity of black workers.

Rekord reached out to the metro regarding its stance on the continued disruptions around the issue of security insourcing after the failed March 27 motion.

The metro at the time said that it simply could not afford to insource.

“Insourcing has proven to be unaffordable,” said metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo.

“The decision not to accept the motion for insourcing is an indication that at this stage insourcing is not an option,” said Mashigo.

Despite the thousands of security personnel not being absorbed by the metro, Mashigo said the city had enough resources to safeguard the Tshwane-owned properties.

“Within the resource constraints, sites are categorised and security personnel are deployed for guarding purposes,” Mashigo said.

Regarding the ongoing complaints that the disgruntled group of security guards have concerning working for private companies, the metro says it cannot get involved.

“Unfortunately, the city is unable to involve itself in the contractual agreement between the company and its employees,” Mashigo added.

Asked if the metro is capable of handling any unrest that may occur of this decision, Mashigo replied: “So far, the city has been able to manage the demonstrations”.

The guards are demonstrating against the metro’s 2018 resolution to insource 4 000 guards in phases. They claim to date only phase 1 has been completed and 1 302 of those have been absorbed but the move has since been scrapped.

Since then, the remaining guards have staged several protests and demonstrations outside Tshwane to have the motion reimplemented.

Guards say that they don’t want to work with private companies anymore as they face numerous challenges. These include late/no payments, ineffective equipment and unworkable conditions, among other gripes.

The metro is yet to respond to the security guards’ demands listed in their most recent memorandum, including the following:

– Insourcing of remaining security workers into the metro who are currently working for private companies

– Compliance checks on companies regarding the Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997

– An end to late payments

– A sit-down meeting with the executive mayor, deputy mayor or city manager.

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