Unplaced guards desperate for their jobs
One of the former guards, Khumbulani Ngobese, told Northsider that as unemployed workers they’ve decided to return to their worksites to fight for their jobs ...
A number of formerly outsourced security guards waiting for contracts from the City have returned to their worksites to fight for their jobs.
When City of Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba, came into office, one of the promises he made was to end the outsourcing of security guards and cleaners. His plan had some major success last year after he managed to insource 1 600 security personnel from among 4 000 contract workers in July.
While this recruitment was widely welcomed by political parties, fast-forward to February 2019, when the workers who remain unemployed eventually raised their frustrations over their long wait.
Some former contract workers took to their previous worksite at the Pikitup Panorama Composting Site in Allen’s Nek on Friday, 1 February to peacefully demonstrate outside in an effort to get their jobs back.
One of the former guards, Khumbulani Ngobese, told Northsider that as unemployed workers, they’ve decided to return to their worksites to fight for their jobs, which he alleges have been taken over by contracted security guards.
At the site, security guards in grey uniforms were seen in operation during the peaceful protest.
“The Mayor, Herman Mashaba, announced that all security guards that were working on municipal sites from May 2017 would be insourced before September 2018, all 4 000 of them. However, that promise wasn’t fulfilled by him, and that’s why we decided to return to the sites and attempt to get our jobs back from the private companies to which the jobs have been outsourced, costing us our jobs,” he explained.
Ngobese said they could’ve been back at work if it wasn’t for the alleged extension of the contracts for the outsourced private security companies. “Lately, the private security companies that took over our jobs have been receiving extended contracts, just so we do not get our jobs back,” he claimed.
He added that they have taken up the matter with various departments, including the Mayor’s Office, but they’ve been sent from pillar to post on the matter without any success. This eventually led them to protest for their jobs.
The Mayor’s Office and Pikitup have both been approached for comment regarding this matter.
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