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A Tshau security guard's cap.

Security guards say company is not paying them on time

 

A security company delivering services to, among others, the Musina Municipality, is accused of not paying workers on time and dismissing them without due processes’ being followed.

Tshau Security provides guards at all municipal properties in Musina. Some of the employees complain that they are not being treated fairly by the company.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the female employees guarding a government complex said: “Whenever it comes to payment, we do not get our money in time. We at times get paid a week after the scheduled date of payment. My children are still of school-going age and they need transport fares. I need to buy electricity and food by month-end, but this does not happen. I will end up borrowing from loan sharks. The interest charged makes matters worse,” she said.

The 40-year-old woman was employed by the security company two years ago. She said that employees had voiced their concerns about the late payment on several occasions, but the employer did not take them seriously.

Glandar, one of the five employees fired in October this year for allegedly influencing other employees not to report for duty, said: “Really, we used to suffer to make ends meet by month-end. We tried several times to engage management, but without any success,” she said.

According to Glandar, they were served with disciplinary letters. “On the very same day we went for the disciplinary hearing, we got fired. Such actions by management to me are meant to silence workers. Workers are not offered an opportunity to air their grievances,” she said.

Glandar produced a letter dated 25 October 2019 from the employer, calling her for a disciplinary hearing. The five were accused of participation in an illegal strike or work stoppage and intimidating other employees. The charges against them included the incitement of other employees to behave in a disorderly and disruptive manner.

They were all dismissed the same day from work after the hearing.

Glandar and her colleagues have already taken the matter to the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (SATAWU). Theothilus Sithagu, SATAWU’s provincial coordinator for the security sector, said that the union had already taken the matter up with the CCMA.

The management of the Tshau Security company were contacted for comment, but they declined the opportunity.

The Musina Municipality was contacted and asked whether Tshau Security got paid on time. The municipality’s spokesperson, Wilson Dzebu, refused to divulge any information. “The contract between the municipality and Tshau does not involve a third party. It’s a confidential issue between the municipality and the service provider,” he said.

 

News - Date: 07 December 2019

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Bernard Chiguvare

Bernard Chiguvare is a Zimbabwean-born journalist. He writes mainly for the online publication, Groundup.

Email: [email protected]

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