30 August 2024
Security guards at Cape Town’s largest hospital picketed on Friday. Photo: Mary-Anne Gontsana
About 80 security guards employed by Golden Security Services, who are stationed at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, picketed outside the facility on Friday morning. They demanded that they be paid immediately. The guards say they have been on strike since Monday.
Uniformed security guards began picketing outside the hospital at about 5am. They refused to go to their posts until their employer paid their outstanding salaries as well as other monies owed to them.
When GroundUp arrived at Groote Schuur some of the guards were lying in the sun, while others stood around waiting for feedback from the company’s management who were apparently inside the hospital “trying to sort out the salary issues”.
One of the security guards, who asked to stay anonymous, told GroundUp: “We are here because of the poor treatment and salary issues by our new security company.”
“We started with this new company on 1 July, and the agreement was that our salary date would be the 15th of every month. When 15 July came, we got no payments. Then management told us we would be paid on the 25th. Then the 25th changed to the 29th. We received our payments on 29 July but not in full because there were deductions that we were not informed of.”
On 24 August, the employees say they got a letter from Golden Security Services, seen by GroundUp, where the company apologised for the delay in salary payments, blaming “unforeseen circumstances”. The letter read: “As our sincere apology, we will compensate you with R500 per person non-refundable which will not be deducted from your salary.” The letter was signed by an “M. Maqula”.
The guard said they waited for payment again on Thursday (29 August) which never came. According to the guard, Golden Security Services is a new service provider and on three-month probation.
Showing GroundUp her payslip, deductions were made for “provident fund, PAYE, bargaining council, UIF and Affinity Health (insurance)”.
“We never had any issues with the previous service provider,” said another employee.
Operations manager at Golden Security Services, Monde Maqula, denied all allegations made by the striking guards. “People have been paid and those who claim otherwise or who say they are missing R10 or R20, are encouraged to come forward.”
Asked about the letter and why there was a delay in salary payments, Maqula said “Let’s agree that everybody has been paid. Everything else, I am sure they know is not true. Everyone has a right to strike.” Maqula refused to confirm or deny that the salary payments were late.
On the issue of the company being on probation and deductions being made on employee salaries, Maqula said Golden Security Services worked under the PSIRA (Private Security Industry Regulatory Agency) guidance, “and if PSIRA said there should be deductions, that is what would happen”.
As of 3pm on Friday afternoon, some of the striking security guards started receiving payments. “We are glad that something is finally happening, but until everyone is paid, we are not going anywhere,” said the security guard.