Barry Streek
The government has moved to regulate one of South Africa’s most exploitative labour sectors – the security business – with stringent new rules governing working conditions of the estimated 350 000 security guards that make up the controversial industry.
According to the new regulations published in the Government Gazette in terms of the 1997 Basic Conditions of Employment Act, maximum working hours of security officers are to be reduced this year from the current 60 hours a week to 55 hours. They will further be reduced next year to 50 hours and the following year to 45 hours.
Minimum wages have also been set, ranging from R10,52 an hour for ”Grade A” guards (such as cash-in-transit officers) to R5,22 an hour in major metropolitan areas and R3,67 elsewhere for ”Grade E” guards (ordinary, untrained guards).
On paper, they go a long way to limit the exploitation of poorly paid security guards.
Until the formation of the Security Officers’ Board there were no controls over security firms, of which 5 939 are now registered, and accusations of exploitation of workers, particularly security guards, were widespread.
It is estimated that employers keep records of less than half of the 350 000 security guards employed in South Africa, and many of the registered security companies have collapsed. This means that less than 40% of security guards are registered with the Security Officers’ Board.
The new rules will apply to every employer in the private security sector. Under the new regulations, employers, who must pay in South African currency, will be required to give all workers a detailed payslip, which includes the number of hours worked, overtime (at 1,5) and Sunday hours (at double pay).
Employers will not be allowed to force workers to buy goods from a particular shop or person, nor will they be able to force them to accept accommodation or meals at a defined place and they will not be able to use these services to replace wages.
Employers will be obliged to pay an annual bonus, give rest periods and time off for meals, and provide any weapon, ammunition, tool, whistle or other equipment and clothing free of charge.
If a worker is required to use his or her bicycle, he or she must be paid an allowance of not less than R1 a day. They must also be paid a R1,35 allowance for a shift of night work, and a minimum of R1 a day if they are required to be in charge of a dog.
The sectoral determination for the security industry, the third to be issued in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the first for the security industry, seems destined to shake up the security sector, provided the Department of Labour has the capacity to enforce the new regulations.