Traffic was disrupted in Rustenburg, North West, as scores of security officers blocked the busy Beyers Naude Road, demanding their salaries from their employer Ndivhuwo Security Training.
The demonstrators refused to back down despite high police visibility even after the company said it was committed to paying the salaries soon.
The demonstrating workers are also accusing the company of always paying them late and making it difficult for them to feed their families.
The shop steward, Sphuxulo Komanisi, said ever since the company started operating, they have been struggling to get their salaries on time. “It’s either we receive it late, half or nothing at all. We’re tired of empty promises.
“We have even marched to the North West Department of Health seeking intervention from them with this matter. We have bills to pay, food and rent to pay, this stops today,” said Komanisi.
Nowel Mphakhathi from the security company, has put the blame on the government for its failure to pay salaries on time but promised to have the workers paid within two days.
However, the Department of Health Spokesperson, Tebogo Lekgetwane, has denied that the department is not paying the security company on time.
“The Department is quite aware of the situation that the security guards are facing. Recently there was a security march to the provincial offices to deliver a memorandum, which primarily was saying they’re not paid on time, and more often they find that their pay date is postponed several times.
“The department has been paying the security companies, we can attest to some incidents in the past where they were paid late, but of late, there have been payments that were done on time and even the recent allegations about the department failing to pay on time are not true.
“We have gone to our records and found that they’ve been paid so this is an issue that needs resolution and the department will convene a meeting with security companies that are affected, to try and resolve this matter,” concluded Lekgetwane.
