Durban — The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in KwaZulu-Natal has hailed eThekwini Municipality’s proposal to in-source security guards and cleaners currently employed by private companies.
The motion was filed on Tuesday during the city’s full council.
Cosatu’s provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize said his union welcomed the move. He said it was long overdue, and Cosatu had been fighting outsourcing and labour broking because it was the worst form of exploitation.
Mkhize said the move was a great victory for the workers and their families. He said that families were left in the cold if a worker died because there were no benefits such as pension or provident funds.
“This is a great victory for the working class, and we fully support the move. This has been our fight for many years. We wish to applaud the parties and the city for this proposal because it is the government’s responsibility to protect workers from exploitation,” said Mkhize.
The proposal, which was the motion tabled by the ActionSA caucus leader Zwakele Mncwango in the council on Tuesday, was welcomed by many parties except the DA.
Mncwango said it was painful that the city was paying R18 000 per guard, yet the guard was paid between R4 000 and R6 000, and the rest of the money enriched bosses.
He said these companies were exploiting workers, using the ratepayers’ money, and the ratepayers were not getting value for their money as vandalism of municipality properties had increased.
“The crime rate is high in the city, yet security companies are rich. Our point is that workers are not benefiting from the tenders. We want the municipality to in-source the workers,” said Mncwango.
The motion was also backed by the African Democratic Change councillor Visvin Reddy. He said guards and cleaners were essential to the functioning of the municipality, yet they had been exploited by private companies for too long.
“The in-sourcing of security guards and cleaners will not only benefit the workers but also the municipality and the public since the municipality will be able to better control and manage the quality of the services provided,” said Reddy.
The move was also supported by the EFF and African People First (APF).
APF leader Muzi Hlengwa said it was a historic move that his party fully supported.
The EFF provincial leadership said the victory was aligned with its cardinal pillar of building state and government capacity.
The IFP also supported it, calling for its implementation within three months.
Opposing the move, DA deputy leader Billy Mzamo said it was practically impossible for the city to in-source so many workers since it carried a high operational risk.
The DA argued that instead of in-sourcing, the municipality should deal with private companies which exploited workers.
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