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Trade unions in the private security sector claim that Mafoko Security Patrol owes its workers about R16 million in health cover because it has neither been deducting their contributions nor paying its share of the medical aid.
No contributions were forwarded to the designated service provider and as a result the workers have been left out of pocket because they have to pay for their own medical care.
According to the unions, the security company, which employs 6000 security guards, neither deducted the medical aid contributions nor paid its share of R250 to Affinity Health for their medical aid for more than a year, the unions said in a statement. While the provident fund contributions were deducted, the unions claim that workers cannot access that money because it was never forwarded to the service provider, which is the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF).
City Press has seen a pay slip of one employee which showed only a pension fund deduction but nothing for medical aid.
READ: Unions demand company repay over R7.5 million allegedly siphoned from salaries
The SA Transport Allied Workers Union (Satawu), the Kungwini Amalgated Workers Union (Kawu) and the National Unions of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa) protested at Mafoko head offices in Hatfield, Pretoria on Wednesday.
Satawu national coordinator Philemon Bhembe said:
Bembe added that among other issues, they were not compliant with the basic salary determined by the National Bargaining Council for the Private Security Sector (NBCPSS). However, they still use the old minimum wage that is governed by sectoral determination.
Meanwhile, Kawu national coordinator Khumbulani Moyo told City Press that Mafoko was withholding millions of rands in its bank accounts.
“Workers are suffering as they cannot claim the money if there is death or their contracts are terminated or withdrawn. This causes a lot of suffering and hardships. The employees are not registered with the medical insurance too and cannot access full services for chronic illnesses, such HIV and high blood pressure,” said Moyo.
MAFOKO SECURITY PATROL NOT ENTERTAINING UNION'S ALLEGATIONS
Mafoko Security Patrol director Lebo Nare disputed the allegations and told City Press that the company did not want to entertain all the claims the unions made.
"The company does not deduct any medical aid fees from the workers. If the unions insist that is being done they should provide proof of the said deductions. It must be noted that we are not obliged to utilise the NBCPSS preferred service provider since we do not recognise the extension of the bargaining council's collective agreement to non parties. And we have taken the matter to court, therefore we cannot comment further on that as the matter is sub-judice," said Nare.
He said the workers are entitled to medical benefits as per new regulation in the industry and that the company was in the process of identifying a new service provider the workers are comfortable with. Nare added that the challenge of registering the workers for medical benefits was that their clients did not pay such allowances so they could be transferred to the workers.
"Some of our contracts with the said clients are for a fixed period with a fixed amount and due to budget constraints they have not been able to effect the necessary increase so that we benefit our employees, a matter that the unions are aware of. Some of the unions making these allegations have very little, if any, representation in the company and are therefore campaigning to gain members from our employees."
Sindiswa Changuion, from The Association of Private Security Owners of SA (Tapsosa), said they noted the allegations by the unions about Mafoko Security Patrol.
READ: Over R75 million fraudulently deducted from private security workers' salaries - unions
“To avoid a witch-hunt, these allegations and the evidence should be referred to the regulatory authority, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), to independently investigate and make findings.”
Changuion said that the association could only intervene after receiving the findings of PSIRA on the allegations, it can deal with matter as guided by the code Tapsosa’s conduct.
On the allegation that the salaries paid by the company were below the minimum wage, Nare told City Press that:
Nare said that the unions' intentions, though seemingly sincere, were nothing but a process of enrichment and politicking for an increase in membership.
Last month, the unions picketed outside the Imvula Group offices in Woodmead, Sandton, demanding that the company should return the medical aid contributions that were deducted from the employees' salaries and not forwarded to the service providers.
