Job-seekers at Builders Warehouse vow not to go anywhere
LONEHILL– Desperate job-seekers have reappeared once again outside Builders Warehouse in Lonehill after being cleared off from the site by police two weeks ago.
The job-seekers contacted Fourways Review and said they were not going anywhere.
“We are merely looking for work to feed our families and how can this be a crime. We will continue seeking jobs from here,” declared a job-seeker who declined to be identified.
Close to 21 job-seekers touting for work outside Builders Warehouse in Lonehill were rounded up by police and charged on 13 and 14 July for loitering, while seven were arrested for illegal camping.
This joint crackdown by police officers and Metro police followed after Fourways Review exposed the shenanigans unfolding outside the Builders Warehouse gate where these job-seekers occasionally clashed with contractors and nearby private homeowners.
Spokesperson for Douglasdale Police Station, Warrant Officer Balan Muthan said the joint operation involving the police and Metro police was designed to instil order and calm in the neighbourhood by removing loiterers.
Muthan urged local contractors to desist from the habit of relying on cheap labour provided by job-seekers which he said was encouraging loitering in the neighbourhood.
Last week, this paper reported on an incident involving building contractor, Christopher Marais, who was attacked by his former employee over an outstanding payment of R550. Marais ended up with 15 stitches after being hit on the head with a metal spirit-level by the disgruntled employee.
The job-seekers told Fourways Review that some white homeowners and contractors were allegedly refusing to pay for their services and took advantage of the fact that they were foreigners.
One job-seeker, who also declined to be identified, confessed that Fourways Review’s intervention compelled his former employer to pay him his outstanding balance of R500.
“He paid me after you called him. Thanks very much for your help. I was never arrested and we are back at the gate looking for jobs,” he said.
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