Gauteng patrollers wait in limbo for salaries

More than 1,300 community patrollers in Gauteng are in limbo as the government has yet to pay them salaries.

This was revealed in a written response by provincial MEC for community safety Faith Mazibuko to the DA. A sum of 1,222 land invasion patrollers and 140 festive season patrollers are yet to receive their salaries.

Mazibuko said the delays in payments has been as a result of incorrect account numbers and branch codes which resulted in an exception when payments were effected.

Furthermore, Mazibuko said there is a “significant number of school safety project patrollers who have not been paid this financial year, and that the payment complaint linked to this project are normally referred to the Department of Education for intervention”.

The DA condemned the delays in payments and said these should not be tolerated.

“Many of them are going to bed hungry while they are owed money for work done,” said Michael Shackleton of the DA.

The unnecessary delays in payments had unjustly impacted on the livelihoods of patrollers as they are solely dependent on this stipend to feed their families.

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The DA said the delays in payments were as a result of poor planning by the departments involved.

“Patrollers play a crucial role in safeguarding our precious community resources such as schools and empty land. They also ensure the safety of our people, particularly during festive seasons at malls and shopping centres. They assist the police in patrolling and preventing crime as well as in reporting crime,” Shackleton said.