Looming security strike: Can a repeat of the 2006 violence be avoided?

The looming private security industry strike is unlikely to be deadly and bloody as the one in 2006, where 60 people were killed and scores injured.

The violent six-month long strike saw non-striking guards and on-duty guards attacked, and some thrown off moving trains.

According to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) amendments to the Labour Relations Act has provisions dealing with strike picketing rules.

Philemon Bhebhe, Satawu national security coordinator, said the amendments require that picketing rules be agreed upon before going on strike.

“This includes how the striking parties will handle themselves during the strike so there is high possibility that we will not see the repeat of what happened in 2006,” he said.

The 23 unions have referred a dispute to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for mediation after a deadlock on the demand for a R900 (roughly 16%) national monthly wage increase every year over the next three years.

Employers have offered a 3.5% increase. The last time the industry saw a wage increase was in 2019, when the unions secured a 8.5% hike.

Bhebhe said they referred the dispute on 13 July and the CCMA has 30 days to bring the parties to the table, mediate and offer recommendations to bring the parties closer.

“If the parties fail to find each other and reach an agreement, then we will have to issue a strike notice. We have not heard anything from the CCMA but it is still early days,” he said.

If not averted, the strike will result in private and public infrastructure, including police stations and government offices, without guards.

In January, three nurses at KwaMagxaki Clinic in the Eastern Cape were robbed at gunpoint after security officers abandoned their posts in protest of their employer’s failure to pay their salaries.

In March 2021, there were 2.6 million private security guards registered with the regulatory body Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) and 11 544 security service providers.

Of the total registered security officers, almost 560 000 (employees, independent contractors, in-house security officers) are registered and actively deployed.

The majority of security companies registered with Psira are in Gauteng (40% or 4 634) and KwaZulu-Natal (19% or 2 186).

The SA Police Services (Saps) annual report shows that there was a fixed establishment of 182 126 personnel, including 21 396 commissioned officers and 122 075 non-commissioned officers.

Bhebhe said currently the lowest grade security guard was earning a basic monthly salary of R4 300, saying if they are successful, this will increase to R5 475 by the March next year, and that in the third year the basic salary should be about R8 100.