ActionSA Condemns U-Turn on Insourced Security Officers in Ward 29 and City at Large
Press Statement by Marcel Coutriers
ActionSA Joburg Caucus Leader
ActionSA notes with grave concern the clandestine approach adopted by the City’s current administration, which seeks to undermine the insourcing program introduced by ActionSA President Herman Mashaba during his tenure as Johannesburg Mayor.
Security officers deployed in City entities are being relocated to make way for private companies, citing a lack of tools of trade as a major reason. ActionSA believes this is done to enrich politically connected tenderpreneurs who will then fund election campaigns of certain political parties.
It is bizarre that an administration that criticized the insourcing process as clumsy and costly now considers private security companies as a solution. ActionSA has been reliably informed that a decision has been taken to outsource security at municipal sites in Ward 29, directly contradicting the City’s own insourcing program aimed at restoring dignity, improving working conditions, and ensuring accountability within security services.
The insourcing initiative was meant to end exploitative outsourcing contracts that left security personnel underpaid, overworked and vulnerable. Instead of building on this progress, the City is undermining its own commitments by reverting to outsourcing, leaving insourced security guards without deployment while service providers benefit at the expense of taxpayers.
This development raises serious questions:
Why are sites in Ward 29 and beyond being outsourced despite the availability of insourced security guards?
What message does this send to the hundreds of security guards who were promised stable employment and dignity through insourcing?
Who truly benefits from this regression – workers or private contractors?
The residents of Johannesburg deserve transparency and accountability. Outsourcing not only wastes public funds but also erodes trust in the City’s commitment to fair labour practices. ActionSA calls on the City to immediately review and halt the outsourcing of security services in Ward 29 and other affected wards and ensure that insourced security personnel are deployed as intended.
The people of Johannesburg deserve consistency, dignity for workers, and proper stewardship of public money. ActionSA will further write to the Speaker and the MMC for Public Safety, requesting clarity on these matters.
ActionSA Condemns U-Turn on Insourced Security Officers in Ward 29 and City at Large
ActionSA notes with grave concern the clandestine approach adopted by the City’s current administration, which seeks to undermine the insourcing program introduced by ActionSA President Herman Mashaba during his tenure as Johannesburg Mayor.
Security officers deployed in City entities are being relocated to make way for private companies, citing a lack of tools of trade as a major reason. ActionSA believes this is done to enrich politically connected tenderpreneurs who will then fund election campaigns of certain political parties.
It is bizarre that an administration that criticized the insourcing process as clumsy and costly now considers private security companies as a solution. ActionSA has been reliably informed that a decision has been taken to outsource security at municipal sites in Ward 29, directly contradicting the City’s own insourcing program aimed at restoring dignity, improving working conditions, and ensuring accountability within security services.
The insourcing initiative was meant to end exploitative outsourcing contracts that left security personnel underpaid, overworked and vulnerable. Instead of building on this progress, the City is undermining its own commitments by reverting to outsourcing, leaving insourced security guards without deployment while service providers benefit at the expense of taxpayers.
This development raises serious questions:
The residents of Johannesburg deserve transparency and accountability. Outsourcing not only wastes public funds but also erodes trust in the City’s commitment to fair labour practices. ActionSA calls on the City to immediately review and halt the outsourcing of security services in Ward 29 and other affected wards and ensure that insourced security personnel are deployed as intended.
The people of Johannesburg deserve consistency, dignity for workers, and proper stewardship of public money. ActionSA will further write to the Speaker and the MMC for Public Safety, requesting clarity on these matters.