30 Aug 2016

Union of Private Security Workers (UPSW) president has promised to engage security owners who pay guards late every month.

Speaking during UPSW conference in Gaborone over the weekend, Mr Phillip Monkutlwatsi said ever since they took over the reins of the union 11 months ago, they had been battling to solve the issue with security owners.

Mr Monkutlwatsi said it was disturbing to learn that while security guards were the ones bringing the much needed cash for the companies, their efforts remained unrecognised.

He noted that late payments had driven most of them into deep debts, noting that guards like any workers, wanted to enjoy the benefits of working. In addition, he noted that security guards should be paid both risk and night allowance and get annual increment. 

Mr Monkutlwatsi, however, noted that since they affiliated to Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU), they had jointly fought this course to ensure that dignity required by the profession existed.

He urged security guards to join the union in large numbers so that it could be their mouth-piece when advocating for their rights, noting that at the moment, security guards were dismissed from work nilly-willy because most of them were not unionised and as such they easily lost their cases at the Industrial Court.    

He told attendants that they would further strive to professionalise the security industry so that it would ultimately match the status of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), Botswana Police Service (BPS and Botswana Prison Service (BPS), which are partners in security and protection of the nation.

For his part, the UPSW secretary general, Mr Ian Mpeo said ever since the union was formed in 2011, it had been fighting endless battle to restore the dignity of the security employees in the country, adding that at the moment security guards were working as though they were volunteers.

He said security companies should have trained and well-disciplined personnel, supplied with whole uniform for various weather patterns and occasions.

Mr Mpeo said though the work of security officers was undermined, they play a big role during major events to control the crowd and ensure that nobody becomes a victim of crime.

On one hand, deputy secretary general of BFTU, Mr Thusang Butale said it was disturbing to learn that the Industrial Court registrar adjudicates on cases of security guards who had been dismissed from the workplace unfairly.

He however regretted that most them lose cases due to lack of legal representation. He nevertheless said he was gratified by the commitment of the current union leadership in recruiting new members. 

Mr Butale said security officers were usually the first to arrive at the crime scene despite that they have limited resources. ENDS