Campaign to force security firms to pay pensions kicks off

The Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF) is set to embark on a campaign to force all privately-owned security companies to contribute towards the provident funds of the guards in their employ. 

PSSPF principal executive officer Dumisa Hlatshwayo told Sunday World that guards who have challenges getting their provident funds from the companies they worked for should make affidavits at police stations against their employers, then approach the PSSPF. 

Sunday World recently reported on the anguish and frustrations of the former security guards who are struggling to access their pension funds after being retrenched or retiring after many years of service. 

“The fund is embarking on the enforcement processes against non-compliant employers to recover these employees’ contributions for the benefit of the private security guards.  

“Over and above these enforcement processes, the fund utilises other internal mechanisms to do everything possible to assist the employees through the engagements of other stakeholders,” said Hlatshwayo. 

He said the PSSPF will be engaging with the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator, the National Bargaining Council for the Private Security Sector (NBCPSS), organised labour and other statutory bodies such as the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira) and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to try increase the enforcement impact on the employers.  

“It is critical for the employers to know the extent of the financial risk to which they are exposing themselves personally and their companies at the end of the day. Where an employer has been non-compliant with contributions, the late penalty interest is calculated at 2% above prime on a monthly compounding basis, thus it becomes a lot of money, which could render the employers’ business insolvent at most times,” said Hlatshwayo. 

“This, therefore, calls for all private security employers to be vigilant on this, by properly declaring their employees appropriately and pay their contributions over on the employees’ behalf so that the fund can invest these for these members to access in due course,” he said. 

“Some of the employers are ignoring this legislative requirement and make it very difficult for the fund to assist security guards with their respective benefits,” he said. 

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the union’s struggle against security companies has not only been around the provident fund but on medical insurance.  

“When we signed a collective agreement that workers had to be covered we were alarmed there were companies which had been deducting money from the workers, only for employees to discover there were no contributions made to medical aid companies. We even named and shamed companies that were not contributing money deducted from the workers.”  

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Bongani Mdakane