GroundUp that, although the University of the Western Cape (UWC) has said it cannot afford insourcing, dismissed security guards say they will not give up their fight to be reinstated.  

On 13 January, service provider Securitas dismissed the 144 workers on charges of being absent from work without permission, “hostage” taking and “assault and robbery”.  The workers have admitted to being absent from work, but said they were forced to leave as students had shut down the university in October 2016.  An application for their reinstatement has been referred to the CCMA.  Yet, the dismissed workers, who are “desperate to start working”, want to know why they cannot be insourced by UWC.  University spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo indicated that the Council had reviewed its financials and found that “insourcing at UWC was unaffordable”.  He said the Council has already supplemented the income of outsourced gardeners, cleaning and security staff by R2,000 a month.  The University has offered to assist Securitas with mediation should they decide to take up the offer.

• Read this report by Barbara Maregele in full at GroundUp

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