Fin24 reports that private security guards and their employers are heading for two days of mediation in October following weeks of deadlocked wage talks.  

While employers, represented by the SA National Security Employers' Association, are offering a 1.1% increase to salaries, unions are demanding that the salaries of security officers be lifted to R7,500 for the lowest grade and up to R8,500 for the highest grade.  The minimum wages for security guards currently range from R3,900 to R5,558 per month in urban areas.  Democratised Transport Logistics and Allied Workers Union (Detawu) general secretary Vusi Ntshangase indicated that in terms of the sector's protocol agreement, the parties were obliged to consider compulsory mediation, which will sit on 1 and 2 October.  If the mediation process fails to produce an agreement, a dispute will be registered at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).  Should the CCMA fail to break the deadlock, the sector will see its first strike in years.  The private security industry in SA is a large employer, with more than half a million security offers.

• Read the full original of the above report by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24

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