The Zimbabwe Security Guards Union (ZISEGU) has petitioned Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe to repeal Statutory Instrument 58/2024, which allows property owners to pay low rates for security services.
ZISEGU argues that these paltry payments lead to employers in the security sector offering low salaries to workers.
In a letter, ZISEGU) Secretary General Philemon Nhema urged the minister to review the tariffs to facilitate salary increases in the industry. Wrote Nhema:
It is our humble request that your esteemed office assist in the plights of security guards such that we avoid violation of workers’ rights in Zimbabwe.
The issue of low wages in the security industry is protected by international laws such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 23(3) and section 65 (1) of the Zimbabwe constitution.
Security guards as employees deserve a fair living wage that guarantees a decent life which is dignified and that they avert exploitation.
… if employers are being paid in accordance with SI58/2024 a paltry minimum of USD365-00 for a 24 hour cover contract guard day and night means a minimum of three guards and therefore USD365-00 divided by three is equal to a bit less than USD122-00 and such it will force employees to reduce their employees’ wages due to the fact that an employer cannot operate in a business that is not profitable.
Nhema argued that the statutory instrument was inconsistent with the current collective bargaining agreement. He said:
The latest CBA ‘turned’ the minimum wage to USD 210-00 inclusive of allowances. This was scaffolded on that the agreement is reviewed in the first week of October 2024.
Thus the SI58 of 2024 is inconsistent with the current collective bargaining agreement therefore renders the hopes and aspirations of the fastest growing industry into serious jeopardy.
Nhema said that Zimbabwean private security guards are among the most exploited workers in the Sub-Saharan region.
To illustrate this point, he said security professionals in South Africa earned an average of 4,521.70 rands as of February 2024.
In Botswana, security guards receive approximately 45.60 pula per day, while in Zambia, the monthly salary, including allowances, is around 2,313.10 kwacha.
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