Solidarity considers legal action against DCS regarding Free State G4S employees

Solidarity is preparing to take legal action against the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) if the department does not urgently comply with a Labour Court order requiring former G4S employees at the Mangaung Correctional Centre to be automatically transferred to the DCS as of 1 July this year.

On 30 April, the Labour Court ruled that the DCS’s takeover of the centre, now known as the Grootvlei Maximum Correctional Centre, constituted a formal transfer in terms of section 197 of the Labour Relations Act.

Accordingly, the employees concerned must be transferred to the DCS with their years of service and existing rights intact.

Since then, the DCS has failed to suspend the order. Moreover, on 17 August, the Labour Court dismissed the DCS’s application for condonation for its late application for leave to appeal, finding that the intended appeal had no reasonable prospects of success.

“The court’s instruction is clear. The DCS is entitled to challenge the judgment through the proper legal processes, but it cannot simply be ignored while employees and their families bear the consequences.

“A court order is not a suggestion that the state can implement as it suits them,” says Theunis van Staden, coordinator of the public sector at Solidarity.

According to Solidarity, almost 200 former G4S employees still have no salaries or certainty about their employment status.

Some employees were forced to apply for their own positions but were then not appointed. Others were appointed on changed terms and conditions of employment, without proper recognition of their previous years of service.

Employees who have since found other employment are still struggling to finalise matters such as pension and employment administration.

“The consequences are not merely administrative. Some people are without salaries, their medical cover and pension contributions are being affected, and they do not know what tomorrow holds for them. The legal dispute between the DCS and G4S cannot be passed on to employees and their families,” says Van Staden.

The situation also raises concerns about the functioning of the maximum-security facility. According to the Parliament Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, the DCS appointed a total of 310 of the 495 former G4S employees through its recruitment process, while 309 positions at the centre remained vacant.

“It simply does not make sense for experienced correctional staff to be left without work while hundreds of positions at a maximum-security facility remain vacant.

“Moreover, a recruitment process cannot replace a statutory transfer that has already been confirmed by the court,” says Van Staden.

Solidarity has requested an urgent meeting with the minister, the National Commissioner and authorised DCS officials before 1 September.

The union is demanding clarity on the DCS’s implementation of the court order, as well as the restoration of salaries, benefits and continuity of service for the employees affected.

Solidarity has also taken note of discussions between the DCS and POPCRU on the matter and emphasises that no agreement with another union can determine the rights of Solidarity members without Solidarity being consulted on their behalf.

“Our preference remains for the DCS to implement the court order and for the position of these employees to be urgently rectified. If this does not happen, our legal team is ready to take the necessary steps. Our members have paid the price for other parties’ legal disputes for long enough,” says Van Staden.