[LISTEN] Shocking living conditions without showers, beds for Fidelity guards
A group of more than 40 security guards working for Fidelity are sleeping in unhygienic conditions in an office park in Lonehill, north of Johannesburg.
Some of the guards have resorted to sleeping on boxes or on inflated mattresses provided by the company, while one of the men is sleeping inside the toilets at Crawford Primary School.
The guards are employed to work for the Lonehill Residents Association.
Jacaranda FM News has obtained pictures of the conditions.
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A guard, who did not want to be named out of fear of losing his job, said the new arrangement started after the Johannesburg metro police arrested a Fidelity Security Group manager for transporting 44 guards in one truck.
"Our manager decided to cut off transport from Lonehill to Soweto, so we have been forced to come and sleep in these buildings. We sleep in passages, just imagine 47 guards without space," he said.
"We cannot go home because we got paid last week and we already bought groceries for our families in Soweto. Now we don't have money to buy food here and nobody is providing food. We are just suffering here."
The guards also do not have access to showers and are expected to use basins and buckets to clean themselves.
In addition, some of the toilets are out of order.
In a statement, Fidelity Security Group described the living arrangements as an interim measure requested by a customer.
The company's CEO Wahl Bartmann said the employees are provided with food and personal protective equipment.
"The facility is managed as per the South African Intruder Detection Service Association standards and regulations. The safety and security of our officers and customers remain our primary priority.
“All our staff have been provided with gloves, masks, and sanitisers."