The workers claim that debt owed by the department has resulted in them not being paid by their employer‚ hence they chose to direct their protest at the department which they saw as the culprit in the issue.
Spokesperson of the Gauteng department of human settlements Keith Khoza told TimesLIVE that VPS was one of the six companies that were used by the department to protect its assets from land invasion. But this was not an easy process as the department had a limited budget and the security services were only used as and when they were needed‚ Khoza added.
“When people invade land it is unplanned. We agreed on a payment plan to service what we owe them. All of a sudden they want to change the plan that we agreed on‚” he said.
Khoza admitted that there was quite a sizeable debt which had not been paid.
“We do owe them an amount that is substantial. It runs into millions [of rand]. [But] they should have arranged a meeting with us to discuss the issues. We believe the matter will be resolved amicably‚” he said.