Security companies operating illegally

MBABANE – A bid by security guards to have their conditions of service improved has uncovered, among other things, that important company documents are not available at the office of the Registrar of Companies.

Among the irregularities is the unavailability of documents to prove that certain companies in operation were properly registered. In certain cases, the registration files are available, but certain documents within them are not there.

There is also confusion regarding some companies and their actual trade names.

Some companies register under one name, but go on to trade under another. This creates problems when entities like the Swaziland National Provident Fund (SNPF) have to be approached to make enquiries about them.

... about registry

It is headed by Gibson Ndlovu, as Registrar.

This office is responsible for keeping all documents pertaining to the registration of all companies operating in the kingdom.

All company files are kept at the registry.

The files contain information about each company’s tax status, registration, objectives and directorship. The files are also supposed to contain documents known as Form J, which are for change of directorship purposes. The documents are readily available to the public, on payment of a E50 search fee. On payment of this amount, any member of the public is free to peruse the files and get required information about any company.

This is to assist members of the public who have or may want to enter into business deals with the companies.

Security guards have collected the names of about 40 companies operating within this industry.

Through the Swaziland Security Guards and Allied Workers Union (SSGAWU), they have discovered that many of these companies underpay their employees.

Instead of a minimum monthly salary of about E1 112, some are paid as low as E480 per month.

They are also forced to pay for their uniforms, which is illegal. The guards have found that only about five companies comply with requirements of the Regulation of Wages for the Security Services Industry Notice, 2008.

Investigations conducted by a consultant on behalf of SSGAWU revealed that several security companies were operating without up-to-date trading licences.

Some of them are owned by well-known members of society. A file for a company allegedly owned by a senior prince could not be found at the Registrar of Companies offices. Another owned by the leader of a not-so-popular Gospel group was also not available. This newspaper established that at least two more companies in the security industry could not be traced because their files are not available.

The Times also established that the office of the Registrar was currently in a bid to update and improve its filing system.

Information on manual files is being fed onto the computer.

This results in confusion when information about certain files is required. A file for Swaziland Security Guards, for instance, could not be found at the registry. Contacted by this newspaper, a director of this company, identified as Forsyth, said they were now operating under a new name.

This information is not available at the registry.

A file for Crocodile Security Services could not be found either. Efforts to get comment from its owners were unsuccessful as it is also not listed in the current telephone directory.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: