Firm not paid for school security

Adam Baloyi and Isaac Nukeri, the owners of Laphinda Security and Cleaning, claim they haven’t seen a cent in payment for years of guarding schools. The pair have been guarding schools in the Vaal region, Kagiso and Roodepoort from thieves and robbers. Instead, their client, CloudSeed (formerly SMMT Online), is suing them for R2.1 million. CloudSeed won the 2007 tender to implement Gauteng Online, a province-wide effort to equip every school with a computer lab and every pupil with an e-mail address. The project has garnered controversy for having little to show for the 12 years and the R3 billion invested in it during that time. As schools were fitted out with updated computer labs, CloudSeed was responsible for providing security services so that nothing would be stolen.

It subcontracted various security firms to provide armed response, cluster guarding, physical guarding as well as alarm installations and monitoring. Three such companies - Laphinda Security and Cleaning, Mabuza Security, and Moshe Cleaning and Security - are now seeking compensation for years of unpaid services prior to getting sacked by CloudSeed. Chubb Security replaced them. According to Baloyi, Laphinda Security has collapsed under the pressure of debt. He said he sold his cars and other assets to pay some employees, yet he continues to receive anonymous threats to his children’s - as well as his own - welfare. “Our lives are in danger and even our kids are in trouble now,” Baloyi said. “The people we are owing just want their money.”

CloudSeed representatives, on the other hand, said they were advised by legal consultants not to pay Laphinda, Mabuza and Moshe because “it was clear that the security providers were not providing an effective service”. CloudSeed legal director Candice Schultz said it was under their watch that schools were broken into and hardware, including servers, LCD screens, projectors, UPS devices and switches, was stolen. Because CloudSeed needed to reimburse schools for damage, the company decided to terminate former security contracts and hold the three companies partially accountable for monetary losses, she said. CloudSeed is suing Laphinda for R2.2m, Mabuza for R1.3m and Moshe for R1.4m.

“The incidence of crime at the computer labs has been reduced significantly since the appointment of Chubb,” Schultz added. “It should be noted that Chubb have agreed to be bound by the same contractual framework as all other security providers. In instances where there are losses due to break-ins, these amounts would be deducted from the payments due to Chubb. However, this has not been a major concern for Chubb as they are able to meet their service levels.” Yet, school officials in Soweto, who declined to be named due to fears of a political backlash, claimed that Chubb is nearly always absent from their premises. When alarms hooked up to the computer lab sound, the security company will phone and check up, but officers don’t physically guard or patrol the school.

A school governing body chairwoman, who didn’t want to be named, was surprised to hear that CloudSeed had appointed Chubb to provide security. Not that it really mattered, she said, because Gauteng Online had been a non-starter and there was nothing worth stealing from the school anyway. Due to technical issues, the computers hadn’t been used for years, she added.