STAFF REPORTER
Trade union federation Cosatu has accused security companies of "embarrassing" the World Cup tournament by allegedly underpaying security stewards at Cape Town Stadium.
The organisation is now trying to schedule a meeting with the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to deal with the issue.
On Monday, police had to take over security at the stadium during a game between Italy and Paraguay after guards hired for the event walked out over wage disputes.
This followed an incident in Durban at the weekend, when police and striking guards clashed at the Moses Mabhida Stadium after a game between Germany and Australia.
Cosatu has condemned security contractor Stallion Security, whose employees have now protested about wages at five World Cup venues - in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
Cosatu said the company's "short-sightedness" was the cause of the strike.
"The greed of security companies is causing tension at (stadiums). Some companies are underpaying workers in relation to what the stadium pays the security companies.
"This leads to a situation where workers doing the same job are paid different rates of pay on the same site."
Although the workers were not Cosatu members, the union said it would assist in reaching a solution.
On Tuesday the City of Cape Town thanked the police for stepping in and said police students, along with the city's law enforcement, would remain in place as a contingency measure for future matches.
The national commissioner of police, General Bheki Cele, said: "We have activated necessary and adequate contingency plans to different stadiums in the country.
"Our priority call of action according to our mandate is to ensure the safety of the tournament."
"We are confident that we will not compromise the safety of the tournament or our day-to-day normal policing."