Pretoria - Motorists near the Bloed Street taxi rank were forced to find alternative routes as hundreds of security guards protested on the corner Thabo Sehume and Bloed streets against the outsourcing of workers.
Under the auspices of the Academic Professionals and Staff Association, demonstrators chanted Struggle songs and blocked the entrance to the Department of Health where they demanded the mInister Aaron Motsoaledi must abolish the outsourcing of workers.
They handed over a memorandum of demands to the department's representatives, who were warned not to allow the memorandum to gather dust.
Their spokesperson Isaac Ngwenya said the department ought to take issues raised by demonstrators seriously.
Failure by the department to act on their demands would result in another march being staged to mount pressure on decision-makers to give them full-time employment.
Protesters wielded placards with anti-outsourcing messages that said: "We need permanent jobs and outsouring must fall".
Workers also marched to Tshwane House, where they called on the municipality to fulfill its promise to insource security guards.
The City had previously said it would hire at least 4000 guards in phases, but that had not materialised.
Workers complained that their representatives were often excluded from meetings aimed at discussing their fate.
They wanted the City to give them permanent posts before the national elections on May 8.
The issue regarding insourcing came under the spotlight during the February council sitting with the EFF threatening to vote against the adjustment budget tabled by mayor Stevens Mokgalapa if he was not going to make money available for the permanent employment of security workers.
Community Safety MMC Karen Meyer said the establishment of in-house security was on the cards and that 4000 guards would be insourced within a period of three years.