Security Wage Changes Are Coming—Is Your Guarding Contract Ready?

17 August 2026

Procurement managers know the feeling. Three guarding quotes land on the desk, two are broadly comparable, and the third is noticeably cheaper. On a tight budget, the low number is tempting. The useful discipline is to ask what that number has to cover — because in guarding, the answer is mostly people, and the cost of those people is shaped by rules that sit outside any single supplier's control.

Two of those rules matter this year, and it helps to separate what has actually changed from what is merely under review.

A review has opened — but no new rate is in force

In August 2026, the National Minimum Wage Commission opened its annual investigation into the national minimum wage, and the Department of Employment and Labour invited written representations by 4 September 2026. That process is a consultation. It gathers evidence and views so the Commission can advise the Minister; it does not, by itself, set a new rate or change what you pay today. Anyone implying that a fresh security wage has already taken effect on the back of this notice is getting ahead of the facts.

Private-security remuneration is also not governed by the national minimum wage alone. It is set primarily by the extended NBCPSS Main Collective Agreement, the sector's bargaining-council agreement, which currently runs to February 2027. That agreement — not a supplier's preference — is the main reference point for lawful guarding wages, and any national-minimum-wage outcome interacts with it rather than simply replacing it.

A supplier increase is not the same as a labour-cost adjustment

When a guarding invoice goes up, clients understandably lump it in with every other price rise. It helps to separate two different things.

An ordinary supplier increase reflects a provider's own choices — margin, overheads, new equipment. A legislated or collectively agreed labour-cost adjustment is different: it reflects a change in the wages, overtime rates, levies or benefits that the law or the bargaining council requires an employer to pay. The first is negotiable in the usual way. The second is a cost floor that a compliant provider cannot simply choose to ignore.

Understanding which is which changes the conversation. It moves you from "why is my security bill going up?" to "is this increase tracking a genuine, verifiable change in labour cost?"

What actually sits inside a compliant guarding rate

Without drowning in figures, it helps to know the moving parts. A lawful guarding rate has to carry the applicable minimum wage for the grade and area, plus overtime, Sunday work, public-holiday pay, recognised allowances, statutory levies and contributions, and other legitimate employment costs — before a cent of supervision, administration or margin is added.

That is why a quote can be "too cheap". If a rate cannot mathematically support those obligations, the shortfall usually lands on the guards, on compliance, or on both. Neither is a saving; it is a deferred risk that tends to surface as turnover, disputes or service gaps at exactly the wrong moment.

Fair escalation clauses protect both sides

A well-written guarding contract anticipates all of this. A fair escalation provision distinguishes routine annual increases from statutory or collective-agreement adjustments, sets out how such adjustments are evidenced, and gives the client transparency into what is driving a change.

Transparent pricing is not just good manners. It lets you verify that an increase reflects a real labour-cost movement, and it removes the incentive to win work at an unsustainable rate and recover it later through corners cut.

Why lawful employment shows up in service quality

Wages and discipline are connected on the ground. Officers who are paid correctly and managed lawfully tend to stay longer, which supports familiarity with your site, steadier supervision and more consistent service. No provider can promise that compliant pay will eliminate turnover or prevent every incident — that would overstate what any employment practice can do. But underpaid, poorly managed guarding rarely produces the stability a serious site needs.

Five questions procurement managers should ask

When you compare guarding quotations, ask each provider:

1. Which wage grade and area rate have you costed, and does it reflect the applicable NBCPSS agreement?
2. Are overtime, Sunday, public-holiday pay, allowances and statutory levies built into this rate?
3. How does your escalation clause separate ordinary increases from legislated or collective-agreement adjustments?
4. Can you evidence your PSiRA registration and your labour-law compliance on request?
5. If your rate is the lowest, which of the above costs has been reduced to get there?

The answers tell you far more about risk than the headline price does.

Compliance is a service, not just a cost

A guarding provider that takes labour law seriously offers value beyond bodies at a gate. JBA Security supports its security guarding and commercial and industrial-park security services in the Western Cape and Gauteng with labour-law and disciplinary support connected to the deployment on your site, so that supervision, record-keeping and lawful employment practice are handled as part of the service rather than left to chance — old-school discipline, backed by modern systems.

This article is general information and not legal or labour-relations advice; obtain advice based on your own contracts and circumstances.

If you would like to review whether your guarding contract is prepared for labour-cost changes — including its escalation provisions and compliance requirements — contact JBA Security. We are glad to talk it through with your procurement or facilities team.

Frequently asked questions

Has the security guard minimum wage gone up for 2026?

Not through this process. The National Minimum Wage Commission opened a review in August 2026 (submissions due 4 September 2026). It is a consultation; it does not itself change any rate.

What governs private-security wages?

Primarily the extended NBCPSS Main Collective Agreement, which currently runs to February 2027, alongside the national minimum wage as a floor.

Why do guarding prices rise when labour costs change?

Wages are the largest input in guarding. A legislated or collectively agreed increase in wages, overtime or levies flows directly into the price of compliant service.

Sources consulted

• National Minimum Wage Act: Investigation into the National Minimum Wage — invitation for written representations. Department of Employment and Labour / National Minimum Wage Commission. Government Gazette No. 55135 (Regulation Gazette 12031), Government Notice 7772, published August 2026; representations invited by 4 September 2026. gov.za
• NBCPSS Main Collective Agreement (March 2023 – February 2027) — National Bargaining Council for the Private Security Sector. nbcpss.org.za
• National Minimum Wage Act 9 of 2018 — existing law establishing the national minimum wage and the Commission's annual review.