Examining car guarding as a livelihood in the informal sector

Abstract

Car guarding is a distinctly South African informal sector employment activity. A car guard offers to guard vehicles in a public or private parking area for a donation. Car guarding enables an unemployed person to earn some income. The purpose of this study is to examine car guarding as a livelihood in the informal sector. This study interviews 30 car guards at six different locations in Durban, South Africa. It examines their demographic characteristics, income, education and skills, risks and challenges faced, and the opinion of car guards regarding their livelihood. The average car guard worked six days per week and an average of nine hours per day. The average income per hour ranged from ZAR4.64 to ZAR30. Average daily incomes ranged from ZAR50 to ZAR350. Car guarding is a high risk activity that includes health risks, and risks of verbal abuse and violence.

Keywords

car guards employment informal sector livelihood low income South Africa Durban

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aberdein M (2014) Beggars wearing yellow vests: Cape Town's car guards entrepreneurs. Available at: www.mattabbo.com/blog/cape-town-car-guard-entrepreneurs (accessed 20 September 2015).

Arde G (2014) Durban's car guards get corporate: Next City. Available at: nextcity.org/daily/entry/durbans-car-guards-get-corporate (accessed 20 September 2015).

Blaauw

Bothma

(2003) Informal labour markets as a solution for unemployment in South Africa – A case study of car guards in Bloemfontein. SA Journal of Human Resource Management 1(2): 40–44.

Christie SH (2009) The secret lives of Cape Town's car guards. The Cape Argus. Available at: www.seanchristie.co.za/articles/the-secret-lives-of-cape-towns-car-guards/ (accessed 22 November 2015).

Department of Labour (2016) Domestic worker minimum wage increases from 1 December 2015. Available at: www.labour.gov.za/DOL/downloads/legislation/sectoral-determinations/basic-conditions-of-employment/domesticwages_dec2015.pdf (accessed 17 November 2016).

Halim

Omar

(2011) A review on health effects associated with prolonged standing in the industrial workplace. International Journal of Recent Research and Applied Studies 8(1): 14–21.

Hans B (2015) King’s anti-foreigner speech causes alarm, The Mercury. Available at: https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/kings-anti-foreigner-speech-causes-alarm-1835602 (accessed 21 November 2015).

Horswill

Janas

(2015) Hydration and health. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 2011: 304–315.

Jennings

Karia

Jambusaria-Pahlajani

, et al. (2012) The Sun Exposure and Behaviour Inventory (SEBI): Validation of an instrument to assess sun exposure and sun protective practices. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology 27: 706–715.

10.

Jeranji T (2015) Car guards a parking headache for motorists. News24. Available at: www.news24.com/southafrica/local/peoples-post/car-guards-a-parking-headache-for-motorists-20150615 (accessed 8 November 2015).

11.

Kalitanyl

Visser

(2010) African immigrants in South Africa: Job takers or job creators? South African Journal of Economic and Management Science 13(4): 376–390.

12.

Mbili Q (2014) “Some just think we are glorified beggars” – Durban car guard. The Daily Vox. Available at: www.thedailyvox.co.za/some-just-think-we-are-glorified-beggars-durban-car-guard/ (accessed 8 November 2015).

13.

McEwen

Leiman

(2008) The car guards of Cape Town: A public good analysis. South African Labour Development Research Unit Working Paper Series. (25, 1–24.

14.

Mngoma N (2014) The face of Durban’s homeless, Daily News. Available at: www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/the-face-of-durban-s-homeless-1.1701356#.VlLgr179Xsu (accessed 21 November 2015).

15.

Nair N (2015) Call for car guards to get training and an official ticket. timeslive. Available at: www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/06/18/Call-for-car-guards-to-get-training-and-an-official-ticket (accessed 20 September 2015).

16.

Nicolson G (2015) Men in the street: Of car guards and daily (poverty) grind. Daily Maverick. Cape Town. Available at: www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-03-17-men-in-the-street-of-car-guards-and-daily-poverty-grind/ (accessed 20 September 2015).

17.

Rondganger L (2015) Durban’s shelters of greed, Daily News. Available at: www.iol.co.za/dailynews/opinion/durban-s-shelters-of-greed1.1904723#.VlK2NtIdBuC (accessed 22 November 2015).

18.

Saunders

Lynn

(2010) Why tip? An empirical test of motivations for tipping car guards. JOEP Journal of Economic Psychology 31(1): 106–113.

19.

Scharges J (2015) …Car guards? Cape Town Magazine.com. Available at: www.capetownmagazine.com/city-news/car-guards/172_22_16916 (accessed 8 November 2015).

20.

Spinks R (2012) Conversations with Cape Town car guards. Matador Network. Available at: matadornetwork.com/abroad/conversations-with-cape-town-car-guards/ (accessed 8 November 2015).

21.

Statistics South Africa (2016) Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Statistical Release P0211. Pretoria, South Africa. Quarter 1.

22.

Steyn

Coetzee

Klopper

(2015) A survey of car guards in Tshwane implications for private security policy and practice. SA Crime Quarterly 52: 15–24.