The South African Private Security Industry
The South African private security industry has a number of unique features because of the political context in which the industry developed. In Europe and the US, the security industry’s expansion in the 1970s and early 1980s occurred without any real input or assistance from the state. This was not the case in South Africa.

In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, the former South African Police (SAP) withdrew from many normal policing duties to concentrate on maintaining political control. The government encouraged the private security industry to fill the gap left by the police’s shift in priorities. The government also assisted the industry by providing mechanisms with which the industry could link up formally and informally with the state security apparatus.15 In 1991, at a Security Association of South Africa (SASA) conference, Lieutenant General Basie Smit hinted at the establishment of a joint working committee to produce a blueprint on co-operation between the SAP and the private security industry. In 1992, the then Commissioner of Police, General Johan van der Merwe, considered the creation of a permanent secretariat consisting of SAP and private security industry representatives.16

At a formal level, the state used private security companies to guard strategic installations. In 1980, the National Key Points Act was passed. The Act granted greater powers to private security guards who were tasked with guarding strategic installations, including full powers of arrest, and search and seizure.

The question whether the government at the time and those working in the private security industry had similar interests has been raised on several occasions. Many security companies have strongly refuted any allegations of mutual interest. However, according to members of the Security Officers’ Board, the government might have channelled funds into certain private security companies and used them as front companies.17

Because of South Africa’s past involvement in military operations in other African states, and the immigration to South Africa of people who fought in the bush wars in Rhodesia and other African states, a large number of people with experience in counterinsurgency and low intensity conflict operations live in South Africa.18 Not surprisingly, many owners and managers of private security companies have military, intelligence and police backgrounds. One security company manager said initially it was his company’s policy only to recruit people who had been members of the SAP. In the 1970s, the policy was extended to include army and correctional services personnel. After 1990, this policy changed, however, and preference is no longer given to former security establishment personnel.19

Many companies still regard the recruitment of personnel with a previous security background as desirable. The involvement of former military and police personnel has had a marked impact on the profile, structure, training and even uniforms of private security companies in South Africa. As there is a large group of people with combat experience who fought both for and against apartheid, who find a natural home in the private security industry, it is unlikely that the profile and character of the industry will undergo any significant changes in the near future.

Traditionally, most security guards have been black, while the management, owners and special response units have been staffed mainly by white people. The establishment of black-owned companies, initiatives by some larger companies to sell shares to black-owned businesses, and affirmative action policies are having an impact on the racial divide in the industry. However, speaking at the launch of the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the South African Black Security Employers’ Association (SABSEA) in 1996, the general secretary of the association, Steve Dube, said that black people only held four per cent of the top positions in the industry.20

Scope of the industry

In March 1999, there were 5 343 active registered security businesses in South Africa21 (see Table 2).

Table 2: Companies registered with the Security Officers' Board
Security businesses registered with the Security Officers'Board
Number of registered companies
Gaurding, and cash in transit
3 174
Armed response
673
Private investigations
652
Other categories
844
Total
5 343

Figures supplied by Security officers'Board, March 1999.

Table 3: Specific markets utilising electornic security services, and the proportion of total market value of each sector
Markets
Proportion of total market value of electronic sedurity services
Public sector
10,0%
Commercial sector
29,8%
Industrial sector
19,5%
Domestic sector
38,3%
Unspecified
2,0%

The guarding component guards fixed assets and property such as buildings, shopping complexes and schools. Other services offered by this sector include the patrolling of privately owned public spaces and the policing of strike action. In March 1999, some 125 000 guards were employed in this sector. (The figure fluctuates according to the commercial contract needs of guarding companies. There is an estimated 200 per cent turnover of staff in this sector.22)

The armed response component has grown steadily during the past decade. While armed response companies do not employ as many personnel as the guarding industry, they service more clients. In March 1999, some 673 armed response businesses were registered in South Africa. This service entails the installation of electronic security systems linked to a central control room, which is responsible for deploying armed response personnel when required. Armed response companies usually work within defined geographic areas. This enables them to respond quickly to emergencies.

The cash-in-transit component includes companies who run both cash-in-transit and guarding services. It is therefore difficult to estimate the size of this component of the industry. The Security Officers’ Board classifies 412 businesses as cash in transit businesses. Of the 679 cash-in-transit vehicles in operation, over 85 per cent are armoured.

The electronic hardware component includes installers of alarms and other security devices. Like the cash-in-transit and guarding components, there is some overlap between the providers of armed response and electronic security services.

The investigation and risk management component includes private investigators and risk consultants. Some private investigators also operate as debt collector and tracing agents. The number of private investigators and risk consultants is growing at a rapid rate. As Hazel Friedman, an investigative journalist who has worked closely with a number of private investigators, puts it, "the prying game has become a lucrative career for a growing number of South Africans."23

Lawyers regularly use the services of investigators to trace witnesses or obtain information that may be vital to their clients’ case. Businesses make use of private investigators to counter economic espionage. They also enlist the services of risk consultants to advise them on security related matters.

A growing number of private security companies are developing specialised private investigation sections to investigate irregularities within their own companies and to service some of their clients’ needs. Some people also hire private investigators to gather damaging information on other people. According to a Sunday Times article, this type of information gathering is quite profitable.

"For people who want dirt on you and can afford to pay for it, there is a private investigator who can dig it up. There is no corner of your life that is sacred and there is nothing to protect you from prying eyes ... Once someone has decided, for whatever reason, that he wants dirt on you and is prepared to pay for it, there is a private investigator somewhere who will dig it out."24

Many private investigators engage in telephone tapping and surveillance and make use of disguises and decoys. Linked to this field of security are electronic specialists who provide the equipment to perform these functions. Electronic specialists sell equipment to government officials, large corporations and private investigators. Some, like the well-known Spy Shop, sell directly to the public.

Linked to private investigators are what the Sunday Times referred to as "a group of travelling salesmen" who offer their services to private investigators. Referring to this group of people, Decon Condon — a private investigator — told the Sunday Times:

"They come to our offices and let us know they have friends in the bank or the Receiver’s [of Revenue] office or Telkom or whoever, and if we need to get copies of anything or want phones tapped they can arrange it ... There are people who specialise in intelligence gathering. You get telephone buggers for instance, who subcontract themselves out and make lots of money working for private investigators."25

A number of private investigators are erstwhile police or intelligence personnel who worked for the previous government, or people who served in such capacities in other countries. Some currently serving in the police or official intelligence structures, also moonlight as private investigators. It is not uncommon for such people to make use of state resources, including fingerprint files and criminal record registers to further their investigations.

Private investigators and risk consultants are often considered the most ‘shady’ and unscrupulous members of the private security industry. The more established operators blame this reputation on fly-by-night operators who enter the industry in search of ‘easy money’.

There are some extremely professional private investigators with years of investigative experience. However, the majority of investigators have little, if any, formal training in detective work. This contributes to a general lack of professionalism within this component of the industry and accounts, at least in part, for the bad reputation of this service as a whole.

According to the Security Officers’ Board, some 652 private investigators and risk consultants were registered with the Board in March 1999. The number of people operating in the industry at any one time may be as high as 2 000, the majority of whom are, however, fly-by-night operators.

Some private investigators argue that there is a need for their service to be regulated. Many, however, argue that regulatory legislation applies to private security only for the physical protection of clients, and that private investigators perform a different function which does not fall under the provision of physical security.

In the US, private investigators and risk consultants are one of the most regulated components of the private security industry. This regulation occurs through a licensing system whereby the authorities of the state in which they operate license every private investigator. In a number of states, such licences are annually renewable.

In-house security is security provided by an employer’s employees solely for the business for which they work. This category of security personnel is not required to register with the Security Officers’ Board. An estimated 60 000 people are employed in an in-house security capacity.

Security associations

There are some 22 security associations, reflecting the diversity and fragmentation of the industry. Some associations are specific to particular parts of the industry, such as the South African Intruder Detection Service Association (SAIDSA), representing the electronic and armed response components. Other associations represent vested interests such as the Small Employers Security Association (SESA), who represent small business interests in the industry.

Most of the associations are part of the South African Security Federation (SASFED) which was formed in 1986 following an appeal by the then Minister of Law and Order, Louis le Grange, for the industry to set up a co-ordinating structure.

Today, SASFED offers a forum based on common interest and, according to its chairperson, "provides a united voice of common concern." However, the process of drawing together different companies within the industry is not an easy one. The industry is highly competitive and cut-throat. It is rife with differences — political, material and personal.26