The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) made 268 arrests in the first quarter of its operations.

The regulatory body told ProtectionWeb most arrests were for the deployment of unregistered security officers, undocumented foreign nations, possession of fraudulent documents and contraventions of the Firearms Control Act.

Eighty-nine arrests were made in Gauteng, 54 in the Eastern Cape, 47 in the Northern Cape, 39 in KwaZulu-Natal, 27 in Limpopo and nine in Mpumalanga and three in the Western Cape.

PSiRA said although some of the operations were conducted with the SA Police Service and the Department of Home Affairs, they were done in line with its normal regulatory mandate.

Nation police commissioner General Fannie Masemola said unregistered private security service providers were reported to PSiRA.

He said fly-by-night security companies were also addressed in the the Eyes and Ears Initiative (E2).

He said the dual process with Business Against Crime SA included the security screening of participants involved in the initiative, and the profiling of all applicants by SAPS to ensure that the board of management for the Private Security Industry meet set requirements.