More than half a billion rand is currently owed to security companies in South Africa.

The Association of Private Security Owners of South Africa (TAPSOSA) told ProtectionWeb various government departments, municipalities, and parastatals have not paid most of the affected security companies for their services.

According to TAPSOSA’s spokesperson Sindisiwa Changuion, one of the organisation’s members is owed R18-million by an organ of the state.

“Almost 70% of the more than 11000 companies that operate in the guarding sector are affected by non-payment for their services, with an estimated loss of more than half a billion.”

TAPSOSA has launched a national campaign to proactively engage and expose private security consumers “who have no regard for the well-being of these companies and their employees.”

“Our objective is to bring to light the adverse effect of such treatment which also exacerbates issues of non-compliance in the private security industry. As a representative of marginalized employers, we cannot afford to sit back and not intervene on this issue as security businesses’ sustainability is threatened,” said Changuion.

The campaign is in response to the resolutions of the Private Security Industry Summit held in December last year.

“It became a glaring indication and a consensus from the summit that despite the issues discussed, in particular the regulation of pricing in the industry, most private security employers are increasingly frustrated by private security consumers who do not honor the payment of their invoices on agreed payment terms.”

“To date, most of these affected businesses had to either shut their doors or incur insurmountable debt just to stay afloat and keep their business operational. In this regard, TAPSOSA on behalf of its member companies intends to engage with the clients whom our members have had challenges with regarding the payment of their invoices which has spun over six months,” said Changuion.