Police Minister Senzo Mchunu is hoping to expand collaboration between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and private security companies to stop South Africa from becoming a criminal state.
Business Day reported that a more formal partnership between the SAPS and the private security industry would signify a shift in government policy, as previous police ministers regarded the private security sector with suspicion, viewing their involvement in crime fighting as a threat to national security, although former police minister Bheki Cele used private security to help maintain order in the run-up to the 2024 elections.
In an interview with Business Day, Mchunu said he had met the umbrella Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority and intended to engage big players in the sector soon “to get things moving”. The response so far had been positive, he said.
“The effort of the SAPS and private security forces will be bolstered by specialised units that will lead and co-ordinate the focus on hot spots. In particular in metros we are concerned about the surge in kidnappings and extortions but we are confident we will get the upper hand,” Mchunu said.
Private security would greatly bolster government crime prevention strategies by using the vast workforce of private security personnel to increase the visibility of law enforcement in urban centres. More than 580 000 private security guards are currently active and employed in South Africa – more than the police and army combined.
Mchunu also committed to have the SAPS work with metro police in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal to do “far more” than just traffic policing. To that end he will be signing memorandums of understanding with provincial governments.
“Through a proper partnership, police officers will have access to more people and more resources. However, SAPS members and private security guards may already work together so closely that not much would change,” Stephen Grootes wrote for the Daily Maverick.
He cautioned that a formal partnership between the SAPS and private security poses big risks as there is evidence that many security companies break the law, whether it be illegally possessing weapons to illegally stopping and searching people.
“While Mchunu’s aims in working with this industry may well be noble – and it has huge resources to offer the SAPS – a closer relationship must be managed very carefully,” Grootes wrote.