The recent arrest of 95 Libyan nationals in Mpumalanga, who entered the country under alleged pretenses, has sparked great concern about the private security industry in South Africa.
The group had been living on a military base since April before they were arrested. They were brought to the country to train to become security personnel. “Obviously with a crime rate as high as it is in South Africa, this has given rise to the need for more private security. You can tell by the number of people who are increasingly using bodyguards,” says Mongoai.Little to no background screening for potential personnel or people planning to open a security company.Possibility for criminals to operate under the guise of security companies.
Mongoai mentions the struggles employees face within the industry. “There has been a lot of abuse at the same time where obviously the hours are very long, its 12 hours, salaries are not very good. There are instances where people work without the guard room, exposed to a lot of danger at times.” In the wake of the incident, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority faces scrutiny over its vetting processes and the way it regulates security personnel and companies. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.