{"id":816474,"date":"2025-03-13T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=816474"},"modified":"2025-03-13T11:44:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T09:44:38","slug":"new-mafia-thriving-on-south-africas-high-crime-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/816474\/new-mafia-thriving-on-south-africas-high-crime-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"New mafia thriving on South Africa’s high crime rate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa’s high crime rate and distrust in the police have fueled growth in private security, but this has also allowed mafia-style militias to bully and extort citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest Real Economy Bulletin published by Trade & Industry Policy Strategies (TIPS) highlighted the importance of private security for job creation over the past 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economic research firm noted that from 2009 to 2024, the number of private security employees in South Africa has surged by over 50%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added growth in private security workers, who accounted for 9% of all net new employment over the past 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) annual report for 2024 reveals similar numbers and shows that this increase in private security is accelerating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the report, 16,453 registered private security businesses are operating nationwide, a 102% increase from the 8,144 registered in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, in 1997, there were 115,331 registered security officials in the private security industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent statistics indicate that this has risen to 608,977 active personnel (as of 2024), with the majority operating in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, the South African Police Service (SAPS) policing numbers have declined while the population has continued to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, there were 152,977 frontline officers for an estimated 54 million people. This decreased to 145,256 officers for a population of over 63 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has resulted in rampant crime across the country, and the SAPS is struggling to police communities and investigate serious crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa recorded a marked decrease in crime levels over the third quarter of the 2024\/25 financial year, with violent crimes, particularly, seeing a welcome decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the improvement, however, the country still recorded an alarming number of murders in the calendar year, delivering a murder rate of 42 per 100,00 people\u2014one of the highest rates in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering this, at the end of 2024, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu called for greater collaboration between the police and private security firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said such a collaboration will confront the country’s rapidly evolving crime situation and prevent it from becoming a criminal state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mafia-style private security<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the boom in security businesses is a positive development in a country plagued by crime, it has also created an opportunity for criminal elements to embed themselves within the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chad Thomas, security expert and CEO of Johannesburg-based IRS Forensic Investigations, has raised the alarm over a disturbing trend in which individuals with links to organised crime acquire security companies and use them as personal militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to TimesLIVE<\/a><\/strong>, Thomas highlighted this issue following a fatal shooting at the Solo restaurant in Sandton last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoneyed individuals who are bad actors or have links to the underworld are buying up security companies,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re seeing this all the time. These bad actors use fronts to buy up security companies, leveraging them for their egos and as proxy armies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Thomas, the people operate under the guise of private security and use their legitimacy to intimidate, harass, and settle personal scores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some even travel in large convoys resembling those of high-profile politicians, reinforcing their presence and influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are using security companies now to settle scores, to bully and harass. It\u2019s a deplorable situation where money can buy you a militia,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the involvement of private security gives these operations a veneer of legitimacy, making it less likely for law enforcement to intervene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With police stretched thin and often hesitant to challenge private security personnel, these groups continue to operate with impunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another issue compounding the problem is the existence of unregistered private security companies, which further complicates the PSiRA oversight efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gareth Newham from the Institute for Security Studies pointed out that PSiRA is under-resourced and struggling to monitor the more than 16,000 active security companies in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its 2023-24 annual report, PSiRA conducted compliance inspections at only 7,886 businesses, leaving significant gaps in regulatory enforcement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa’s high crime rate and distrust of the police have led to a rise in private security, but this has also created an opportunity for criminal elements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":816492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[19888,853,22005,17501,20042],"class_list":["post-816474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-private-security","tag-south-africa","tag-the-private-security-industry-regulatory-authority-psira","tag-the-south-african-police-service-saps","tag-trade-industrial-policy-strategies-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816474"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":816658,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816474\/revisions\/816658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}