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Surreptitious, behind the scenes goings on?

The Security Industry Alliance (SIA) held its annual conference in mid-November with a number of industry leaders speaking on a variety of topics. What was clear from the speakers is that the industry is in a certain amount of turmoil and is being prevented from collaborating with government in an attempt to clear up the confusion and drive the industry and its roughly 400 000 employees into the future.

The conference opened with a talk on the PSIRA Amendment Bill, which has not yet been passed by parliament as I write this, but is close to becoming reality. After much work was done working with government, the Bill was changed at the last minute to once again include the foreign ownership clause.

The lack of logic behind this clause is astounding as it can only serve to harm the industry, although, another speaker hinted that this might actually be the point. There are other issues with the Bill, also confusing because the efforts of the industry to engage in dialogue have basically been ignored.

The Green Paper on Policing was also discussed. This is another document that creates more confusion than clarity. It will definitely not serve to improve policing or the private security industry – an industry born on the back of poor policing.

When you add Sectoral Determination 6 to the pile of government ‘initiatives’, the picture becomes even more fuzzy as this document seems to override the painstaking agreements the industry reached with the unions a few years ago.

On the positive side, the private security industry is all for regulation, even more regulation to ensure its customers get the best services possible. The issue, however, isn’t about new rules or laws, but about enforcement. It seems agencies supposedly tasked with enforcing the regulations focus on compliant companies as they are a soft target, while neglecting the ‘cowboys’ who are harder to stop.

The same can be said about training, but there seems to be little point in going on about it. The presentation on tender fraud was illuminating, educational and disappointing.

At the end of the day, it would be easy for government to make the private security industry irrelevant. All it needs to do is improve policing to the level where the public has confidence in their police force. Security is a grudge purchase and if the police were able to do their job effectively, the need for private security would quickly shrink.

Sadly the motives behind the amendment bill, the green paper and others are, to be polite, hazy. As is the lack of cooperation between government and industry. Sadly, government wasn’t there to put its side of the story. The optimal solution is a regulated industry in which everyone lays their cards on the table, provides input and serves the market effectively. But right now that seems more of a dream than a possibility.

As one attendee said, “who wants to buy a security company?” Another answered, “How much will you pay me to take it?”

Andrew Seldon

Editor

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