The regulatory body that governs the private security industry, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA), is looking to tighten legislation to prevent bodyguards from brandishing high-calibre weapons in public. This decision comes after several high-profile shootings involving bodyguards who were carrying such firearms.
In one restaurant incident, three people died as a result of clashes involving heavily armed bodyguards. This move has been welcomed by security experts who warned that the security industry is being infiltrated by criminals who are using these guns for intimidation. They said bodyguards looking to carry them should be subjected to additional scrutiny before they are granted access to these firearms.
Talent Zwane, the deputy director of law enforcement at PSiRA, said: “This is a serious concern (when) people brandish firearms in places where there are young children, at taxi ranks and in malls.”
She spoke on SAFM this week. Zwane said: “We are in the process of issuing the draft amendment for public comment because we want bodyguards to apply if they want to protect someone with those high-calibre firearms. They must apply through us and tell us why they need those firearms.”
She said “we can’t have people threatening the public. Even the president has bodyguards and is not protected with those high-calibre firearms. We do not see the need for people to be protecting using high-calibre firearms.”
She stated that cash transport and transit security companies, as well as national key points, will be the only exceptions.
Zwane said it does not make sense for people who are guarded in this manner to be in public spaces in the first place, as this created an atmosphere of fear. Security experts noted that all guns are supposed to be licensed.
Security expert David Bruce said some private security groups are involved in protecting cash in transit or other work where there is a strong chance of attack by criminals using high-calibre weapons. “It’s certainly an issue that PSiRA should look into, but they would need to take into account the specific work that the company in question is doing,” he said.
Another security expert, Johan Burger, welcomed the tightening of the regulations around the carrying of high-calibre weapons, adding that he does not understand the motivation behind allowing security personnel to possess high-powered guns. “There are exceptions where security companies should be allowed to have these guns, for instance, those that are transporting money. The criminals that attack these people carry high-powered guns, and the security personnel cannot stand with 9mm pistols, so there should be exceptions,” he said.
Gareth Newham ,of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said people who work in private security are different from civilians in terms of carrying firearms, provided they are licensed. He said, however, that criminal syndicate were infiltrating security firms and gaining access to these weapons.
Prem Balram, of security firm Reaction Unit SA, said the call to regulate these weapons should be supported. “Some of these companies carrying these weapons are associated with criminal activity, possibly posing a threat to civilians and the security industry itself.”He added that some of the guards were “carrying these high-calibre weapons in full view of the public, without uniform and without identification”.
He also said while high-calibre weapons were needed in the industry, a proper vetting process should be done.