Private Security in Africa by Paul Higate Mats Utas

Author:Paul Higate,Mats Utas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: National Book Network International
Published: 2017-05-09T04:00:00+00:00

2002

4,521

2003

4,271

2004

4,212

2005

4,639

2006

4,763

2007

4,898

2008

5,504

2009

6,392

2010

7,496

2011

8,826

2012

9,364

2013

9,031

2014

8,144

Table 5.1 Registered private security providers in South Africa, 2001–14

In addition to this growth, the industry has transformed from a ‘Club to Business’ (Singh 2008: 43). During the transition and after 1994, the private security sector was viewed with suspicion by the post-apartheid government, who saw it as part of the old order and feared that it would foster the development of private militias bent on overthrowing the ANC government (ibid.; Shaw 2002). This was particularly true for the SOA, which was seen as a partnership between the industry and the old state that served to protect ‘the economic interests of a white-dominated and controlled industry’ (Minnaar 2005: 95). To further tighten control over the industry, amendments were implemented to expand the scope of the industry, resulting in the birth of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act No. 56 of 2001, monitored by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA). In addition to increasing regulation, the state also aimed to change the racial composition of the industry, as the majority of owners and managers of companies were white. Despite efforts to escape the legacies of apartheid, the industry remains racially imbalanced. The majority of management and high-paid positions are still occupied by white men who employ a predominantly non-white force of private security officers, particularly in the guarding sector (Abrahamsen and Williams 2007; Diphoorn 2015).

Twilight policing

The private security industry thus has a long history in South Africa and functions as one of the key security actors in the governance of security. The South African state is increasingly seeking partnerships with the private security industry, although partnerships are often ad hoc owing to the lack of a coherent national strategy (Diphoorn and Berg 2014).

Originally, the armed response sector focused on providing assistance to clients in the vicinity of their homes and businesses, i.e. private spaces. However, as has been shown by various other studies (Berg 2010; Singh and Kempa 2007; Rigakos 2002), the private security industry is increasingly operating in the public realm, both by operating in public spaces and increasingly performing state-like practices through mimicking the state, thereby reproducing understandings of what the state is. In the following two vignettes, I will show how this expanding role for armed response officers occurs in both private and public spaces, and how this is based on the ability to use violence, and through their efforts with other actors.

CASE STUDY 1: DISCIPLINING

MAY 2010

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