Ray Moodley, boss of the controversial security company at the centre of the Telkom scandal, has known Bheki Langa for a long time. Their relationship, he says, dates back to the ”struggle days”.
Moodley this week hit back after a Telkom probe alleged collusion between his company, Durban-based Royal Security, and Langa, the deputy chief operating officer at Telkom. Moodley insists the probe is a rearguard action by whites to prevent the advancement of blacks and of black- owned security companies. ”They’re just trying to discredit a black upcoming man … This is racist; this is a racist plot.”
While Moodley dismisses the Telkom allegations out of hand, he acknowledges his association with Langa. ”I’ve known him for many years; that is long before [he joined] Telkom … I’ve known him since the struggle years.”
Moodley has done well out of Telkom. The parastatal this week said Royal Security has contracts to do physical guarding for Telkom in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and armed response in some areas of KwaZulu-Natal. These contracts are typically worth millions of rands a year.
Another company implicated in the Telkom probe is Indlovu Security, also based in Durban and associated with Royal Security. Moodley denies holding an ownership stake in Indlovu, but says: ”I’m just a mentor there … It is a government policy, developing black companies.”
Like Royal, Indlovu has armed response contracts with Telkom in KwaZulu-Natal between them, the two companies seem to have sewn up all these contracts in the region.
Even without the Telkom investigation, both companies have much to worry about. Stefan Badenhorst, legal manager of the Security Officers’ Board, the statutory body that oversees the security industry, confirmed that five separate prosecutions are pending against Royal Security for allegedly contravening the industry’s code of conduct. These prosecutions include more than 300 counts of underpaying security officers and more than 100 counts of employing unregistered or untrained officers.
Badenhorst said Indlovu Security, in turn, faces three improper conduct prosecutions, which include more than 100 counts of underpaying security officers and scores of employing untrained or unregistered officers.
l According to Telkom, cable theft has cost it between R28-million and R38-million annually from 1998 to 2001. In the 12 months to March this year there was a steady increase in cable theft incidents (see graph).
ENDS