In 2005 there were nearly three times as many private security officials as sworn police officials in South Africa, the South African Institute of Race Relations says in its annual South Africa Survey.
The number of private security officials increased by 150% since 1997 during a period that saw the number of sworn police officials decrease by 2,2%, the survey, released on Tuesday, showed.
The decline in the number of sworn police officials occurred despite a 170% increase in criminal justice spending, the survey added.
While South Africa’s police to population ratio remained internationally competitive it is questionable whether the number of sworn police officers is sufficient to successfully counter South Africa’s high crime rate.
”There are approximately six police officers per murder in South Africa as opposed to 146 in the United Kingdom,” said SAIRR security researcher Kerwin Lebone.
Lebone added that in the absence of sufficient numbers of police officers South Africans were increasingly looking to the private security sector for protection and that this de facto privatisation of a state function was starting to bear fruit.
”The growth in the number of private security officers since 1997 demonstrates a demand for security way beyond what the South African Police Service can provide.
”The number of housebreakings at business premises declined by 45% during this period suggesting that business owners in particular were turning towards private security firms to protect their assets; this poses the question of whether it is the state or the private sector which is primarily responsible for such successes,” he commented.
Lebone noted that in 2005 even the South African Police Service had turned to private security firms to protect police stations and headquarters. ‒ I-Net Bridge