Be afraid, be very afraid. Your future is unsafely in the hands of your security company. A conference in Johannesburg made it clear that South Africa is one of many countries where security is increasingly provided by private rather than public actors. And with the global, multibillion-rand sector virtually unregulated, shady elements have stepped in where states can no longer protect citizens.
The conference, titled Armed Response, suggested that many countries — Russia and Brazil were also cited — are moving towards a quasi-medieval society of walled settlements surrounded by dangerous wastelands.
African National Congress activist and academic Raymond Suttner argued that some local security firms had the arms, intelligence capacity and anti-government disposition to threaten democracy, and should be phased out.
“These firms are gathering intelligence. They know all about our houses.” They were also well-placed to advise would-be assassins about weak links in the security chain.
Opening the conference, Gauteng minister of community safety Firoz Cachalia argued that the private security sector could ultimately “augment the capacity of the state. We’d all be in a better situation if the cops and security companies shared information.”
However, the companies are eroding public sector capacity by poaching police officers. Vast amounts are being lost in cash-in-transit heists, where ill-trained guards are asked to protect inadequately armoured vehicles.
Suttner became convinced his security company had broken into his house while he was on holiday. The company launched an internal investigation, yet never informed him of the outcome. “They rely on our not taking up irregularities,” he said. “They have contempt for their legal obligations because they have a sense of impunity.”
Suttner said he would like to see his suburb of Observatory doing away with “gating”, which allows a single access point. He proposed a community policing initiative similar to street committees in neighbouring Yeoville.
Rio de Janeiro-based academic Ignacio Cano said Brazil resembled South Africa, but that its industry was further developed. Another speaker said a Brazilian firm offered a discount on a combined contract that included hostage negotiation.
As in South Africa, the Brazilian poor were more exposed to crime and lived in areas where hi-tech security systems and police patrols were rare. Brazilian policemen also worked as private security agents, throwing their police weapons and identity cards into the package.
German academic Fritz Sack said “Johannesburg is everywhere” and that the provision of public safety had moved “from a public good to a private good” and there was a “shrinking of the public territory”. The philosophy of neo-liberalism made individual members of society responsible not only for their own luck, but also for their “ill-luck”.
Local architect Henning Rasmuss said designs for security villages in South Africa were “flying off the shelves faster than ever before”.