Patriotic: MKMVA soldiers on parade.
Umkhonto weSizwe military veterans may benefit from the ANC’s plans to revisit previous proposals to establish a state-owned security company to guard national key points.
The national conference, which enters its fourth day today, will discuss the peace and stability sub-committee plans on the operation of foreign-owned private security companies in South Africa. In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, subcommittee chairperson Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said foreign-owned private security was a “big threat and a big problem” to the country.
“We need to go back to other policy conferences, which had directed us to establish a government-owned security entity, which will then give support to the work of the law enforcement agencies,” she said.
“We will engage with the proposals of the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA). They should look at how best to establish that original proposal of a government-owned security agency, rather than embracing all of these private security companies.”
Last month the MKMVA held its national elective conference, where one of its policy resolutions included lobbying government to give more MK veterans access to business opportunities, especially in the field of security.
“On security we were very specific that we want our comrades to be employed, not companies that are owned by foreigners to protect our national key points,” MKMVA president Kebby Maphatsoe told the M&G shortly after the conference.
“We want MK members to be the ones who are in those national key points, because they are patriotic and they will be able to protect the security of our country.”
In its policy discussion document on peace and stability, the ANC highlights concerns about the widespread use of private security companies, which amounts to the “outsourcing of state security and military functions”. It claims that about 50% to 60% of these companies are foreign-owned. Some of these companies guard state facilities such as prisons.
Private security companies have previously been blamed for instigating mafia-style killings between rival taxi associations in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill is still awaiting President Jacob Zuma’s signature since it was passed by Parliament in 2014.
If passed it will see foreign-owned private security firms required to sell off at least 51% of their shares to South African citizens.
South Africans spent in excess of R45-billion on private security last year alone.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the party’s biggest reason for reviewing the state of private security firms was due to problematic activities some firms have been involved in.
“Of course we don’t want to antagonise them. But we need to find a way of balancing the relationship between what we have as the state and private security,” she said.
“It’s not so much the existence of the private security industry, but its some of the activities they are involved in that have become a problem.”