22 August 2010

The total of 89 South African Police Service (SAPS) facilities in KZN, including 69 police stations, are currently guarded by private security firms at a cost of R16,5-million per month, a reply to a parliamentary question in the KZN Legislature has revealed.

“The need for private security guards to protect police facilities is in itself a declaration of no confidence in the ability of the SAPS to discharge its duties,” said IFP KZN finance spokesperson Roman Liptak who posed the question to MEC for Community Safety and Liaison Willies Mchunu.

As many as 205 private security personnel have been hired to guard police premises in the province, including 69 police stations, nine vehicle pounds, five radio technical units, four dog units, one mounted unit and one stock theft unit. The department’s monthly bill for private security services amounts to R16,524,000.

The response to the parliamentary question also shows that the majority of the private security personnel hired by the department are armed with revolvers and pistols, suggesting that their job descriptions coincide with the frontline services of the SAPS.

The ministerial response explains that the decision not to co-opt SAPS personnel to guard police facilities was taken in order to allow more policemen to perform their primary function which is to fight crime.

The IFP has previously argued that police stations themselves are turning into scenes of crime as the cases of theft of weapons from police premises rise at an alarming rate. The stolen weapons often re-emerge in criminal acts.

“If the department’s argument in favour of private security personnel is taken to its logical conclusion and if private security guards are more effective crime fighters than SAPS personnel, shouldn’t more policing be outsourced to the private sector?” - said Liptak.

Contact: Roman Liptak, 078 302 0929