Private security businesses booming despite R20 billion SAPS boost

South Africa has seen a significant increase in private security companies over the past five years, despite the country’s state police service seeing its annual budget grow by about R20 billion over the same period.

The country has faced an increase in violent crime over the past decade or so, causing many to turn to private security as trust in the police wanes.

According to a report by the Human Sciences Research Council, trust in the South African Police Service (SAPS), which used data from surveys conducted since 1998, shows that only 22% of South Africans trusted the police in 2024.

Similarly, distrust in the police is also mounting, growing from 40% in 2005 to 62% in 2024. This figure has spiked over the past five years, increasing by 14 percentage points.

At the same time, the number of private security companies entering the South African market has also rapidly increased.

These companies offer security services with the intention of making a profit, as opposed to SAPS, which serves the public interest by following its mandate of creating a safe and secure environment for its clients.

These companies offer services such as armed response and controls, private protection, property protection, and surveillance.

The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) notes that there were 9,744 registered and active companies offering security services in 2020.

This number steadily climbed by about 1,000 for the following two years. However, the figure suddenly jumped from 11,540 in 2020 to 15,113 in 2023, signalling a significant increase in demand.

As of March 2024, 16,453 private security companies operated in South Africa. This is more than double the number of active firms ten years prior — 8,144.

This rise in active companies has also seen an increase in private security officers from 548,8642 to 608,977. While there are significantly more registered officers in South Africa, his figure refers to active ones.

According to PSiRA, there were 2,991,812 registered private security officers in the country in 2024.

‘People want to feel safe’

“The private security sector has grown from a 50,000-man industry in 2001 to over 600,000 active security officers today. They outnumber the SAPS three to one,” Security Association of South Africa National Administrator Tony Botes told the SABC.

The number of SAPS frontline officers stood at 152,977 in 2014, while the South African population was 54 million, according its budget. These include visible police officers and detectives.

However, this decreased to 140,991 ten years later when the population had grown to 62 million, with one officer to every 440 people. 

This is significantly more than the UN’s recommended ratio of 1:220.

The National Coordinator at the Association of Private Security Owners of South Africa, Jackson Simon, points out that the rise in private security is simple: people want to feel safe.

“Therefore, they need to be protected, and they are not getting that protection from the police,” he added.

The country has seen a significant increase in violent crime over the past decades.

For instance, the Institute for Security Studies notes how the murder rate decreased by more than 50% between 1994/95 and 2011/12, from 69 to 29.5 murders per 100,000 people.

However, it has consistently increased every year except for the 2020/21 financial year to over 40 in 2024.

Carjacking, another major crime in South Africa, followed a similar trend, reaching a low of 9,417 in 2012/13 and more than doubling to 22,735 by 2023/24.

It is critical to note that these figures do not accurately reflect the country’s crime rate, as the consistent decline in trust in the SAPS has meant that fewer people have reported crimes.

R20 billion budget boost

Despite this decrease in personnel to actively fight crime, SAPS has seen a R20 billion increase in its annual budget since 2020.

In 2020, then Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, was granted R101.7 billion for his department to use for the financial year, most of which would pay personnel.

For the 2020/21 year, the SAPS 183,110 employed personnel cost the state R81.1 billion. This figure increased by around R4 billion, despite the number of personnel decreasing by about 600.

The number of employed personnel refers to frontline officers and those who work in administration.

By 2025, Senzo Mchunu, who has since been suspended, had a budget totalling just under R121 billion approved by Parliament, 80% of which goes towards salaries, similar to the 2020 budget.

Yet despite a R20 billion increase, which would have proportionately increased the allocation for salaries, the South African police remain understaffed.

In his budget, Mchunu estimated that the number of frontline officers would be 142,195, or 1 officer for every 443 people.

Several police stations nationwide face this issue, such as the Katlehong Police Station, which serves 27 suburbs in the area, yet has an 82% staff shortfall.

SAPS’ 2024/25 Annual Performance Plan shows that despite large budgetary increases, the law enforcement body is still struggling to get a grip on the country’s surging crime rates.

One of the biggest problems the SAPS faces is an increasing population that new police recruitments simply cannot keep up with.

According to the report, some of its other most pressing internal challenges include:

• Low morale of members;
• Increased workloads;
• SAPS members involved in crime;
• Ageing, inadequate infrastructure;
• Insufficient resources;
• Need for modernisation;
• and “reduced budget allocations.”

Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, David Bruce, wrote in an article titled “Police could do far more to make South Africa safer” that “the approach to South Africa’s policing challenges consists largely of recycling an old and ineffective formula.”

This includes “further budgetary increases, more waves of large-scale recruitment, new task teams, or the claim that Community Police Forums will be reinvigorated.”

“What South Africa lacks is a blueprint for a more effective policing system – the government needs stronger capacity to formulate a practical policy agenda that takes account of South Africa’s complex and changing crime and safety problems,” said Bruce.