PSiRA Annual Report 2019/2020

The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA): some key takeaways from the 2019/2020 Annual Report

Cherry-picking my way through PSiRA’s 168-page Annual Report for 2019/2020, these are some of the points that jumped out at me and which I thought might be of interest to readers:

Registered companies and officers: the numbers

The total number of registered security businesses during this period: 10 298

The total number of registered and active security businesses: 9 744

The total number of registered security officers: 2 495 899

The total number of registered and active security officers (employed and independent operators): 548 642

Gender profile of active and registered security officers: The number of males that are active and registered in the private security industry represent 71 per cent of the industry while the number of females represent 29 per cent. There is a slight increase of one per cent of females registered and active in the industry compared to the previous financial year. There has been an eight per cent increase in the employment of female security officers over the last five years.

The number of new applications received and captured during the financial year 2019/2020: Applications: 2 048 Approved: 1 979 Pending: 69

Fraud Prevention Policy and Plan

PSiRA’s Fraud Prevention Plan includes a number of mechanisms for people to be able to report unethical conduct, fraud and corruption.

Among these is PSiRA’s Fraud Hotline: 0860 333 036. According to PSiRA, calls are treated confidentially, and reporting may be done anonymously. The fraud hotline is administered by an independent firm of forensic auditors to safeguard the identities of callers and no one in PSiRA, regardless of seniority, has access to the identities of anyone who reports irregularities or fraud.

A reporting hierarchy exists for fraud hotline administrators, which guides them on where to refer cases, including those involving directors and council members. PSiRA says it has adopted a policy of investigating all reports of fraud and corruption – testing, reviewing and analysing them to determine which ones warrant investigation. The appointed investigator submits a written report to the Accounting Authority through the Audit and Risk Committee, detailing circumstances and recommending appropriate remedial action following the investigation.

According to statistics from the Forensic and Ethics Unit (FEU) for the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, 831 complaints were received via the Fraud Hotline and 102 complaints were received via the Helpdesk. Out of 831 complaints, 719 complaints were industry-related and were referred to the Law Enforcement Division for investigation and further processing.

Of the complaints submitted to the FEU during this period, 20 were allegations of misconduct against employees of the Authority (six allegations of corruption, eight of fraud, six relating to general misconduct). A further 92 pertained to industry-related fraud. Thirty-seven cases (one internal, the remaining 36 external) were brought forward from the 2018/2019 financial year; 219 cases were finalised and 11 cases have been carried forward to the 2020/2021 financial year. There were 23 industry-related criminal cases opened and 18 suspects were arrested by the SAPS. Out of the 21 internal cases, 14 were finalised either through resignation (three), disciplinary process (seven) or no evidence of misconduct uncovered during investigations (four), and seven were carried forward to the 2020/2021 financial year.

Police Minister Bheki Cele on improved officer training and SAPS’s commitment to supporting PSiRA

In his foreword, Police Minister Bheki Cele emphasised the importance of adequate training for private security officers and saying: “The Office of the Minister was pleased to learn that the Authority has not only increased the accessibility of PSiRA accredited training centres through a 50 per cent increase in the number of newly accredited training centres compared to the previous financial year, but also revised the statutory training curriculum to produce better skilled security officers. There is no doubt that the private security industry contributes to significant employment within our country and I have taken note of the 8 per cent increase in the number of PSiRA registered security businesses and a marginal increase in the number of registered employed security officers compared to the 2018/2019 financial year.”

He then added: “I want to congratulate PSiRA for achieving 96 per cent of its Annual Performance Plan targets and this accomplishment will inspire the confidence of other government entities in pursuing their strategic goals. The Authority, led by Mr Chauke, should be assured of our support in its tireless effort to be recognised as one of the best run private security regulators in the world.”

Read PSiRA’s full 2019/2020 Annual Report https://www.psira.co.za/dmdocuments/ Annual_Report_2020.pdfn PSiRA website https://www.psira.co.za/