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Training in SA’s security industry: Opportunities and challenges
Opportunities and challenges Training in SA’s security industry:
Employing around 450 000 active officers and worth an estimated R45 billion, South Africa’s massive private security sector is critical to both the country’s safety and its economy.
And it’s also increasingly becoming a career of choice rather than a last resort for frustrated job seekers as result of its extensive curriculum, which extends from entry level to specialist.
According to Tony Botes, National Administrator of the Security Association of South Africa (SASA) and a 33-year veteran of the industry, post-matriculants are increasingly choosing security as a career rather than a stopgap. That’s partly because it’s relatively affordable when compared with the cost of university and technikon degrees and diplomas, he suggests, and also because it offers more scope for employment in a country where unemployment is currently around 29 per cent. Regulated by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA), the private security industry operates a multitude of training establishments. Some have branches throughout the country and welcome school leavers and employees from other companies; others are compact single entities that cater for their own employees’ training requirements, and then there are the specialised operations. There are also the fly-by-nights, the unregistered, illegal operators who have long undercut prices and preyed on the gullible and the vulnerable.
Opening a training academy is no walk in the park, says Mr Botes. It’s an onerous undertaking that involves an enormous amount of time and money and academies must be approved and registered with PSIRA as well as the Department of Labour and the Safety and Security Education and Training Authority (SASSETA).
From entry level to excellence In accordance with PSiRA, the entry level qualifications start with Grade E, for the position of patrol officer. Following on are Grade D (access control officer), Grade C (asset control officer), Grade B (junior supervisor) and Grade A (senior supervisor). Those interested in furthering their security careers can enrol for specialised training to become armed reaction officers, retail security, events officers, and control room operators. Other options are national key-point training (NKP), dog handling and personal protection.
The full training spectrum Inaugurated in 2016, and registered not only with PSiRA and the SASSETA but also as an ETDP Education and Training Development Practitioner (ETDP) and an International Computer Driving License Test Centre (ICDL), the Omega Risk Solutions Training Academy offers one of the most extensive syllabuses in the country. It is head-quartered in Pretoria, with offices and branches in the country’s major centres.
From basic and refresher courses to full and part time training, its programmes are all in accordance with the National Qualification Forums (NQF) and registered with the South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) through the SASSETA. That’s according to Marchél Coetzee, National HR Manager and Director of the Omega Training Academy, which also offers a number of internally developed courses that range from risk assessment for managers, junior management, supervisory and advanced supervisory, site commanders, estate security, security officers at public and private institutions and customer care and public relations.
In addition, Omega provides training in the areas of occupational health and safety, basic firefighting and computers, hygiene and cleaning, and CCTV and surveillance with specialist components such as body language studies. It also does risk assessments and ISO 9001 security audits.
says Ms Coetzee. “This makes it difficult for compliant companies to compete with non-compliant companies on the basis of price. PSiRA, the regulator, seems to be struggling to cope with the vast number of unregistered operators and the whole process of eliminating them is far too slow.” “Registering new training centres and training material and courses is also a challenge as a result of the move from the Safety and Security Seta to the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations, which is impacting on the re-training of instructors and the re-registrations ofcompanies.” Funding is another challenge. With limited learnerships available from the SASSETA, funding comes largely from individuals and companies. “It would be a huge boost for the economy if there are more fully funded learnership programmes available and allocated to accredited training service providers,” she maintains.
“The cost of training is high and funding is difficult to obtain from the private sector. On top of this, the process to register for accreditation at institutional bodies and for specific training courses also takes too long as a result of major bureaucratic processes. Then there’s the uncertainty between accreditation bodies like PSIRA, SASSETA and QTCO, which prohibits the development and accreditation of new training material.”
Personal protection training Kyle Condon is the owner of Global Bodyguard Solutions, which offers specialised training in the field of close personal (VIP) protection. Aimed at those wanting to pursue careers in close protection, he says their courses are designed around “real-world” requirements, with a stringent pass criterion and an unquestionable code of ethics to which students are required to adhere.
The primary academy is based in Germiston, the seat of its theory training and administrative activities. Practical training such as firearm and formation drills, extraction and counterattack techniques, take place at the RooiKraal Shooting Range in Heidelberg while driving exercises that include anti-hijack and emergency collision avoidance, take place at the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria.
PSIRA and SASA and a member of the Edenvale Chamber of Commerce.
“As a specialist subject matter training academy, we focus on one course only, that being close protection,” says Mr Condon. It’s an incredibly challenging course, however, he says, as it covers several independent courses within its main body including protection during embarkation, disembarkation and in transit, and firearms and first aid training.
Challenges With no financial support from government and no assistance with student loans, it’s a sector that relies entirely on its own initiatives and business models, he continues. This makes it very difficult for those wanting to specialise and follow this career path but who lack access to course funding. Another challenge is ensuring that those wanting to undertake training can do so without the fear of being marginalised if they don’t have previous specialist training or experience.
Fly-by-nights are also a problem, not only to service providers but to end-users of close protection services as well. To this he adds: “Equally as challenging are the accredited training academies who seek to monopolise the industry by pushing their own agendas. What they need to realise is that there is adequate room for everyone who wants to provide an excellent training service.” Intimidation is a concern, too. “Over the past few years, the fear of strong and healthy competition seems to have intimidated some training providers. We’ve seen more than a few turn to dubious activities such as slandering, price undercutting and other malpractices. “Fortunately, as a company that has been able to create our own “Blue Ocean”, we are relatively free of competition but that said, this does not mean that the frustrations mentioned above should be ignored nor should they be tolerated.
Sadly, both SASSETA and PSIRA tend to ignore those unregistered illegal operatives, for whatever the reason, and rather focus on the legitimate service providers who can expect three to four inspections in a year.”
Dogs and handler training Annette van Rensburg, owner of the Security Dog and Dog Handler Training Centre in Marlboro in Johannesburg, has been in operation since 1991. PSiRA and SASSETA accredited, her training academy offers a range of dog handling courses and manuals for companies and individuals. Her students generally come from security companies that, in terms of their new contracts, need to provide their clients with trained security dogs and qualified handlers, she says. To a lesser degree, others are individuals “off the street” who want to improve and expand their qualifications.
Challenges With no funding support from government, and in the current economic downturn, one of the biggest challenges in her sector is getting payment from clients. “Slow paying has become a major problem,” says Ms Van Rensburg. “And then there are the unregistered companies who seem to operate with impunity.” She adds: “I would be interested to find out how many guards are trained at SASSETA colleges compared with those at PSiRA colleges. I’d also like to know how many convert their SASSETA qualifications to PSiRA ones and vice versa. SASSETA qualifications don’t appear on the PSiRA database, with the result that people think they are qualified in terms of both entities only to discover that PSiRA and SASSETA are not connected at all.”
In closing… Mr Condon says: “Our industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the security arena. However, ensuring that those who are ultimately going to be responsible for keeping clients safe are adequately equipped to do so is a challenge that requires continuous commitment from training companies and a real passion for dispensing knowledge. The days of the dark glasses and MIB are long gone!
