The vigorous development of South Africa's security industry is closely related to the poor security situation. According to data released by South African Police Minister Enleko, in the past year, the national crime rate in South Africa surged by 4.6%. From April 20 14 to March 20 15, there were 17805 people killed by murder in South Africa, an increase of 782 people over last year, equivalent to an average of 49 people killed by murder every day. On the other hand, the South African police have low salaries, weak fighting capacity and sometimes extortion, so they cannot provide comprehensive and good security. In this environment, many people in South Africa can only spend a lot of money to hire security guards, or install infrared security systems at home, or even erect high-voltage power grids and safety guardrails.
In 20 14, in order to build a domestic capital-led security industry development pattern and safeguard national security interests, the South African Parliament passed an amendment to the Private Security Industry Management Act, stipulating that foreign security companies registered in South Africa must establish joint ventures, with the maximum shareholding ratio not exceeding 49%. However, this controversial amendment has not been signed by President Zuma so far.
The article of the South African Institute of Security pointed out that the biggest security threat in South Africa is social problems such as poverty, inequality and unemployment, and the resulting high crime rate. Foreign private security companies are all listed companies, and they all accept strict market supervision. Because they employ South African residents or immigrants with permanent residency in South Africa, they will not pose a sustained, organized and deployable semi-military threat to a specific goal. On the contrary, these companies provide a lot of employment opportunities and promote the development of many safety-related industries, such as door locks, car safety, personal safety and armed response. Therefore, restricting their investment in South Africa and the resulting loss of job opportunities may bring greater security threats to South African society.