The City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security Portfolio Committee has recommended the approval of a policy for private security staff operating in public spaces.

The Committee developed the policy in response to a legal opinion obtained in 2016 about the City’s potential liability for the actions of private security officers employed by City's Improvement Districts and Special Rating Areas.

The legal opinion determined that the City needs to take reasonable steps to ensure that such private security staff employed by these entities do not cause harm to members of the public.

Following a public participation process as well as formal discussions at the City’s CID forum meetings, the draft policy was amended and green-lighted by the Safety and Security portfolio committee yesterday, with a recommendation that it also be approved by the Mayoral Committee and full Council.

‘The goal of this policy is to achieve effective law enforcement through the optimal deployment of resources, including those from the private sector, and to achieve this without adding additional cost to the general ratepayer as far as possible. The priority must be to create a safe and secure environment, but to ensure that we uphold ethical and accountable policing standards in doing so,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

The policy provides guidance on the level of control and oversight that needs to be exercised by both CIDs/SRAs and the City’s Safety and Security Directorate.

It also stipulates the criteria for private security officers operating in public spaces, including:

- Adherence to the Private Security Regulation Act

- Minimum security qualification requirement

- Reasonable duties that these officers are expected/allowed to carry out in public spaces

- The use of firearms and the criteria to be met in respect of the use of firearms

- Limitations on the powers of private security officers when operating in public spaces

The full policy is available here: https://bit.do/Private_Security_Policy

‘The private security sector has a valuable role to play in ensuring a safer city for all, as they can boost visibility and act as the eyes and ears of those agencies who are mandated to enforce the law. And, while they are regulated by the Private Security Industry Regulator, it became clear that the service providers used by the various City Improvement Districts and Special Rating Areas required another layer of oversight because of the work they do.

‘As the City, we are fairly confident that the roles and responsibilities have been clarified through this policy, with input from a number of stakeholders, and we now await approval from the Mayoral Committee and full Council so that the policy can take effect,’ added Alderman Smith.

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