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Violence and Private Security in South Africa - YouTube
Channel: VICE News
[4]
people were securities is dangerous job
[8]
everyone has his own law to do things
[12]
every time people got knives but firearm
[15]
they got weapons shooting shooting I
[18]
asked my stress the police is for this
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is for this
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[Music]
[30]
fondly known as the tavern by the seas
[33]
Cape Town is South Africa's oldest city
[35]
and the second largest after
[36]
Johannesburg the port capital is
[39]
renowned for its scenic beauty and
[41]
culture but also has a conflicted
[43]
history apartheid South Africa system of
[47]
racial segregation ended 20 years ago
[49]
but inequality and violence continue to
[52]
plague the country last year the South
[56]
African Police announced the country's
[57]
worst crime stats in nearly a decade the
[60]
country averages 45 murders a day two
[64]
times as many as the rest of Africa and
[65]
more than four times the International
[67]
average but Cape Town and it's blooming
[70]
tourism industry show little signs of
[72]
this unrest except for all the electric
[75]
fences private security is a
[77]
billion-dollar industry in South Africa
[79]
a consequence of the country's social
[81]
inequality violent history and inept
[84]
police force to see how the Western Cape
[87]
earned its reputation as the most
[88]
violent province in South Africa we went
[91]
to the communities of kaliesha and
[93]
Mitchell's plane in the Cape Flats where
[95]
two-thirds of Cape Town's murders take
[97]
place we met with Philip a resident of
[100]
kaliesha and security industry employee
[102]
for him safety is a concern both on and
[106]
off the job buy they buy don't know what
[109]
I'm doing
[110]
because they think I'm collecting
[112]
recycling portals because if they can
[114]
know I'm working who they once were
[117]
positive Court will it prove the uniform
[121]
the destination of the portals
[125]
so I don't fossilize with much friends
[129]
they will know my routines they will
[131]
want to know how I'm working you know as
[134]
a security I'm protecting like people
[138]
from subparts people from big towns big
[142]
buildings big businesses you know where
[146]
you see flashy stuff where else you
[148]
coming from very very poor environment
[151]
you know it's big risk
[153]
it's big stress why they do the private
[156]
century in Cape Town is because someone
[159]
is breaking a window of the car or
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someone is trying to break in in some
[163]
way you know Polly see they can afford
[166]
to do that's why they need the private
[168]
security there's a serious lack of
[171]
safety resources in the Cape Flats but
[173]
it's actually home to many guards that
[175]
work in the private security industry
[177]
which is one of the largest entry-level
[179]
employers in the country there's a high
[182]
demand for additional protection in
[183]
these areas but with a third of the
[185]
population unemployed few residents can
[188]
afford private security and even fewer
[190]
companies are willing to work there
[192]
Mitchell's plane a neighboring community
[194]
reports more crime annually than any
[197]
other precinct in South Africa
[198]
especially related to gang violence one
[202]
security company however is up to the
[204]
challenge of working there we went on a
[207]
patrol with a guard from soccerpro an
[209]
armed response company that does its
[211]
best to protect the families that live
[212]
in this crime-ridden area
[216]
this is now a major span which explains
[220]
a very dangerous area you don't go in
[222]
the evident of the necessary tools Sitka
[227]
Pro has been operating in the Mitch's
[229]
plane area for lost 20 years we do
[232]
commercial and residential alarm systems
[235]
of the reaction all of that relationship
[238]
like with families that live in the area
[240]
all we got to protect the families in
[243]
the areas most of our stuff is also
[245]
coming from this area that lives in this
[247]
area works in the area by the end of day
[250]
we all just try to save lives
[255]
so normally groups of people water doing
[259]
R&F in a tester on the right hand side
[265]
of nearby
[318]
see the other came in there that dollar
[321]
she made a leave now it's all for
[323]
fathers it's time for them to come into
[325]
the areas now and again bosses they
[328]
don't tolerate stuff like this they will
[330]
actually walk up to us a lot all of us
[332]
and we'll be standing with nothing to
[335]
better understand the reality Cape Town
[337]
residents are living in we went to speak
[339]
with Dan Plata
[340]
Minister of Community Safety for the
[342]
Western Cape well there's a couple of
[345]
challenges facing the Western Cape with
[347]
regard to safety and security we're
[349]
facing a major drug problem shootings on
[352]
a week to week basis killings of gang
[355]
members we need to get people to do
[357]
something else instead of sitting and
[359]
drinking and taking a sharp object and
[361]
stabbed or someone to death but it is
[363]
not possible for the police to man it's
[367]
in every street in in the captain
[370]
there's not enough police officers
[372]
available to do that but the private
[375]
security companies is playing a major
[377]
role within our communities across the
[379]
Western Cape they fall that gap they
[381]
roam the street when they see crime is
[384]
happening when they detect something is
[387]
not okay and kosher they report to the
[391]
South African Police Services with
[393]
nearly half a million registered private
[395]
security guards and almost 9,000
[398]
companies the private security industry
[400]
in South Africa is larger than the
[402]
country's police and army combined the
[405]
scale of the industry has everything to
[406]
do with the country's past after decades
[409]
of systemic racial oppression South
[411]
Africa held its first democratic
[412]
election in 1994 but it was an unstable
[416]
transition severe racial prejudice
[419]
continued under the black majority the
[422]
new government disbanded the South
[423]
African Defence Force a skilled army but
[426]
also a painful reminder of the forced
[428]
segregation of apartheid this shake-up
[431]
left many white officers without jobs or
[433]
demoted beneath their less experienced
[435]
black counterparts who are elected to
[438]
leadership roles in the government
[440]
army and police force often without
[442]
proper training or experience some of
[445]
these white former officers left the
[447]
government altogether and took their
[449]
skills to the private sector over the
[452]
years this continual shift has left the
[454]
country with an embarrassing police
[456]
force reports of police brutality in
[463]
South Africa have more than tripled in
[464]
the last decade faith in the system is
[467]
severely strained as only one in a
[469]
hundred cases filed against officers
[471]
actually results in criminal conviction
[488]
the South African police declined to
[490]
comment for this story the continued
[493]
public distrust of the police has in
[495]
turn sped the growth of the private
[496]
security sector it is also produced
[499]
companies whose responsibilities go far
[501]
beyond alarm installation to see this
[504]
type of business in action we went to
[506]
bastard alarms a local security provider
[509]
in the northern suburbs of the Western
[510]
Cape all these post offices are always
[513]
the first respondents so even before the
[517]
police or the ambulance arrived in the
[518]
premises we are they first so the armed
[521]
response officer must have the means and
[523]
the qualifications in order to handle
[525]
the emergency if it's a fire it's a
[527]
medical or if it's a positive braking
[530]
they need to have the necessary training
[532]
and skills to handle that if you are on
[534]
this bus officer you must have
[535]
identification
[537]
he's obviously carrying his pepper spray
[539]
his stone farm did you take the baton
[542]
out and it can extends out we see
[547]
ourselves as the last Boy Scouts so we
[550]
help anybody that that lives within our
[553]
operational area even though they're not
[556]
a paying client if you stuck next to the
[559]
road your safety is our concern this is
[561]
our community this is our neighborhood
[563]
so we need to take care of of any
[565]
situation that arises
[568]
bravo Bravo central mafia central to
[571]
survivor November meet each other in a
[574]
chase sometimes the police could be very
[578]
far away from the situation or from the
[580]
location so what we do then is we will
[583]
follow the vehicle to a certain area
[585]
where we are not area bound and then we
[588]
will contact the police saying the last
[590]
location was this way or that way
[592]
but the police are usually always on
[594]
party chase after the vehicle it's the
[600]
area that you're going into is every and
[603]
prostitution drugs why are you yeah I I
[611]
was a gang bang crowd being bankrupt
[614]
yeah did you have a business no I broke
[617]
yeah I do if I may also how did you get
[620]
broken was it the drugs just an action
[623]
with such a high demand and an imbalance
[626]
of skills and resources crime has become
[628]
commodified in South Africa the free
[631]
market for safety clearly benefits the
[633]
wealthiest residents in the country
[635]
where the average white South African
[637]
earned six times what a non-white
[639]
resident earns in certain areas some
[643]
residents are willing to pay multiple
[645]
companies to buy the peace of mind and
[647]
rapid response that the police failed to
[649]
provide 24/7 security monitoring is
[652]
common and entry-level positions are
[654]
often filled by employees like Phillip
[656]
who's all too familiar with signs of
[658]
danger see this
[661]
the panic we I'm scared of those guys I
[665]
don't trust those four guys five guys I
[668]
press there will come quick quick quick
[671]
here so first I must click click to the
[676]
to the point first so now he's going to
[681]
send me to another house to check
[683]
everything to that house that's one
[686]
thing I do is the Machine flat wound
[689]
Patrol and report anything you see a
[691]
report report report so I have to go
[696]
there to my chair there's a Pokemon
[699]
record every patrol I to maybe I made
[703]
them is taking a talk out you know most
[705]
they've gotten a glazed watches earrings
[708]
those boys are coming down from the
[711]
mountain yes everything god yeah that is
[719]
why we here for those things like that
[721]
talking to me in Khayelitsha where you
[723]
live what about private security Oh dad
[726]
dying every day they die because there's
[729]
a big malls they are making safe the
[732]
mall they get shot it's not ideal to
[737]
have people living with barbed wire
[740]
fencing and high walls massive security
[743]
systems it says to me something on the
[746]
safety front is not all together I think
[748]
private security companies will be with
[750]
us for quite a lengthy period of time we
[753]
would love to have such a vibrant South
[756]
African Police Services to fall all the
[760]
gaps and to fulfill all the roles and
[762]
responsibilities but reality is having
[764]
that that we do not have that luxury
[767]
unfortunately but it is not only for the
[770]
government to do it alone but for each
[771]
and every citizen to play his or her
[774]
part and role as well we met with Mark
[778]
Stewart a cape town resident and a
[780]
member of his local neighborhood watch
[782]
or role many civilians have been forced
[784]
to fill having a security company to a
[788]
vacant core is quite expensive you got
[790]
to pay a monthly subscription of about
[792]
three or four hundred and a lot of these
[794]
people they described by you know so
[797]
they depend on the neighborhood watch to
[799]
a certain degree owns beer car
[811]
[Music]
[820]
now what happens is when we see
[823]
something like this we approach the guy
[824]
because obviously we don't see this as a
[827]
major threat and if we suspect something
[830]
then we call it in
[832]
yes mister but Sookie when you community
[836]
of studio pan-african dresses a
[838]
bereavement as a taxpayer I expect the
[842]
police to take this responsibility but I
[845]
know that the resources are limited in
[847]
terms of it as a citizen of the country
[850]
I put it I've taken it upon myself to
[853]
get involved the private security
[855]
industry has its own shortcomings as
[857]
well despite strict regulation the size
[860]
of the market and the public's
[862]
desperation allows for Anette firms to
[864]
provide subpar services for subpar price
[867]
some companies have been accused of poor
[870]
training inadequate vetting superficial
[872]
background checks as well as failing to
[875]
pursue disciplinary action against
[877]
employees who break the law inside jobs
[879]
are often rumored but hard to prove with
[883]
such a demand for services the public is
[885]
left with little options you must
[887]
remember that this is a business first
[889]
and as soon as you start utilizing your
[892]
resources where you don't have an income
[895]
from you are taking away first of all
[898]
the sources from waits needed from
[900]
people at Spade now we're moving it to
[903]
an area where you are needed but nobody
[906]
is paying towards that then studies the
[909]
government's responsibility to make sure
[910]
that law and order are being uphold
[914]
within the country
[917]
as beautiful as it is troubled Capetown
[920]
really is a tale of two cities muggings
[924]
and burglaries continue to be a concern
[926]
but the fortification of wealthy
[928]
neighborhoods has only added to the
[930]
sense of segregation in the country the
[933]
concern for safety among South Africa's
[935]
elite doesn't come close to those living
[938]
in poor underdeveloped communities where
[941]
80% of the crime in the country actually
[943]
occurs Phillip guards a neighborhood
[946]
that saw only four murders last year yet
[949]
he lives in an area whose police
[951]
precinct responded to over a hundred and
[953]
sixty in that same time where he works
[957]
private security companies profit from
[959]
the perceived fear of crime where he
[962]
lives the crime is very real and the
[964]
profits go only to the criminals this is
[968]
my my home this is my small kitchen you
[973]
know when I want to entertain I don't
[976]
have TVs or all my things here on this
[979]
clothes this is what I put on when I'm
[982]
putting my putting my clothes preparing
[984]
to go to work you need safety here you
[987]
can't go without safety my name tags for
[991]
the way four o'clock in the morning my
[995]
train is 20 past four now I have to to
[1000]
breathe in breathe out
[1001]
ring to God and nothing will happen
[1004]
today every day you have to pray there's
[1006]
no day you won't play when you go into
[1008]
it at that time on the mornings
[1010]
finishing praying and then I go
[1014]
[Music]
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