Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority Strategic and Annual Performance Plans

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Police

24 April 2015
Chairperson: Mr F Beukman (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Private Security Industry Regulation Authority (PSIRA) said the achievement of the following goals was important in the next five years: excellent service delivery and financial management; industry stewardship, stakeholder and customer relationship management; an enabling environment with a competent and skilled workforce; and efficient and effective processes and systems. In order to improve service delivery, PSIRA was undertaking joint operations with the police and other law enforcement agents in sectors such as hospitality, residential, health and recreation. Some of its strategic objectives were:

  • Good governance and a sound financial control environment;
  • Effective and reliable IT systems in place;
  • A competent, ethical and skilled workforce;
  • Effective regulation of industry; and
  • Enforcement of minimum standards of occupational conduct in respect of security service providers.
  • Promotion of awareness among the public and the private industry on the functions and role of PSIRA in the industry;

It has three programmes -- administration, law enforcement; and communications registration and training -- with a budget of R82.4 million, R73.1 million and R44.2 million respectively for the 2015/16 financial year.

Member asked what PSIRA was going to do when its head office lease expired in July 2016, and whether it has any plans to build its own head office. They asked what role the private security industry could play in helping to neutralise crime in poor communities, despite the prevalence of private security in middle to upper income homes. They also wanted to know about the response from the private sector on the regulation fees had been submitted for public comment.

PSIRA said it had told private security businesses to find ways of becoming accessible to the poor, not just the elite. PSIRA would make a presentation to the Committee on whether to extend its head office lease or get its own building. The Treasury feasibility study was still in draft form and PSIRA had told it that it did not have the funds to build its own head office, so the likelihood was that the lease would be extended by two years.

PSIRA had done workshops on regulation fees in all nine provinces, but Free State and Northern Cape had registered a low turnout. It had been taken to court previously because the registration fees had not taken into account smaller businesses, but this time the registration fees had divided into small, large and emerging companies. Large security companies were happy, but the small ones were complaining, especially those with fewer members. There were around 8 100 security companies, with smaller businesses paying R5 000 up front, emerging R14 000, medium R22 000, and large R31 000. Feedback received so far was good, except for locksmiths and key cutters, which were one-man businesses. 

Meeting report

Private Security Industry Regulation Authority (PSIRA) Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan

Mr Manabela Chauke, Director, PSIRA, said the achievement of the following goals was important in the next five years: excellent service delivery and financial management; industry stewardship, stakeholder and customer relationship management; an enabling environment with a competent and skilled workforce; and efficient and effective processes and systems.

In order to improve service delivery, PSIRA was undertaking joint operations with the police and other law enforcement agents in sectors such as hospitality, residential, health and recreation. The Authority had identified the following as its strategic objectives

  • Good governance and a sound financial control environment;
  • Effective and reliable IT systems in place;
  • A competent, ethical and skilled workforce;
  • Effective regulation of industry ;
  • Enforcement of minimum standards of occupational conduct in respect of security service providers;
  • Promotion of awareness among the public and the private industry on the functions and role of PSIRA in the industry;
  • Promotion of the protection and enforcement of the rights of security officers and other employees in the private security industry ;
  • Promotion of the interests of the consumers of private security services;
  • Ensuring registration was transparent and timeous;
  • Promotion of high standards in the training of security service providers and prospective security service providers; and
  • Ensuring that PSIRA was a centre of excellence in private security research.

The Authority had three programmes -- administration, law enforcement, and communications registration and training, with a budget of R82.4 million, R73.1 million and R44.2 million respectively for the 2015/16 financial year.

Discussion

Ms M Molebatsi (ANC) asked if PSIRA intended to extend the training hours for security guards. PSIRA’s head office lease expired in July 2016 – were there any plans to extend the lease, or was it building its own head office. She asked if PSIRA had developed a council charter.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) said the Institute of Security Studies contended that 60% of aggravated robberies were in poor communities. These were opportunistic crimes that could be dealt with. He asked what role the private security industry could play to address this problem, despite the prevalence of private security in middle to upper income homes. He asked what PSIRA was doing to ensure that private security was accessible to the needs of poor communities.

Ms D Kohler Barnard (DA) asked if PSIRA was aware when the President was going to sign the bill.

Mr Chauke said that PSIRA had developed a governance charter which also included aspects of the council, and that was awaiting approval from the council. It was looking for a service provider to advise on how the council would evaluate itself and once approved, the charter would be submitted to the Committee

Ms Mpho Mofikoe, Deputy Director Communication and Training, PSIRA, said that it had reviewed the duration of training of security officers so as not to compromise on quality, by extending it a bit. The response from the industry had been positive, but the learners themselves were complaining that they were now spending more time in training. The question had always been how private security could be made accessible to the poor. It had told the private security business to find ways of becoming accessible to the poor, not just the elite. It had been doing workshops to transfer skills so as to empower the private security with knowledge from a compliance perspective.

Mr Chauke said that PSIRA would present to the Committee its plans on whether to extend to the lease or get its own building. The Treasury feasibility study on whether PSIRA had its own building was still in draft form. The likelihood was that the lease would be extended by two years. PSIRA had told Treasury that it did not have the money to build its own building and was waiting for the Minister to provide direction on how to proceed. The bill was sitting in the Presidency, and that was all the knowledge it had.

Ms Molebatsi asked how much the lease per annum was, and was told it was R10 million.

The Chairperson said that in programme three, there were targets which had jumped by 166 percent or more, and asked what the main driver of this had been.

Ms Molebatsi asked if PSIRA had finalised its firearm registry, and if reporting which was not in line with Treasury guidelines had been addressed.

Ms Kohler Banard said there had been a drop of R8.8 million in the administration budget and asked how this would impact on administration. The consultancy budget was huge, and she asked if the work could be done internally.

Mr Mbele said that the regulation fees had been passed for public comment, and asked what the response from the private sector had been.

The Chairperson said that in its previous annual performance plans (APPs), PSIRA used to give a breakdown of revenue estimates, and he asked why it had not been done this time. Was the IT budget a once-off budget or over the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF), and would there be a transfer of skills from the service provider?

Mr L Ramatlakane (ANC) said there was growth in the private security industry in the country, but PSIRA still had small capacity for the country to be able to neutralize crime resulting from the mushrooming of security companies, some of which were unregistered. Vetting and training of all security officers must take place. He asked if there was any comprehensive package to addresses these challenges. He asked how the targets of 15% were per quarter had been developed.

Mr Raymond Kevan, Deputy Director: Finance and Administration, PSIRA, replied that there was a provision for bad debt write offs. The detailed summary of revenue estimates breakdown was on page 13 of the submitted APP. Consultancy fees for IT were of a short-term nature -- this was effective, as the skills were not in-house, and were needed only for a short time.

Ms Mafikoe said that law enforcement and communication and training served the core mandate of the Authority. Training and regulation fell under programme three, hence the increase in targets on programme three.

Mr Chauke said that changes had been prompted by Treasury guidelines. There used to be a programme four -- research and communication used to be a separate programme, but now fell under programme three. PSIRA had done workshops on registration fees in all nine provinces, but Free State and Northern Cape had registered a low turnout. It had had consultations with the major stakeholders in the security industry, in particular the Security Industry Alliance, which was a Cosatu-like security representative. It had been taken to court previously because the registration fees had not taken into account the smaller businesses, but this time the registration fees had been divided into small, large and emerging companies. Large security companies were happy, but the small ones were complaining, especially those with few members. There were around 8 100 security companies, with smaller businesses paying R5 000 up front, emerging R14 000, medium R22 000, and large R31 000.. Feedback received so far was good, except for locksmiths and key cutters, which were one-man businesses.

Mr Mbhele asked if PSIRA took into consideration personnel employed versus revenue generated or turnover, in categorising companies.

Mr Chauke replied that it did not take this into consideration because it did not have their financial statements.

Advocate Philani Mthethwa, Deputy Director: Law Enforcement, PSIRA, described the targets for investigations, and said complaints against companies and random inspections also were conducted. Some of the non-compliant companies were discovered, for instance, through finding a person whose name was not linked to the company he worked for. The 15% target was a target for a sector, because it had been receiving complaints from those sectors. It would sign a MOU with the police on firearms, but already had a working agreement with the police should companies go out of business while they still had firearms registered, as well as registering new companies to expand inspections.

Mr Chauke said that it had presented a project plan to council to overhaul the IT system on business reengineering, software installations and correct billing in three years. It intended to have penalty clauses for whichever software provider it signed an agreement with.

The Chairperson asked if the R18 million was a once-off payment for installations.

Mr Chauke replied that it was for procurement licensing and support.

The Chairperson said PSIRA had to provide an assurance to the Committee that it had adequate internal auditing to monitor its targets and ensure that spending was within limits, especially where there were big jumps in targets. He asked what PSIRA was going to do with the surplus, and the problem of over-billing.

Mr Chauke replied that he would provide the Committee with a breakdown of the jumps in targets. PSIRA had adequate internal audit capacity and he would ensure that spending was within limits.

Advocate Nontokozo Mthembu, Council Member, PSIRA, said that it had a newly constituted internal audit committee with experience, and the council would like to give its full assurance to the Committee that there would be no deviations.

Mr Kevan said that over-billing created a problem and impacted on the surplus. Going forward, it was going to increase rates at a rate that exceeded its growth. Other expenditure was on printing and advertising, which had been reduced by R12 million.

Mr Mbhele said the staff complement would increase from 224 to 266, with most of them from level one to six. He asked if the increase was for law enforcement, or for awareness.

Ms Molebatsi said PSIRA used to have a problem of funds deposited into its account which were not traceable, and asked if the problem still existed. She asked for the number of inspectors to be appointed in 2015.

The Chairperson asked if PSIRA vetted its staff, whether it had specific trainers for training and the implications of the IT budget over the MTEF.

Mr Chauke replied that unknown fees were a problem, due to the nature of the industry, and the fees it had were controllable.

Mr Kevan said PSIRA would attract competent people to assist with the new IT business system going forward. The bulk of the IT budget was R18 million for this year, reducing to R10 million and R7 million in the next two financial years.

Mr Chauke said that it has applied for the vetting of senior managers, with most having positive outcomes. Some vetting was outstanding for inspectors.

The Chairperson asked how far PSIRA had progressed in recruiting a chief financial officer, and he wanted to know its recruitment plans for the next years to police the growing security industry.

Ms Molebatsi asked where the public awareness campaigns were carried out. She had never seen a PSIRA flyer, even though she stays next to its headquarters.

Mr Chauke said the chief financial officer position had been advertised in the Sunday Times and the current CFO contract had been extended for six months. It was inspecting nearly half of the companies per year, but it was lacking in security guards. It was going on an awareness campaign so that whoever failed to comply after awareness faced prosecution. Of the 21 positions added, 15 were in law enforcement.

Ms Mofikoe said that extensive campaigns had been done to promote PSIRA in the Daily Sun and the Sowetan, with other programmes on many radio stations. It was also working with the ministry on public awareness.

The Chairperson asked who was going to fund the pan-African conference.

Ms Mofikoe replied that it would come from sponsorships.

The Chairperson welcomed the appointment of the chairperson, the advertisement of the CFO position, development of a governance charter and the inclusion of sub-programmes in programme two. PSIRA must be visible in every province in the country.

The meeting was adjourned. 

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