South Africa’s private security industry is vast – over 17 532 companies employing over 640 232 security officers. Each year, government and corporate buyers spend billions on security services, how those contracts are awarded matters profoundly.

Fair and transparent tendering means better services and more jobs; unfair practices mean lost opportunities, wasted taxpayers’ money, and exploitation of security workers. Our constitution explicitly requires procurement to be “fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective.”

In practice, TAPSOSA and media reports have uncovered troubling patterns. Powerful firms often win contracts through internal deals or technicalities, pushing qualified smaller companies aside. In one case, TAPSOSA documented how new, black-owned security companies won public tenders but then faced costly lawsuits – a tactic that effectively stole their business.