Securing Johannesburg
It’s four a.m., but Phillip Musekene Nare is awake, fueled by endless cups of tea and sheer will. In the dark hours of night, he regularly walks the perimeter of an office building in Auckland Park, a business district just a few kilometers north of Johannesburg’s city centre. In between patrols during his 12-hour shift, he returns to a modest room at the car park’s entrance and opens the latest book from his stack of fast-paced Western novels.
“I like action, mostly. But it’s very hard to stay awake,” Nare said. “Sometimes you notice you’ve been reading the same page for 30 minutes.”
284,000 private security guards
Nare is just one of an estimated 284,000 guards working in the private security industry nationwide. During the later years of apartheid, the former South African Police was largely focused on securing political control. A number of private security businesses stepped in to fill the gap – creating a proliferation of firms and hundreds of thousands of new security jobs. There are currently 4,200 security firms registered with South Africa’s Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA).
Demand fueled the industry, creating more than four private security guards for every uniformed member of the South African Police Service engaged in visible policing work, according to a 1999 report by the Institute for Security Studies. That year alone, South African businesses and individuals spent more than R10 billion in private security, the report said. The Security Industry Alliance, a trade organization, estimates the overall industry – including commercial, industrial and domestic security – to be worth R40 billion annually.
Seeking a job in Jo’burg
Nare was raised in Makhado, a hot and dusty town formerly known as Louis Trichardt in Limpopo province. He completed Standard 8, but left school the following year because he didn’t want to burden his mother with school fees. In 1997, he came to Johannesburg.
“Where I stayed, it’s a rural place,” he said. “There is nothing to do for work there, so the best thing to do is to go to Jo’burg and find a job.”
At first, the 21-year-old Nare found work as an assistant to a car mechanic, where he gained valuable mechanical skills. But as time went on, he found himself doing more and more of his boss’s work, without additional pay. He was earning just a few hundred rand a month, not even enough to cover his transport costs.
Security guard training
Nare had a friend in Johannesburg who spoke his home language of Venda. He worked as a security guard, and suggested that Nare take a training course for basic qualifications. Nare found a training school that offered week-long courses for qualification in the five recognized levels of security guard training – from Level E, the most basic, to Level A, the most advanced.
While working for the mechanic, Nare completed three weeks of training for about R350 and earned his Level C qualification. After that, he began looking for a job in the sector. But even with his training, it took three months to secure his first interview.
“It’s not easy if it’s your first time in this business, but I succeeded,” he said. “I was desperate and I couldn’t lose this chance.”
Returning to Makhado
Nare started working as a security guard in 1999, earning roughly R1,600 a month – much more than he had earned as a mechanic. He was dong well enough that after two years, he decided to save a bit of money and return to Makhado in order to open his own tuck shop, or convenience store. He enjoyed the autonomy of working for himself, selling essential goods such as paraffin and firewood to neighbors in his community. But the profit margin was low, and so was his take home pay.
“I found that it wasn’t enough,” he said. “I couldn’t live on what I was earning there.”
Back in security work in Jo’burg
Nare returned to Johannesburg in December 2003, and found another position in the security industry. As is common in most security work, Nare usually works alternating 12-hour shifts, either from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Hard work just to make ends meet
For daytime shifts, Nare’s day begins at 4:30 a.m., when he leaves his house in Doornfontein, an inner-city suburb of Johannesburg. He takes a public taxi north of the city centre, and then another to get within walking distance of his building. Even though he works hard, basic costs such as transport still eat away at his earnings.
“Most people look at us with our white shirts and ties and think we make a lot of money, but really it’s just making a living, to make ends meet,” he said. “Many of us get the lowest salary and do the dirtiest jobs.”
Little job security
It’s also a position with little job security. Nare said he has already worked for five companies in the few years he’s been in the business. That’s because security companies often supply their services to particular clients, such as buildings or businesses, on a contractual basis.
“The problem is that you work on contract, so if a contract is terminated and they can’t replace you, then you may be out of a job,” Nare said.
There are also few social and health benefits in the business. Many security guards don’t receive a provident fund, medical aid, and must navigate inflexible sick leave and holiday leave plans.
“If you’re sick, you’re okay as long as you bring a doctor’s note. Otherwise, you’re going to be charged [financially],” Nare said. “But sometimes you cannot afford to go to the doctor.”
Much competition
But there is often so much competition for these jobs that many guards are extraordinarily reliable, and even wages of R1,600 a month is more than some guards earn. Regulations about the industry are codified in South Africa by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Act number 56 of 2001. But many new companies are competing in the national market by undercutting wages standards, said Tamsin Badenhorst, national secretariat with the South African National Security Employers’ Association (SANSEA).
“There are some horrific wages being paid out there,” said “But sometimes there are guys out there who would rather do the job for R700 a month than have no job at all.”
Up for a new challenge
The future may hold new opportunities for Nare. He said he’d like to find a job with more autonomy. He enjoyed working as a mechanic, and would like to go back to school to get what he calls a “proper education” for this career. But he could also see himself staying in the security business – perhaps as a guard with a private armed-response firm. Even though the job would be risky, the fan of sharp-shooting Western novels said he’s up for the challenge.
“You have to use your head; you have to think for yourself,” he said. “It’s risky, but at the end of the day, everything’s risky.”
Text and photo: Gretchen L. Wilson, October 2005
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All reporting by Gretchen L. Wilson, © 2005
