Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is looking to cut costs by replacing private security guards with its own staff. By halving its current private security staff complement to 2 000, the city could save R168 million a year.
In a report submitted to the city’s municipal public accounts committee, Neil Arendse of safety and security said the annual budget spending on 4 000 security guards to protect council facilities was R265m, which meant the city spent more than R1 billion over a five-year period for private security.
He said city departments had complained of “astronomical fees” being paid for private security guards, many of whom had been caught sleeping on the job.
There were also disruptions when staff went on strike about labour issues with their employees. If these guards left their companies, they would have knowledge of the city’s sites and vulnerabilities.
Some departments felt that contracts, some for as long as three years, made it difficult to replace inefficient service providers.
Utility services spends the most on security, at R52m, with community services spending R45.6m.
Arendse said these and other directorates were overspending on security, and had been for the past three financial years.
The safety and security portfolio committee recommended that the city cut down on security guards by installing more alarms and connecting these to law enforcement response teams.
Arendse called for a full risk assessment of the city’s sites and facilities within the next 12 months to ensure that resources are only deployed where needed.
It was also noted that private security guards could still be used, such as where vacant houses needed to be protected, but that the service providers would have a 50-percent liability if there was any theft or damage.
Cape Times