Munya Vomo
HOW MUCH would you pay for a little peace of mind? To know that you can go to sleep at night without a worry in the world because some crime crusaders are watching your property?
No, we are not talking about the likes of Batman or Superman, but close. Coming to Fox Crime is Night Guard, a reality show that provides an insight into the dangerous world of the security personnel of the Night Guard Security company.
We’ve all seen the various security companies that patrol our neighbourhoods, but few of us know of their work behind the scenes. That’s what Night Guard is all about. We will follow three brothers, Emile (Moolie), JP and Zane Eblen, who have taken over their father’s security business. On completing their school, joining the company was a no-brainer.
“Our father grew us into the business from an early age and we have been working well together as a family,” said JP, who is the eldest of the brothers.
The trio saw no other future for themselves because their father had enticed them into the world of protecting their community.
“What’s funny is that even when we were small, before dinner Dad would have us do push ups and compete against each other,” said Zain, born after JP. They are obviously close because their brotherhood is clearly evident. They are always joking with each other, but when it comes to the important stuff, which includes the daily running of Night Guard Securities, these men mean business.
“The main reason we all did it was because it gave us satisfaction to know that we are helping people. Of course, there is some money in it, but we are more interested in getting out there and saving people from sticky criminal situations,” said Moolie, who is the youngest of the group. The siblings’ passion to fight crime shows through in their daily involvement of being out in the field as opposed to operating from an office.
“We have over 400 staff members, but on a daily basis we also go out there and face danger just to make sure our clients and their property is safe,” said JP.
The security services of Night Guard cover anything from petty crimes to high profile offences. Working closely with the police, these men have the right set of skills and weapons to equip themselves to deal with any situation. As we were doing the interviews, the trio were wearing their combat gear and were all strapped with guns.
The director of the show, Damien Brown, said he was more than happy to work with the Eblen brothers because of their incredible reputation and work ethic.
“I knew of the company before as they are well known in several places throughout Joburg. The other intriguing thing was that this is a family business and we see these siblings take over what their father built. That’s something which I think people will enjoy seeing,” he said.
While Fox Crime usually syndicates international content, Brown pointed out that the channel was open to the idea of having local content tailor-made for its African consumers.
“Fox Crime has given us the opportunity to produce a few shows for the local market. With Night Guard we will give about 70 percent action and 30 percent reality. What you see is real and dangerous, so much so that we have had our crew members take out higher insurance policies,” explained Brown.
Night Guard airs from July 15 at 8pm on Fox Crime (DStv channel 124).