No more walk-ins at Psira due to coronavirus

People are continuing to flock the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira) offices for registrations and renewals, despite the directive limiting the number of people gathered at a time to less than 100.

In response, the body has resolved to stop walk-ins at their offices and moved their services online effective today, with spokeswoman Siziwe Zuma saying this was a clear message for people not to come to their offices unless they had an appointment.

“The problem is that one could be able to control the number of people inside our offices at a time to comply with the directive but we still have a large number of people gathering outside, which is out of our control,” she said.

She said the most affected offices were those in Gauteng, which accounts for 38% of the 9,709 registered security companies.

Zuma also advised security companies to make use of bulk renewals for their employees instead of individual guards.

In a letter to security companies, Psira boss Manabela Chauke said the steep rise in daily infections called for extraordinary measures and they were conscious of the risk of exposure to staff and customers.

He said their staff were especially at risk of contracting the virus given the extensive amount of face-to-face contact they had with customers and extensive travel on daily basis.

“Given the vulnerability of our health system and economy to the potential impact of Covid-19, Psira will be adjusted and adapted to the situational changes … security companies are strongly encouraged to ensure that their security officers are supplied with [protective gear and sanitisers],” said Chauke.

Psira is the statutory body responsible for the regulation of the private security industry. Last year Police Minister Bheki Cele reportedly put the number of security guards in the country at 193,000.

Wahl Bartmann, chief executive of Fidelity Services Group, with more than 55,000 employees across the country, said they had taken a number of decisive steps to ensure the safety of employees and customers during this challenging time.

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