Roodepoort Police have been sweeping through the parking areas of shopping centres checking for any irregularities in the paperwork of those employed as car guards.
The compliance operations have been conducted by the sector managers in Sectors 1 and 3, Warrant Officers Johan Loots and Donald Niehaus, with the assistance of the station’s Echo Relief team. In the two-month search conducted in February and March, the officers arrested 73 suspects in contravention of two separate sections of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority Act.
The suspects were arrested for contravening section 20(1)(a) of the PSIRA Act 56 of 2001, which states, “No person, except a Security Service contemplated in section 199 of Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), may in any manner render a security service for remuneration, reward, a fee or benefit, unless such a person is registered as a security service provider in terms of this Act’.
Three of those arrested were owners of the security companies who had employed the car guards illegally under section 38(3)(g) of the same act. After further investigations, it was found that 33 of the arrested car guards were undocumented foreign nationals and they have since appeared in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court.
Roodepoort Police station commander Brigadier Sekwakwa commended the members for the work which led to the arrest of the suspects.
“These arrests will assist to bring down crimes such as theft of, theft from and theft out of motor vehicles, as well as property crime in the Roodepoort policing area. Further arrests will continue to be made if it is found that anyone else in the area is contravening the PSIRA Act or any other related acts,” said the Brigadier.
