SONA RESPONSE
In his 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa
announced the deployment of the South African National Defence Force to support
the police in Gauteng and the Western Cape in combating organised crime, gang
violence and illegal mining. The move signals that government recognises the
scale and seriousness of the threat syndicates now pose to economic stability.
It is a strong political statement. But it also underscores something
more fundamental: organised crime has reached a level where military support
is required in major commercial provinces.
When viewed alongside the Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA) report on
southern Africa’s security environment (Trouble on the Horizon, February 2026),
the picture becomes clearer. The strategic intelligence report details systemic
strain within the region’s enforcement institutions, including funding and
readiness constraints within the SANDF, reduced patrol capacity in key domains,
and growing transnational criminal networks that operate across borders and
maritime routes.
The issue is not intent. It is capacity versus
demand. SAPS and
the SANDF are being called upon to address increasingly complex threats, from
illegal mining syndicates to cross-border smuggling corridors stretching from
the Indian Ocean through Zimbabwe into Limpopo and onward to Gauteng. The
risk environment is evolving faster than state capability can be rebuilt.
For South African business, this creates a hard reality. Waiting for
state intervention is not a strategy. Government deployments are reactive,
geographically limited and often temporary. Commercial operations, by contrast,
require persistent protection.
Adriaan Otto, Managing Director of Excellerate Services, puts it
plainly: “In South Africa, the private security industry plays a critical role
in holding the thin blue line. In many environments, we are the constant
presence. We are the ones on the perimeter at 2am, the first on scene when
something goes wrong, and often the layer that prevents disruption from
becoming loss.
At Excellerate, we understand that our responsibility goes beyond
site-based guarding. The risk landscape is shifting. Cross-border syndicates
are more organised, more mobile and better connected than before. That means we
have to invest not only in boots on the ground, but in intelligence capability,
stronger vetting, and tactical response resources that allow us to anticipate
and disrupt threats before they reach our clients’ operations.
Security is not the place to chase the lowest price. Professional
security is built on proper screening, fair remuneration, supervision,
technology support and accountability. If a provider is cutting costs by underpaying
officers or employing people illegally, that is not a saving. It is a
vulnerability. Organised crime looks for weak entry points. Underpaid
and poorly vetted personnel are among the easiest to exploit. Cutting corners
in this space may reduce short-term costs, but it increases long-term exposure.
My message to business leaders is simple: review your security
partnerships with the same rigour you apply to your financial audits. Ask who
is on your site, how they are vetted, how they are paid and how they are
supported. The cost of getting this wrong is far greater than the cost of doing
it properly.”
In this
environment, proactive, legally compliant security is no longer optional, it’s
responsible corporate risk management.”
