Parliament, Thursday, 21 May 2026 – The Portfolio Committee on Police has expressed serious concern over continued weak governance and accountability failures within the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) following a briefing on the entity’s 2024/25 annual report and related governance matters.
The committee Chairperson, Mr Ian Cameron, said a regulatory body responsible for overseeing the private security industry – a sector that plays a critical role in South Africa’s security architecture – cannot continue to be plagued by governance failures and poor accountability. He highlighted various challenges, including the absence of a duly constituted Council, unresolved material irregularities and a lack of credible consequence management against implicated officials, which undermine the credibility of the entity to implement its mandate, as per the PSIRA Act.
The committee raised concerns that PSIRA continues to operate without a Council, which serves as the entity’s accounting authority. This, the committee warned, creates a serious governance risk because the Chief Executive Officer is currently performing both oversight and management responsibilities.
“Without a duly constituted Council, the fiduciary responsibilities that must be exercised by the Council are neglected. This is a grave governance gap as the executive cannot effectively become the oversight authority over itself, especially in an entity already dealing with unresolved material irregularities, delayed consequence management and serious internal control failures,” Mr Cameron emphasised.
While the committee acknowledged assurances from the Ministry of Police that a process to appoint a Council is underway, it stressed that the continued delays are unacceptable and expose the entity to ongoing governance instability.
The committee also voiced frustration over the slow pace of consequence management linked to alleged irregularities and possible fraud involving the Unemployment Insurance Fund training programme. Members noted that the matter has been ongoing since April 2019, yet no meaningful disciplinary or recovery action has been implemented.
In June 2025, the committee raised alarm after it emerged that PSiRA and the UIF authorised an advance payment of more than R30 million to a service provider before any services were rendered. The committee said this contravened Treasury Regulation 31.1.2(c) and section 57(b) of the Public Finance Management Act, reflecting poor financial management and disregard for public funds.
The committee further criticised the slow verification process regarding whether service providers delivered on the programme, noting that no recovery of funds has yet been instituted. Mr Cameron said the handling of the matter undermines the entity’s reported achievement of meeting 100% of its annual performance targets.
The committee believes the entity’s governance shortcomings and weak accountability measures contributed to its qualified audit opinion. It has therefore called for an urgent remedial plan, including the speedy appointment of a Council and decisive consequence management against officials responsible for misconduct.
Despite these concerns, the committee welcomed the achievement of all planned annual targets. However, it stressed that vacancies within the law enforcement component of the entity remain unacceptable, particularly as the country faces growing numbers of rogue private security companies and increased proliferation of firearms within the industry.
Mr Cameron concluded that while plans to address the shortcomings are welcome, implementation, not promises, will determine whether confidence in the entity can be restored.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON POLICE, MR IAN CAMERON.
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