Involvement of criminal actors in the private security industry raises questions about industries’ management of firearms.

Whether for good reasons or bad, many South Africans have been thrust into public prominence by appearing before the Madlanga Commission or Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee inquiries into political interference, and crime and corruption in the police and criminal justice system. Perhaps the most infamous of these is tender tycoon and criminal suspect Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala.

Given the abundant evidence of his alleged criminal involvement, it is disturbing to know that Matlala owns a private security company. CAT VIP Protection (or CAT Protection and Security (Pty) Ltd) was registered by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) in 2017.

Before the Madlanga and Ad Hoc Committee hearings, Matlala had already received publicity for an allegedly corrupt relationship with now criminally charged suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi. (Not to be confused with Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, whose public revelations sparked the Madlanga and parliamentary inquiries.) This enabled Matlala to fit police blue lights to his security company’s vehicles.

In October 2025, more than two years after Matlala's irregular relationship with the EMPD first came to light, PSIRA announced a legal review of his company's registration. The outcome has not yet been announced.

Though convicted only once, in 2001, Matlala has been arrested and prosecuted more than a dozen times on serious charges including aggravated robbery. He is now on trial for procurement fraud as well as for three cases of attempted murder. Since his arrest in May 2025, he has been denied bail and remains in custody.

Evidence of his communications with his business partner Mike van Wyk suggests Matlala was involved in dealing cocaine. Van Wyk also owns a private security company, Anubis Protection Services.

Madlanga Commission evidence indicates that a remarkable number of senior police, officers and political figures were indebted to Matlala after receiving money or gifts from him. Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the commission had recommended criminal and disciplinary steps against the most senior of these police officers, suspended SAPS deputy national commissioner Shadrack Sibiya.

That Matlala owns a private security company should not surprise us. Operators in the organised crime environment sometimes acquire such companies. They may establish them to diversify their ‘business interests’ and project themselves as upright and legitimate business owners.

Or they may establish private security companies to enable them to exploit criminal opportunities available in the industry. This could include positioning themselves to take advantage of corrupt security procurement opportunities, or protect themselves against or intimidate rival business owners (notably in the taxi industry). It could also be to coerce potential clients to procure their services (‘protection rackets’). As partners of corrupt police, they may wish to exploit criminal opportunities within law enforcement.

Criminal figures also use private security companies to access legal firearms. In her 2019 book on organised crime-run nightclub ‘bouncer’ services in Cape Town, journalist Caryn Dolley says many sources told her private security businesses were sometimes set up to access firearms ‘for nefarious means under a legitimate guise.’

The Political Killings Task Team has linked private security firearms to some of the crimes it has investigated. Such firearms are also alleged to serve as instruments of intimidation and violence in the taxi industry. Security companies were reportedly the source of some of the weapons used in vigilante killings and other violence during the July 2021 unrest.

The fact that some alleged criminals with interests in the security industry are accused of crimes, including targeted assassinations, attempted murder, extortion, kidnapping and drug dealing should raise serious concern about the provision of firearms to their companies. Firearms linked to crimes for which Matlala has been charged have also been linked to various murders reportedly authorised by another alleged criminal figure, KT Molefe.

Figures provided by then police minister Senzo Mchunu in 2024 were that 138 firearms were reported lost by or stolen from security companies every month. Roughly 55 firearms were lost or stolen from the SAPS each month over the same period. Licensed firearms may also be used for illegal purposes by criminally oriented security companies.

A specific concern is the number of security companies – some owned by taxi bosses – holding automatic firearms. During raids at Matlala’s home and the premises of CAT VIP Protection in December 2024, the SAPS seized numerous firearms, including two R5 rifles.

The private security industry has been expanding at a dramatic rate. More than 7 000 new companies have been registered since 2020. Exploiting the criminal opportunities the industry offers may be one driver of this rapid growth.

There is a clear need for higher standards in both the regulation of private security companies and their access to firearms.

This requires completing the digitisation of the Central Firearms Registry and other measures to strengthen its effectiveness. It also requires improving the integrity and capacity of the criminal justice system, and of PSIRA itself, so that criminal involvement in private security companies can be identified and exposed more effectively.

Written by David Bruce, Independent Researcher and ISS Consultant