Defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula decried inaction by private security companies, whom she described as well-armed and well-organised and, in the main, responsible for securing private properties and businesses.
TimesLIVE has heard an audio clip where Mapisa-Nqakula told the ANC's national executive committee meeting on Monday: “As we are talking now there has been a lot of looting of shopping malls. There [are] a lot of shopping malls which have been burnt down ... and it has been happening in the presence of private security in those areas.”
“They are not stopping people from looting businesses. I am just raising that because it is a source of concern and we will have to deal with it,” she said. Police minister Bheki Cele added that the CEO of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority was also looking at the whereabouts of the private security companies that are normally on the ground — “because everyone sees only the police there”.
She said the decision to deploy the army was informed by an assessment by the police themselves, who said they need the support of the army. As such, she and Cele wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa to confirm the deployment of the defence force.
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