Introduction
Amendments to the Private Security Industry Regulations, 2002 as published in Government Gazette No 23120 dated 14 February 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”) are published on p966 to p985 of Part 8 of Government Gazette No 43495 dated 3 July 2020. It further also contains amendments to the Code of Conduct for Security Service Providers, 2003 as published in Government Gazette No 24971 dated 28 February 2003 (“the Code of Conduct”).

These amendments were initially published as “drafts” (Afrikaans: “konsepte”) in Government Gazette No 42496 dated 31 May 2019, calling for public comments. It was published under Government Notice 292 of 2019 (amendments to the “2002 Regulations”) and Government Notice 294 of 2019 (amendments to the “Code of Conduct”).

At the time, in this same Government Gazette No 42496 dated 31 May 2019, Government Notice No 293 under the heading Draft Regulations Relating to Working Animals in the Private Security Industry, 2018 was also published. By the way, a “working animal” is defined in regulation 3 of the latter Regulations as “meaning a security dog and a horse”.

Discussion
The amendments in respect of “the Regulations” are, inter alia, about uniforms, insignia and badges (in Afrikaans text: “uniforms, ampstekens en kentekens”) to be worn by security officers who are duly registered in terms of PSIRA.

The regulations are further amended by the insertion of a “new” regulation 13A which provides as follows:

“FIREARMS

13A(1) A security business which renders a security service requiring the possession or use of a firearm, must lawfully provide a suitable firearm for that purpose and may not require or permit a security officer employed by the security business to obtain or provide a firearm for that purpose.

(2) A security officer may, for the purpose of rendering a security service in the course of his or her employment, only possess a firearm lawfully provided by his or her employer…

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[This is an extract of this court case discussed in Servamus: February 2021. If you want to read the rest of this legal discussion, contact Servamus’s offices by sending an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Ed.]