News & Events

PSIRA / SASSETA New training regulations

A circular from the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, dated 13 January, states:

With reference to the memorandum of understanding signed between the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA) and the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) as well as the draft regulations published in respect of the NQF based skills programmes, please be advised that the Authority is still accepting both the Grade courses as contemplated in the Training of Security Officer Regulations, 1992 as well as the corresponding NQF based programmes for purposes of registration.

The draft training regulations has not been promulgated yet in view of a number of challenges which includes, inter alia, the following:

• Capacity in the training sector to present the new skills programmes for all the categories or classes of security service providers in the different industries; and
• Costs of new programmes in relation to the grade courses.

The Authority is currently liaising with the State Law Advisors on the draft regulations and is hoping to see the promulgation thereof early in the new year.

All security training providers who are therefore currently registered and accredited with PSIRA and offering the grades and other training (Grade “E” to “A” and specialised training) as well as future training providers are therefore requested that they must, as a matter of urgency, apply to SASSETA to be an accredited training provider in order to present the skills programmes based on unit standards registered on the National Qualification Framework.

Training centres who are not accredited with SASSETA to present the new skills programmes once the existing training programmes are withdrawn, will not be able to provide any recognised training.

For any issues of clarity, kindly contact the office of SASSETA or PSIRA:

Homeland Security is a dedicated exhibition which forms part of South Africa’s most renowned security and fire expo – IFSEC South Africa.

Aimed at delegates representing various government departments in Africa, Homeland Security and Safety Africa provides companies with an unrivalled route to market equipment, products and services to those decision-makers directly responsible for purchases that impinge on a country’s national safety, security and infrastructure.

Homeland Security Africa 2012 includes a dedicated exhibition area and a world-class conference featuring respected local and international speakers, including Tarique Ghaffur – Former Deputy Commissioner in London’s Metropolitan Police; Special Agent Willie Rattingher (FBI) – Counter intelligence talk and Lessons learnt in 9/11; John Greyvenstein – International K9 expert (Sniffer dogs, drug detection etc.); Annelie Botha – Piracy expert (The African seaways are riddled with Pirates and this is a serious issue).

• Why exhibit at Homeland?
  Meet your market face-to-face
• Generate high-quality sales leads
• Build relationships with existing customers
• Demonstrate products/services
• Educate the customer market
• Build brand awareness Launch new products/services
• Position your company as a market leader
• Identify & recruit new distributors or partners
• Gather competitive intelligence
• Network with industry peers

Download brochure for more information.

IFSEC West Africa 2012

Nigeria is the economic power house of West Africa and has one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Likewise it has an ever growing security industry. It is expected by 2025 that the population of Nigeria will exceed 200 million.

The second IFSEC West Africa will take place 6 to 7th March 2012. Terry Scallan of the SA Institute of Security will be attending and in conjunction with the Exhibition organisers, will be able to introduce attendees to senior government officials, Military and Police officers as well as private security company executives and customs/immigration officials. Anyone wishing to exhibit will also receive a 5% discount from the organisers.

The SA Institute of Security has put a package together which includes flights, accommodation and breakfast as well as safe and secure escorted transport to and from the airport to the hotel. Accommodation is in the prestigious EKO Hotel on Victoria Island, Lagos where the exhibition is also being hosted.

Errol Peace, Chairman of SAIS and Terry Scallan, former Chairman of SAIS will both be on hand to act as a 'tour guide' and offer any assistance you may require.

Flights on South African Airways
DEPART: OR TAMBO – 14.15 Monday 5th March arriving Lagos at 19.25
RETURN: LAGOS – 22.15 Wednesday 7th March arriving OR Tambo at 05.15.

Total cost per person: R10 650 (Please note this does not include your VISA which you are personally responsible for) IMPORTANT: A deposit of R7 000 is required to be deposited in the SAIS account BEFORE 9TH JANUARY 2012 to guarantee this cost, and confirmation will be made upon receipt of payment.

Costs include:

• Return economy class airfare from Johannesburg
• Secure and Safe transport between the airport and the hotel
• 2 nights accommodation
• Breakfast
• Entry into the Exhibition

Costs exclude:

• Meals ~ other than breakfast
• Items of a personal nature
• Conferences at the Exhibition – these must be booked and paid for separately and are not part of this package.

If you would like to participate, please download the booking form and return it to Terry Scallan, email tscallan@vodamail.co.za together with proof of payment.

33rd Annual General Meeting took place on Friday 26 August 2011

Members and the Board of Governors gathered for the SA Institute of Security AGM last Friday.

Five new governors were appointed, and five were re-appointed, including Mr Errol Peace who continues as Chairman. John Kole is Vice Chairman. Click here for full list of the Board of Governors.

Minutes of the meeting

Going 'green' for next year's Black Tie Bash

St Patrick's Day – 17 March – is the date for our 2012 Black Tie Bash, and it's shaping up to be another memorable event with everyone's favourite MC, Francois Marais, and the band, Havanna Gas, to ensure we keep dancing til dawn!

The venue is the Injabulo Room at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways and tickets are just R500 per person or R4 500 for a table of ten. The hotel is offering special bed and breakfast rates for those wanting to stay over rather than driving home afterwards.

We have kept our prices the same as for last year in light of the current economic climate so hope this will encourage you to book for what has proven to be one of the most enjoyable highlights in the security calendar.
 
As usual, sponsorship opportunities are available and once again, we have to thank Risk Diversion for sponsoring the tickets for the umpteenth time. However, we would still like sponsors for the following: welcome drinks, sparkling wines, red wines, white wines, table decorations (feel free to let your imagination run riot), spot prizes and lucky draw prizes.

And this year – a new sponsorship opportunity in celebration of St Patrick’s Day – Green Bow Ties for the men and green scarves for women.  If your corporate colours are green – how pertinent would that be?

Once again, we urge you to book early to avoid disappointment - as this is a popular event.

IFSEC 2012: plan now to be there

It seemed like we were hardly back from our successful trip to the IFSEC exhibition in Birmingham this year, than it was time to start planning for 2012!

Unfortunately we were not able to keep the price the same, owing to increases in airfares. However, costs have been kept to the minimum and the trip is still great value for money.

What you get

• Return economy class airfare from Johannesburg on Virgin Air
• Return private luxury coach travel to Birmingham
• 5 nights accommodation (single or double) at Premier Travel Inn (Canal Side))
• Room taxes
• Basic travel insurance
• Full 'as much as you can eat' Breakfast
• Entry into the Exhibition itself with prior registration (Rosemary will do the registrations for you – a saving of some £25)
• IFSEC Catalogue (normal price +£20)
• Visit to the London Dungeon

All for R21 500 (single) or R19 500 (double/sharing). Costs exclude meals (other than breakfast) items of a personal nature, conferences at the Exhibition – these must be booked and paid for separately and are not part of this package.

These prices are for the first 15 people only - so if you want to join the trip, please book early by downloading the booking form and returning to Rosemary.

IFSEC 2011: What an experience!

Once again, this year's trip to the UK for the IFSEC exhibition in Birmingham proved a great success. We again shared a stand with Security Focus and this year - rather than the Vuvuzela – we decided to give away a 'South African Harley' each day, and these highly desirable 'objects d'art' proved very popular!

The group enjoyed a comfortable stay at the Premier Inn, and a South African evening at Jimmy's Spices, where the manager – who has looked after us so well for the past couple of years – was presented with a bead and wire elephant.

On our final day, we travelled to Heathrow by coach and after checking in early with Virgin, the group braved that London transport phenomenon, the Tube, back to Waterloo Station for a trip on the London Eye. The views across London were spectacular, and followed by a 4-D viewing which can only be described as an experience never to be forgotten.

Click here for all the photos.

Seminar - preented by the SA Institute of Security and the Security Association (Singapore)

Don't miss this interesting Semiar on Thursday 25 August 2011 at the Auditorium, JP Morgan – 1 Frikker Road, Illovo.

Dr Johan Burger, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and lecturer at the Tshwane University of Technology, will peel away the myths and misconceptions to show the real face of crime in South Africa. In his fascinating talk, he will look at public and media perceptions of crime and present real and compelling statistics – from violent and interpersonal crime to property, commercial and retail crime.

Also on the programme:

• Hijacking Trends and Countermeasures by Francois Marais
• Countering Terrorism Threats in Singapore by Morrine Henson
• Regulations and Challenges of PSIRA by John Kole
• Convergence between Security Technology and Manpower by Daniel Chow
• Managing Safety and Security in Schools by Leandri van Jaarsveld
• Attitude to Crime Prevention by Errol Peace.

Cost, including finger lunch: R350 for SA Institute of Security Members and R450 for non-members. Download full programme and booking form.

Golf Day - a great day out!

Friday 6 May proved to be a memorable occasion once again for the SA Institute of Security's Annual Charity Golf Day - once again sponsored by Omega Risk Solutions.

Waterkloof Golf Club reverberated to the sound of clubs hitting balls, with over 30 four-balls participating. The overall winners were the Cell-C team consisting of Pieter Janse van Rensburg, Francois Rossouw, Jaco van Wyk and Jonty Swart.

To the delight of everyone, Miss South Africa put in an appearance and was happy to have her photograph taken with the participants. Once again, Nissan had to take the car back as nobody managed to get that elusive hole in one on the 17th.

The evening function proved most entertaining with the surprise entrance of the "Can-Can" girls – which is fast becoming a popular feature of Institute functions – and music was provided by Collin Henry, who managed to get people up and dancing to his mixture of music for all tastes.

Our thanks to all the sponsors of the holes and the wonderful prizes provided. Proceeds of the day went to a new charity – Child Survivors of Crime. Charles van Staden, Chairman of the organisation was there to accept the donation. Francois Marais – our current Vice Chairman and MC for the evening is on the board of Child Survivors of Crime - and gave a brief overview of the charity's work.

Tiaan Taljaard, Managing Director of Omega's Inland Division, gave an introduction and was presented with a gift as a thank you for Omega's generous sponsorship.To the delight of all, it was announced that Omega Risk Solutions have agreed to continue their generous support by sponsoring the 2012 Golf Day.

Thanks also go to Reggie Marimuthu for his wonderful organisation of this event every year. Next year's event is already being planed so take note: this will take place on Friday 11 May 2012.

Click here for all the photos.

Another hugely successful Black Tie Bash

Our annual 'Black Tie Bash' took place at the Indaba Hotel in Johannesburg on 19 February.

The 160 plus guests were kept entertained throughout the evening by Master of Ceremonies, Francois Marais – a previous Institute Chairman – and the music of Havana Gas. Surprise entertainment, which has become part of the event, this year took the form of three Can-Can girls, who were received with great enthusiasm.

Guest of honour was Zonge Baloyi, CEO of SASSETA and a patron of the Institute. Also present were Brett Jones, Chairman of SAQCC-Fire - and former Chairmen of the Institute: Terry Scallan, Reggie Marimuthu and Johan du Plooy.

In his welcoming speech, SAIS Chairman Errol Peace paid tribute to the commitment made to the Institute by the immediate past chairman, Terry Scallan, and awarded him an Institute Crystal of Appreciation. He also thanked Francois Marais for taking on the duties of Master of Ceremonies, and Rosemary Cowan, our Administrative Manager, who organised the event.

A delicious buffet dinner was enjoyed by all and prizes were awarded to lucky ticket holders throughout the evening - the highlight being a weekend for two at the Palace of the Lost City. Thanks to Reggie Marimuthu for obtaining this prize.

The Institute is extremely grateful to our sponsors, without which the event would not have been the success that it was:

• SASSETA
• Risk Diversion
• Elvey Security Technologies
• Cedric Welsh & Associates
• BTC Training Africa
• Goldfields Protection Services
• IFSEC South Africa
• Hi-Tech Security Solutions
• Sun City

Next year's event has already been booked - so make a date for your diary now: Saturday 17 March, once again at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways.

Click here for all the pictures

Message from the Chairman - Errol Peace

As I am now in the hot seat – and wow did Terry leave it buzzing! – I would firstly like to apologise for the lack of newsletters this year. We have had a change in portfolios and – what with Buddy resigning from the Board and Keith changing jobs – time commitments and responsibilities have been somewhat stretched.

It is scary to think that Christmas 2010 is just around the corner, so much has happened over the past twelve months. The World Cup has come and gone, all the hype around security training and FIFA possibilities, never came back just kept gone!!!

For some it was okay – to you, well done – but for most of us the legacy left will be realised in the increase of out rates and taxes and all the increased expense that will need to be recovered from the upgraded freeway system, in the form of toll payments!

As for 2011, the Security Training Provider Industry will be facing some extraordinary challenges and so will the Security Industry at large. Did you know that there are, at present, two authoritive bodies regulating security training in our industry? I refer to PSIRA and SASSETA. How is this possible? You may ask. We have asked PSIRA and we are waiting for their response.

Rumour has it that the Minister is hesitant of signing the draft legislation giving the responsibility of training to SASSETA as the cost of the Skills Programmes may be a bit high for the average person wanting to enter the security industry. Thank goodness we are not in the health care business.

In conjunction with SIA, the Institute will be requesting a meeting with the Minister of Higher Education to try and obtain clarity and will inform all concerned of the outcome.

The non-allocation of discretionary grants has also been under the spotlight and this will also be addressed with the powers that be.

I certainly look forward to an interesting year and will be actively involved in making the proposed information sessions a reality and, through these, will hopefully bring a bit more clarity to the future.

On behalf of the Board of Governors I would like to wish you and yours a very Blessed Christmas and a prosperous and happy 2011 – and if you are going away happy holiday and a safe return home. Remember don’t drink and drive, you may spill some!!

Peace be with you – Errol

Errol Peace elected Chairman of SA Institute of Security

At the AGM on 20 August, Errol Peace was elected Chairman and John McMullan the Vice-Chairman after previous Chairman, Terry Scallan, stepped down as a result of ill health and business commitments.

Errol is pictured right, receiving the Chain of Office from outgoing Chairman, Terry Scallan.

For the first time in at least the past 20 years, no governors stood down due to resignations that had taken place during the year. This resulted in only one new governor being appointed as she had been co-opted last year, and that is Trudie van der Merwe.

John McMullan was appointed Vice Chairman and Peter Jephson continues in his post as Treasurer. At our first meeting of the Board in October, John Baker was co-opted to the Board so we could take advantage of his expertise in the training arena including SGB’s and SASSETA.

Our Board now consists of the following:

Errol Peace – Chairman
John McMullan – Vice Chairman
Peter Jephson – Treasurer
Keith Alexander
John Kole
Geoff Larkins
Francois Marais
David Miller
Kris Pillay
Gert Pretorius
Johan Ras
Bruce Robertson
Terry Scallan
Gavriel Schneider
Trudie van der Merwe
Mike Verster

Reggie Marimuthu continues as a co-opted member to run with the fund raising and during the year, Dawood Alexander and Aidan Lipstreau had been co-opted to represent SASSETA and the Eastern Cape respectively.

In an ex-officio capacity, we have Steve Conradie, CEO of SIA, Jenny Reid, President of SASA and of course, our Administration Manager, Rosemary Cowan.

Click here for full details of the current Board of Governors.

Black Tie Bash - plan now to be there!

Our hugely popular annual Black Tie Ball takes place on Saturday 19 February 2011 from 6.30pm in the Injabulo Room (next to Reception) of the Indaba Hotel in Fourways. Tables are already selling very quickly, so if you want to be there please download the form and book as soon as possible. Tickets are R500 per person or R4 500 per table of 10 – available from Rosemary Cowan at the Administration Office (Tel. 011 455 3157) .

Once again thanks must go to Risk Diversion for sponsoring the tickets for the umpteenth time. For the first time, Elvey are participating and they have generously sponsored the red wine and Cedric Welsh and Associates are sponsoring the “Surprise” entertainment.

There are still sponsorship opportunities available for items such as the Welcome drinks, other wines and of course, we are always on the lookout for prizes for the free draw.

As usual, we have negotiated a special rate for those who would prefer to stay over.

Chairman's Annual Report by Terry Scallan, FIS (SA), MSyI (UK), AISM

As chairman I am happy to report back that my initial objectives I set for myself and the Institute have been achieved and I can step down knowing that the Institute is well on track.

• The constitution has been revised and streamlined to the benefit of all our members.
• The process of application for the Institute to become a professional body of the South African Qualifications Authority has been imitated. This goes hand in hand with the development of a Continuing Professional Programme for the Institute and for the South African Private Security Industry.
• Excellent relationships have been established with the Security Industry Alliance. Here we sit on the SIA Board and have been recognised as the professional training body of SIA, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority of South Africa (PSIRA), here the Institute played a part in formulating the new training regulations for the security industry, The Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA), the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the Security Association of South Africa (SASA).
• The Institute also has excellent relationships with our two security journals, Security Focus and Hi-Tech Security Solutions. Their coverage of our various events and functions, and support is greatly appreciated.

Click here for full report

IFSEC 2011 – South Africa

We had our normal stand at IFSEC SA in September this year, and it is hoped we will be invited to participate again in 2011.

For the first time, we had an SAIS hub which proved successful for those very small companies that participated, and it is hoped that Montgomery who are now in charge of IFSEC-SA will let us continue with a similar pavilion catering for the smaller exhibitor next year.

The exhibition will again be in September and is moving from Sandton Convention Centre, back to its old venue of Gallagher Estate at Midrand, a move which appears to be welcomed by most parties.

It is hoped that by that time, the Gautrain will be up and running to Midrand so that you don’t have to negotiate the traffic every day.

International News
Portfolio members have been quite busy on the International front ...

India
A group of members has been invited to the 20th Anniversary seminar of the IISSM, in New Dehli India.

Prof Kris, Terry and Errol will be representing SAIS at the event. Terry has been asked to be part of the adjudicating team to recognise professionalism amongst their members who will receive awards at the Gala Function. Kris is on the IISSM Board and will be attending their meeting and official functions and Errol will be presenting their Executive President with a SAIS crystal on the occasion of the 20th anniversary.

The Institute also bought space in their commemorative souvenir magazine, in which we sent a message of congratulations.

During this time we will be meeting with the Security Institute of Singapore, with whom we already have a reciprocal agreement MOU, to foster and promote further co-operation. Errol will be investigating the possibility of arranging a tour group to the Security Asia Expo in Singapore during October 2011.

United Kingdom
We have an excellent channel of communication with the UK Institute and regularly receive their newsletters and news. We share this news from Mike Bluestone – Chairman of the UK Security Institute:

“Dear colleagues
I am pleased to inform you that following last evening’s General Meeting, an overwhelming number of members voted in favour of your Institute making application for a Royal Charter in October 2010.

This really is a ground-breaking moment for our Institute, and we will keep you closely informed on the progress of our application.”

Our Chairman, Errol Peace, sent a congratulatory message in reply. We certainly wish them every success.

The Institute also hosted and met with David Evans, the BSIA’s Director responsible for the 2012 London Olympics, whilst he was in SA and a guest of SIA at the recent conference.

David is actively involved in a programme that will see many people trained to be involved in the Games but also be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to continue in a profession after the games. This programme will be instrumental in reducing a large portion of the un-employment in the UK.

Nigeria
Errol and Terry will be visiting the IFSEC WESTAFRICA exhibition in Nigeria in February 2011, in their private/business capacity. At the same time, they will be meeting with the Chairman of the Security Institute of Nigeria, who would like to investigate the possibility of entering into the same type of agreements that we have with the UK and IISSM.

Subscriptions and outstanding accounts
Our Treasurer, Peter Jephson, has been tearing his hair out trying to bring in the annual subscriptions on time, plus other outstanding monies; our cash resources are experiencing strain.

From 1 July next year, members will receive a membership card rather than a renewal certificate and there will be certain privileges attached to the card.

Lunch Seminars
These continue to prove successful, so much so that we have been overbooked on more than one occasion.

We will continue our efforts to obtain speakers who are not only informative but also entertaining and welcome any suggestions from our members.

This has also proved a very effective method of gaining new members and we will continue with our offer to you that should you obtain one new member you will get one free lunch!!

Grateful thanks to all who have contributed so generously and supported the lunch raffles to raise funds for Terry’s UK medical bill. The funds are slowly but surely coming in and a payment has been made to the UK hospital. However your continued support is still needed.

Membership

This is still on the increase – we acquired some 24 new members during the year. We welcome the following to our ranks:

We would also like to congratualte the following, who were upgraded during the year:

Congratulations must go to Godfrey King, who was given Life Membership of the Institute upon his retirement as Editor of Security Focus, in recognition of his many years as Editor of the magazine and his support to the Institute and the security industry in general.

Advertise on our site

Our website attracted double the number of visitors this year - and could be a very good marketing tool for your company. A small banner of the site is only R250 per month or R600 for three months. All advertisements must be cleared by the Board of Governors prior to being accepted. For more information, please contact Rosemary at the admin office.

Also, if you have anything specific you would like added to the website, please contact Rosemary.