Many people don’t fully understand just how much South Africans are spending on security.
To put it simply, last year, the private sector, which includes estates, individuals, and businesses, spent around R60 billion on private security alone. This total does not include what the government spends, which we will cover separately.
We recently carried out an independent security risk assessment for a hospital in Kimberley, uncovering risks that are often missed in conventional assessments. This enables us to recommend practical measures that enhance the overall safety and security of the facility.
If you would like to learn more about our assessments or have specific topics you would like us to cover, please email your suggestions to andre@alwinco.co.za. We will develop and publish articles on our website tailored to your interests.
For now, let’s focus on private sector spending.
To give some perspective, private security spending was about R52 billion in 2022. It rose to R57 billion in 2023 and reached R60 billion in 2024. If this trend continues, it is likely to exceed R65 billion in 2025. Despite this steady increase, crime continues to escalate.
That R60 billion covers a wide range of services and equipment: armed response, on-site guards, CCTV systems, perimeter fencing, guard contracts, and access control. Yet even with this substantial investment, South Africa still faces growing rates of hijackings, violent crimes, and organized criminal activity.
Breaking down the spending.
About 62% goes to armed response and alarm systems, including rapid response services and alarm installations. Physical guarding on estates and farms accounts for roughly 18%. Electronic hardware such as beams, CCTV cameras, and smart locks makes up around 12%, while basic physical barriers like electric fences and barbed wire represent about 8%. These are all important, but they only form part of a complete security solution.
What is missing from most of this investment is a proper, independent security risk assessment.
Despite the 18.6 million private homes that have invested in some form of security, most have never had a thorough, unbiased security risk assessment. From my two decades of experience, without this foundation, much of that R60 billion is spent blindly. If you do not know your actual risks, the solutions you put in place will often miss the mark.
The general understanding of security remains poor. Risk assessments, even when conducted, often become outdated, ignored, or improperly implemented. Too many decision-makers still believe that guards, CCTV, and alarms alone can provide complete protection. In reality, these are only partial solutions and are easily bypassed by determined criminals.
The breakdown in communication presents another major challenge.
Reporting crime or sharing crime-related information with private companies is difficult. Informants often do not trust the police, guards, or private security officers, which means valuable information is lost. Billions are spent, yet very little goes toward building effective communication systems, which are crucial for any meaningful crime prevention.
Click here to read more about this matter.
The total cost of security in South Africa goes far beyond what private individuals and businesses spend. According to the World Bank, the country’s total protection costs were R282 billion in 2022 and increased to R308 billion in 2024. In 2024 alone, the government spent roughly R227.3 billion on police, the defense force, the justice system, correctional services, state security, and home affairs. 
Private: R60 billion
Government: R227.3 billion
Scattered across various other sectors: R20.7 billion
Grand Total: R308 billion
Even when combining private and government spending, which now totals well over R330 billion a year, South Africa is still losing the fight against crime. Organized crime networks are expanding. Everyday crime remains unchecked. Arrest and conviction rates are among the lowest in the world.
One of the most overlooked threats is insider crime. Only around 10% of security budgets are spent addressing internal threats, even though insiders are often the greatest danger. These can include trusted employees, friends, colleagues, contractors, or acquaintances who use their access to assist in criminal activity. Ignoring insider threats leaves a serious gap in any security strategy. Click here to read more on this matter.
Complacency and poor decision-making also play a big role.
Many directors and managers are disconnected from what is happening on the ground. They rely on outdated models and reports instead of real-time facts. As Einstein once said, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Unfortunately, this is exactly what we see happening year after year.
Budgets continue to grow, but results do not. Corruption and administrative delays make things worse. In many cases, more attention is paid to paperwork than to outcomes. Such neglect allows criminals to take advantage of the system’s weaknesses.
Artificial intelligence is becoming more important in modern security, but it is often misunderstood. A security system is like a watch. All the gears can be present and moving, but if just one small, critical gear is missing, the watch will not tell time. In the same way, billions spent on equipment will not matter if the foundation of a current, independent risk assessment is missing.
A proper risk assessment is not something you do once and file away.
If your security risk assessment is older than two or three years, it’s time for an update. A good assessment divides your plan into two parts:
- 70% for policies, planning, and management
- 30% for equipment and physical security.
Without this balance, your entire strategy becomes outdated and ineffective.
In short, South Africa is spending billions each year on security, but crime continues to rise. This is happening because of missing risk assessments, weak communication, insider threats that are ignored, complacent decision-making, corruption, and an overreliance on outdated methods. It is time to rethink our approach and invest in strong, independent security risk assessments that lead to smarter, more adaptive, and more effective security strategies.
Article written by Andre Mundell.
Disclaimer: Images generated by ChatGPT.
Covering all of South Africa, Alwinco provides Security Risk Assessments, particularly in Gauteng (Menlyn, Braamfontein, Kyalami, Fourways, and Hatfield), Bloemfontein, Bluff, and Houtbay.