Ian Cameron: Government's drilling holes in the safety boat while asking citizens to help bail

DA MP Ian Cameron, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee on the SAPS, makes an uncomfortable point in the op-ed written for BizNews: SA's real safety net isn't SAPS alone — its private security, neighbourhood watches, farm watches and armed response, filling gaps the state can't. Yet the government is pushing two measures that undercut exactly those partners. The PSIRA regulation amendments (gazetted March 2025) pile new firearm-control layers onto security providers already regulated under the Firearms Control Act. And the Firearms Control Amendment Bill — rejected by most NEDLAC participants, and now even flagged for reconsideration by the Civilian Secretariat itself — targets lawful gun owners while illegal firearms and criminal syndicates go largely untouched. Cameron's ask: fix SAPS, Crime Intelligence and the Central Firearms Register instead of squeezing the compliant..By Ian Cameron MP*.On 30 June, South Africans saw something that many communities live with every day: SAPS cannot do this alone.When there is pressure, the state does not only rely on the police. It looks to metro police, private security, neighbourhood watches, CPFs, farm watches and ordinary residents who are prepared to stand up for their communities.That is the reality of safety in South Africa today.Private security is not an optional extra anymore. It is part of the country’s real safety system. Security officers patrol streets, respond to alarms, protect businesses, guard infrastructure and often arrive before SAPS can.Neighbourhood watches and farm watches do the same in their own way. They fill gaps. They share information. They help vulnerable people. They keep eyes on streets, farms and suburbs when the state does not have enough boots on the ground.This is not ideal. In a properly functioning state, citizens should not have to carry so much of the burden themselves. But we have to deal with the country as it is, not as the government pretends it is.That is why the proposed PSIRA regulation amendments and the Firearms Control Amendment Bill are so dangerous.The government cannot ask private security and community structures to help keep the country stable, while at the same time pushing rules that make it harder for them to do exactly that.The proposed PSIRA regulation amendments were gazetted by the Minister of Police on 28 March 2025. They deal with, among other things, the issuing, carrying, use, storage, tracking and control of firearms and other weapons by private security providers.Nobody is saying private security should not be regulated. Of course it should be. Nobody is saying firearms should not be controlled. Of course they should be.But regulation must make sense.These amendments do not.They risk creating another layer of firearm control on top of a system that already exists under the Firearms Control Act. Firearm licensing, competency, storage and compliance are already regulated. If the existing system is not working properly, the answer is to fix it, not to build another confusing layer on top of it.They also seem far removed from the realities faced by armed response officers and guards in high-risk environments. Security officers are not operating in a classroom exercise. They respond to armed robberies, business attacks, farm incidents, infrastructure theft, public disorder and violent crime.Criminals do not wait for paperwork.The proposed rules also risk making it harder for security officers to carry or use the tools they need in dangerous places. That may sound neat in a regulation. On the ground, it can mean slower response, more hesitation and less protection for communities.Then there are the costs. Extra training, tracking devices, assessments, permissions and compliance processes all add up. The private security industry employs hundreds of thousands of South Africans. It already carries a major burden. If the government makes it more expensive and more uncertain to operate, companies will feel it, workers will feel it, and communities will feel it.There is also a bigger question: why is PSIRA being given more power when PSIRA itself has serious questions to answer?There have been long-standing concerns around governance, corruption, leadership instability and regulatory overreach at PSIRA. A regulator with unresolved problems should not be rewarded with broader control over an industry that has become essential to public safety.The Firearms Control Amendment Bill is no better.It was rejected by the large majority of participants in the NEDLAC process. More recently, the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service itself admitted in Parliament that the Bill may need to be reconsidered.That should have been the end of it.The Bill targets lawful firearm owners while violent criminals continue to use illegal firearms. It undermines lawful self-defence in a country where many people cannot rely on SAPS arriving in time. It risks adding more pressure to the Central Firearms Register, a system already known for delays, backlogs and poor administration.It also goes after the most compliant people in the system: lawful owners, hunters, sport shooters, collectors, security companies and people who have followed the rules.That does not disarm criminals. It disarms capacity.The real problems are not hard to see.Crime Intelligence is still not where it should be. Detectives are under pressure. Forensic delays still damage investigations. SAPS still loses firearms. The Central Firearms Register still frustrates lawful applicants. Too many violent offenders move through the system without real consequence.These are the failures the government should be fixing.Instead, it keeps returning to the same lazy idea: make life harder for lawful people and hope that criminals somehow become less armed.They will not.Criminals do not apply for competency certificates. They do not stand in queues at the Central Firearms Register. They do not submit themselves to PSIRA inspections. They do not care whether a farmer, shop owner, security officer or ordinary citizen has complied with every line of legislation.The focus should be on illegal firearms, corrupt officials, criminal syndicates, gun-running networks, failed investigations and weak prosecutions.If the government is serious about safety, then it must strengthen Crime Intelligence. It must fix detective services. It must improve prosecution-led investigations. It must secure SAPS firearms. It must clean up the Central Firearms Register. It must target the networks behind murder, extortion, kidnapping, gang violence, illegal mining and infrastructure crime.And it must stop treating lawful partners as if they are the problem.Private security is not the enemy.Lawful firearm owners are not the enemy.Community safety structures are not the enemy.The criminals are the problem.This does not mean private security gets a free pass. It does not mean every firearm owner is beyond scrutiny. It does not mean regulation disappears.It means regulation must help public safety, not weaken it.A serious government would be asking how SAPS, metro police, private security and community structures can work better together. It would be looking at practical cooperation, faster information-sharing, proper accountability and better use of existing capacity.Instead, we are getting policies that could weaken the very people already helping to keep communities alive.You cannot ask someone to help save the ship while drilling holes in the hull.The proposed PSIRA regulation amendments and the Firearms Control Amendment Bill should be withdrawn and reconsidered in full.South Africans do not need symbolic laws. They need working safety..Read more:.John Matisonn: 'Police are scared of criminals' – Mkhwanazi .They need SAPS to be fixed. They need illegal firearms targeted. They need lawful self-defense protection. They need responsible private security strengthened. They need communities treated as partners, not suspects.The state must decide what it actually believes.If it believes in a whole-of-society approach to fighting crime, then it must stop weakening the very society it claims to need..*Ian Cameron: DA MP.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

Ian Cameron: Government's drilling holes in the safety boat while asking citizens to help bail

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