South Africa’s private security industry has quietly become one of the country’s biggest employers, with nearly 383,000 people now working in roles ranging from guarding shopping centres and residential estates to transporting cash, monitoring alarm systems and conducting investigations.
Statistics South Africa’s latest Business Services Industry report found the investigation and security services industry employed 382,670 people in 2024, making it the largest employer within the business services sector.
The industry accounted for 18.9% of employment in the sector and grew 23% from 311,100 employees in 2020 – the biggest increase among the industries covered by the survey.
The figures underscore the scale of an industry that has become part of everyday life for millions of South Africans. Private security companies patrol suburbs, shopping malls, office parks, schools, hospitals, mines and factories, while others provide armed response, electronic surveillance, cash-in-transit services and specialist investigations.
Crime remains a driver
The industry’s continued growth comes even as some crime categories have shown improvement. The latest police crime statistics show residential burglary fell 8.7% year-on-year, while robbery at residential premises dropped 18.3% and overall property-related crime also declined.
However, Statistics South Africa’s Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey found housebreaking remained the most commonly experienced household crime, and highlighted that many crimes are never reported to police – meaning official statistics do not necessarily reflect people’s experiences or perceptions of safety.
For many South Africans, the demand for private security is driven as much by fear and perception as by recorded crime rates.
The industry’s growth has been matched by rising revenue. Investigation and security activities generated almost R87 billion in income in 2024, 29% higher than the R67.6 billion recorded in 2020.
The security guard
Guarding and watchman services remained the industry’s biggest source of income, generating R34.8 billion and accounting for 43% of all security services revenue.
Monitoring and surveillance services contributed R17.9 billion, armed reaction and mobile patrol services generated R14.3 billion, cash-in-transit operations brought in R14.4 billion and access control services a further R7.6 billion.
Businesses were by far the industry’s biggest customers, spending R66.3 billion on investigation and security services during 2024. Households accounted for R11.6 billion in spending, while government departments and public entities spent just over R7 billion.
Despite being the sector’s largest employer, investigation and security activities generated just 4.7% of total business services income, compared with their 18.9% share of employment. By contrast, real estate activities generated 20% of industry income while employing only 3.9% of the workforce – highlighting the labour-intensive nature of private security.
Who works in the industry
The average salary and wage in the investigation and security industry was R110,834 in 2024, less than half the business services sector average of R241,722.
The industry is overwhelmingly a full-time employer, with 379,483 of the 382,670 workers employed full-time and only 3,187 part-time. Men accounted for the vast majority of the workforce, with 287,357 male employees compared with 95,313 women.
Large companies employed 178,378 people in the sector, but small, medium and micro enterprises collectively accounted for more than 204,000 jobs, illustrating the breadth of the industry beyond its largest firms.
Security companies also invested R3.2 billion in new assets during the year.
One in five business services jobs
The report places the industry’s growth within the wider business services economy, which employed just over two million people in 2024 and generated R1.84 trillion in income.
Investigation and security services now account for almost one in every five jobs in the sector, ahead of labour recruitment, business and management consulting, building and industrial cleaning, and legal services.
Since 2016, employment in investigation and security activities has grown 65% – from 232,351 to 382,670 employees – cementing the industry’s position as one of South Africa’s largest private-sector employers and a telling reflection of the country’s ongoing relationship with crime, fear and the demand for safety.
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