South Africa’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) has laid out an expansive framework aimed at restoring domestic stability and public safety, following years of mounting insecurity and social unrest. The strategy, released 12 years after it’s predecessor, reflects a clear acknowledgement by the state that its internal security apparatus has long underperformed, contributing to rising levels of crime, growing distrust in public institutions, and the expanding role of private actors in the security landscape.
The NSS identifies violent crime, organised criminal networks, gang activity, infrastructure sabotage, and the proliferation of illegal firearms as primary threats to domestic security. It also draws attention to underlying socio-economic drivers such as poverty, inequality, and youth marginalisation. The document emphasises that a fragmented security approach, poor coordination between agencies, and a lack of community trust have allowed these problems to escalate.
Rebuilding the Police Service
A key theme in the NSS is the recognition that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has lost credibility in the eyes of the public. The NSS states plainly that the police service suffers from low public trust, internal corruption, poor investigative capacity, and inconsistent service delivery. These weaknesses are particularly stark in high-crime urban centres and informal settlements, where communities increasingly rely on private security or vigilante groups in the absence of effective policing.
To address this, the NSS calls for a “professional, trusted and well-led” SAPS, with a stronger emphasis on intelligence-driven policing, accountability, and community engagement. Proposals include improved training standards, more rigorous leadership development, and a modernised crime intelligence capability. The strategy also suggests enhanced internal vetting mechanisms to prevent infiltration by criminal networks. However, the absence of specific budget allocations or timelines casts doubt on whether these reforms can be meaningfully implemented, especially in the face of fiscal austerity and competing national priorities. This comes as calls grow for an increase in defence spending, while SAPS sits with a R120.89 billion budget for 2025/26.
Strengthening Local Policing Structures
The NSS underscores the role of local government in reinforcing domestic security, particularly through the mobilisation of municipal policing functions. It highlights the importance of aligning metro police departments and local enforcement structures more closely with the South African Police Service (SAPS). This includes clearer delineation of responsibilities, improved coordination of public order responses, and the use of joint planning mechanisms to manage civil unrest, infrastructure sabotage, and service delivery protests. The strategy also stresses the need for shared intelligence platforms and integrated early warning systems to improve responsiveness at the local level.
However, these objectives are set against a challenging reality. Many municipalities across South Africa suffer from limited institutional capacity, persistent budget shortfalls, and administrative dysfunction. Several metro police units lack the personnel, training, and operational resources to deal with escalating security demands. Political instability and poor governance in some areas further erode local government’s ability to deliver effective public safety, making it unlikely that they can shoulder additional responsibilities without substantial support and oversight from national authorities.
Compounding these issues is a deepening lack of trust in local policing structures. In numerous communities, residents report widespread dissatisfaction with local law enforcement, citing corruption, selective policing, and excessive use of force. In some cases, metro police departments have been perceived as politicised extensions of local administrations, more focused on protecting elite interests than serving the broader public. This erosion of legitimacy has fuelled a reliance on private security, informal justice mechanisms, and even vigilante groups in areas where communities feel abandoned by the state.
While the NSS attempts to address the structural disconnect between national and local policing, it does not provide a detailed roadmap for how coordination will be achieved or what accountability mechanisms will be introduced. The lack of clarity around oversight, funding streams, and intergovernmental roles risks undermining the very integration the strategy calls for. If these gaps are not addressed, local policing may continue to drift into fragmentation and public mistrust, further weakening the country’s overall security posture.
Oversight and Reform of Private Security
The private security industry continues to play a dominant and expanding role in the country’s public safety landscape. According to the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), there are more than 630,000 active private security officers registered as of March 2025, more than triple the number of South African Police Service (SAPS) personnel. Tens of thousands of licensed private security firms operate across residential, commercial, and critical infrastructure sites. The NSS recognises the operational value of this sector, especially in areas where state policing capacity is weak or absent. However, it also flags the unco-ordinated growth of private security as a potential threat to state sovereignty, legal accountability, and equitable access to safety services.
In response, the NSS calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the regulatory environment governing private security. The strategy advocates for tighter state oversight, improved vetting procedures, and full alignment with national security protocols. It emphasises the need for stricter licensing, regular audits, and clearer reporting standards to ensure that private security operations adhere to constitutional principles and human rights norms. It also proposes that private security companies be more formally integrated into national safety and security planning frameworks. These measures are meant to mitigate the risks posed by a sector that has, in many instances, operated in silos, with minimal coordination or public accountability. However, the NSS does not fully address the historical difficulties in enforcing such regulation, which include insufficient regulatory capacity and industry resistance to reform.
The proposed reforms come as PSIRA recently advanced new regulations regarding the use and control of firearms by private security personnel, including limitations on weapon types, stricter storage requirements, and enhanced training standards. These proposals aim to reduce the misuse of firearms and address public concerns about the increasingly militarised posture of some private firms. While broadly welcomed by public safety advocates, the proposed regulations have been met with pushback from the industry, who argue that they undermine operational effectiveness. The success of both the NSS recommendations and PSIRA’s regulatory efforts will depend on the political will to enforce compliance, the ability to strengthen state oversight mechanisms, and whether the industry can be incentivised, or compelled, to operate in alignment with national security interests.
Community Involvement and Social Prevention
The strategy advocates for a renewed emphasis on community participation in security. Community Policing Forums (CPFs), which have long existed in theory but often lack capacity or legitimacy, are to be revitalised and professionalised. The NSS envisions CPFs acting as bridges between communities and the police, facilitating intelligence gathering, conflict resolution, and the early identification of localised threats.
In tandem, the document outlines a broader social prevention approach, aiming to address the conditions that fuel crime. This includes support for youth development programmes, substance abuse treatment, urban renewal, and job creation initiatives. While these are laudable goals, they fall largely outside the mandate of traditional security services and depend heavily on interdepartmental cooperation, long-term investment, and stable governance, all of which remain inconsistent across much of the country.
A Strategy in Need of Substance
The NSS offers a detailed and well-structured analysis of South Africa’s domestic security challenges, acknowledging the shortcomings of past approaches that were often reactive, fragmented, and poorly co-ordinated. It shifts the focus toward a more integrated model of security that combines law enforcement, regulatory reform, community participation, and socio-economic development. This broader understanding of security reflects international best practices and addresses the complex interplay between crime, governance, inequality, and public trust. On paper, the strategy marks a significant evolution in the government’s thinking about internal security.
However, translating that vision into concrete results will be far more difficult, and relies on the government doing something it has often failed to do, delivering on it’s promises. The success of the domestic security component depends on more than policy clarity. It will require a deep generational reform within the SAPS, effective regulation of the sprawling private security sector, and the revitalisation of community-level safety structures. These tasks are interdependent and must be carried out in a co-ordinated manner across all levels of government, alongside the reform and modernisation of the military. Without functional intergovernmental co-operation and clearly defined roles, the NSS risks replicating the policy incoherence that has plagued previous security strategies.
Crucially, implementation will hinge on four often elusive ingredients: targeted and sustained funding, technical and administrative capacity, political will, and public trust. Each of these has historically been lacking. Budget allocations to SAPS and related institutions have not kept pace with growing security demands. Regulatory bodies such as PSIRA have limited enforcement capacity. Politically, security policy has often been driven by short-term crisis management rather than long-term structural reform. Meanwhile, in many communities, trust in both local and national policing institutions has collapsed, making community-based initiatives difficult to sustain.
Unless these systemic constraints are addressed head-on, the NSS risks becoming yet another well-written plan that never fully moves off the page. Its strength lies in diagnosing the problem and pointing to the correct areas for intervention. Its weakness, at this stage, is the lack of concrete operational detail and credible assurance that implementation will follow. For the NSS to break with the failures of the past, it will need more than policy alignment, it will need hard decisions, measurable progress, and a transparent, accountable delivery framework that earns the confidence of the public.
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