Two private security officers from TSU Protection Services were recently suspended for restraining and assaulting a member of the public in Andringa Street, Stellenbosch. This is according to the company’s chief executive officer, Anton Lume, in written correspondence with MatieMedia.
The assault took place at around 01:00 on 6 March outside Eikestad Mall, and was witnessed and filmed by MatieMedia’s Bianke Neethling. The officers involved in the assault also tried to intimidate Neethling into deleting the footage from her recording device.
Warning: This video contains graphic content.
Two security officers from TSU Protection Services were seen restraining and assaulting a member of the public on Andringa Street, Stellenbosch. This incident took place at around 01:00 on 6 March. VIDEO: Bianke Neethling
TSU Protection Services, a national private security company, was initially not aware of the incident, but following inquiries from MatieMedia, had launched an internal investigation. Lume had since confirmed to MatieMedia that the security officers are from TSU Protection Services, and, following the incident, have been suspended for acting “outside the Course & Scope of there [sic] employment”.
An officer from ABC Security, a local Stellenbosch private security company, was also present at the scene, but did not take part in the assault. Mornè Uys, group managing director at ABC Security, debriefed this officer, who was not named, and spoke to MatieMedia about the incident.
MatieMedia’s Bianke Neethling was walking in Andringa Street, Stellenbosch, around 01:00 on 6 March, when she witnessed and filmed a violent interaction between a member of the public and two private security officers from TSU Protection Services. PHOTO: Bianke Neethling
Uys stated that, on the morning in question, the ABC Security officer was patrolling the surrounding area when he was stopped by a woman in Andringa Street, who claimed that her friend had collapsed and needed medical assistance. According to Uys, the ABC Security officer called for this assistance via the company’s control room.
During this time, two private security officers from TSU Protection Services also arrived on the scene, claimed Uys. When the three security officers were in the street, a man allegedly approached the group and shouted at them. Uys claimed that the man stated that he did not like “security people” and threatened to kill the security personnel with an axe that the man claimed to have in his vehicle.
At this point, the two TSU Protection Services officers got into a physical altercation with the man, which ended with him being forced to the ground and repeatedly kicked by the two officers. This is evident in the video footage captured by MatieMedia at the scene.
Rights and limitations of private security
Pierre Dippenaar, an associate at Stofbergs & Bekker Inc Attorneys, referred MatieMedia to the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority’s Code of Conduct for Security Service Providers, whose primary objective is “to regulate the private security industry”.
This code specifies that a security service provider may not, unless absolutely necessary, “arrest, detain, restrain, interrogate, delay, threaten, injure or cause the death of any person”.
Intimidation
When the two security officers involved in the assault noticed MatieMedia’s Bianke Neethling filming the altercation, they approached her, grabbed her phone, and attempted to intimidate her into deleting the footage. Neethling deleted the footage in front of the security officers, but was able to recover it directly afterwards.
Eikestad Mall’s head of brand marketing and social media, Andrew Grundlingh, stated via email correspondence with MatieMedia that the mall’s security cameras were not able to capture the incident. Grundlingh also stated that the mall had not been aware of the incident until MatieMedia brought it to their attention.
Eikestad Mall’s cameras did not capture a recent incident of physical assault between a member of the public and two members of a private security company. The incident happened on Andringa Street, which “[does] not form part of the area being monitored [by their cameras]” and “does not fall under [their] jurisdiction”, according to the mall’s head of brand marketing and social media, Andrew Grundlingh, via email correspondence with MatieMedia. PHOTO: Bianke Neethling
The Stellenbosch South African Police Service (SAPS) received “no complaint” about this incident, according to Captain Nathalie Martin, spokesperson for Stellenbosch SAPS.
Update: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Mornè Uys is the operations manager at ABC Security. It has now been corrected to say that Uys is the group managing director at ABC Security.