Private Security in South Africa Comes at a Cost 

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It’s so normal to have private security in South Africa that I even forgot that most of the rest of the world doesn’t live like that.

As a South African, it's very, very easy to paint this a racially motivated episode of our history once again. However the truth is that economic mismanagement, government corruption and mind boggling poverty led to this. It's not racist to say the vast majority of looters and criminals were black South Africans, because they are / have suffering/ suffered the most, by far and thus made up the majority of rioters and looters. Also, something not explained in this video, is the very long story behind the Zuma corruption story, his and security forces involvement, a possible attempted coup, the floods etc etc etc....

I am Indian and living in Durban. We set up roadblocks on the main roads to drive the crowds of hundreds of looters at a time from the asking past our houses. How do we stop a group of 200 at our gate by ourselves? This is nonsense. How do you not even think of this?

This is a very very frustrating and poor representation of the riots that went down last year. I'm from Pietermaritzburg and understand the fear that we all faced of having people come into our suburbs to loot or steal. This wasn't a racial war of any kind. I spent a few late nights with community watches that consisted of whites, blacks, Indians, coloureds. This whole thing was communities against idiotic thieves that decided that they'd commit straight up crimes then label it as poverty. You won't steal a fricken TV or couch if you're hungry ne? VICE did a kak job with this one

I was living in Pietermaritzburg at the time of the unrest and let me tell you its terrifying. The police were completely outnumbered and if it wasn't for private security we would have been in deep trouble. I disagree with the race thing. I sat through 12 hour night shifts at a blockade with my neighbours of all races on many nights. If I needed their help they were all there for me. That being said the distribution of races in South Africa is proportionate to what you see in the streets. We have 59.3 million people with 48.6 million being black. Just statistically the majority of the looters would have been black. I am a fan of Vise but I feel like they missed the whole thing by a mile.

This reporter was BEGGING for racism from her interviews but they outclassed and outsmarted her in every situation. this is what passes as "journalism" LOL.

"There were reports that there was a disproportionate targeting black people during that time." Lady, have you seen what was happening and who was looting??

Dear Vice News: You guys made it very clear in this documentary that you have NO CLUE how things work in South Africa. The looting that happened in Kwazulu Natal had nothing to do with race and ethnicity but a corrupt president and political party that has looted South Africa of BILLIONS since 1994. Our people are tired of hearing the same narrative and our people are sick and tired of a small hand of individuals from every race, ethnicity and religion in this country who are trying to make it out that they're better and above the rest. It's a godforsaken shame that you didn't investigate the fact that there were CEOs of BIG companies who were part of this looting, it's a shame you didn't investigate how the looting destroyed families' incomes, how it destroyed the jobs for families who already sat with basically nothing. But no, make it another narrative for race because it sells. You should be ASHAMED for this piece. The mere fact that you guys come here and try and create more racial segregation that is slowly but surely becoming less of a thing here and people are starting to embrace one another comes to show that you guys do not have any idea what it is to be South African, what our way of life is and how we live our lives. We are not living in the West and we are not coming from the East. We as South Africans, stood up against a major mob that wanted to drive our country into a modern day civil war and prevented our country from erupting into complete unrest. So, please try and take your Western propaganda back to the US, stick it up where the sun doesn't shine and investigate the fact that you have a president that can't even speak 10 words without almost passing out in front of millions of people on live TV...

I am South African journalist who was robbed of my gear a few days ago, I can confidently say the crime in this country is too much, no one is safe.

As usual Vice don't tell the story of what happened, instead they decide on what happened then gather the interviews to support their version of events. As a former journalist I can easily see this story is far more complex and multi-layered than this overly simplistic and one-dimensional presentation by Vice.

This video presents a grossly biased view of the background to Indian/African relations by starting at the 1949 riots. It completely omits a few fundamental points: 1. Indian indentured labour was introduced to Natal in 1860 as the local African community were economically independent of the colonial economy 2. By the early 20th century, the combined population of African and Indian South Africans outnumbered the colonial settler population. The British government resorted to its tried and trusted tactic of divide and conquer ( eg in Natal, plantation owners employing Africans as overseers of Indian labour). By sowing division and racially motivated tension between the African and Indian population, the 2 would never unite against the British government and its policies (this policy was implemented in the middle east and India - resulting in today's Arab Israeli conflict and the partition of India) 3. The 1949 riots were an expression of African anger at the discriminatory and exclusionary policies implemented by the Durban City Council. Indian traders (a minority of the Indian population) were excluded from conducting business in the (whites only) central business district so they instead expanded into areas designated as "African only". They consequently became the most visible representation of discriminatory policies implemented as a result of lobbying by the predominantly white owned businesses operating in the Durhan CBD at the time (Indian traders had no representation in this process), making them prime targets for outbreaks of violence. 4. While this video mentions the death toll after the riots, they fail to mention that thousands of Indians were displaced as a result of their homes being destroyed in the riots. 5. The majority of the Indian population lived in poverty (like the African population) at the time of the 1949 riots. Indian South Africans (even those born in the country) were not regarded as citizens. Official government policy was repatriation of all Indian South Africans to India. Thus, no provisions for basic amenities were made in residential areas designated for the Indian population (South Africans of Indian ancestry were granted birthright citizenship in 1960 - 100 years after their labour built the economy of the Natal province) 6. Indian South Africans were not regarded as having a higher social status than Africans. As Indians moved out of thr agricultural sector (usually upon the expiration of their term of indenture), they moved into semi skilled industrial jobs and were replaced by African labour within the agricultural sector, creating a gap in the socio-economic opportunities available to the different race groups. 7. This gap widened during the apartheid era when communities of Indian South Africans pooled their resources to open and run local schools. This allowed a small portion of the Indian South African population to move into professional roles outside of agriculture and industry. 8. The Group Areas Act enforced physical segregation between races groups, even in a post apartheid South Africa many of these areas demographics have not changed significantly. Building a mutual understanding and respect between race groups in South Africa (all race groups, not just Indian and African) has been all but impossible due to this physical separation 9. While apartheid may have ended, apartheid era racial designations (white, African, Indian, Coloured) do remain as a means of measuring redress among formerly disadvantaged groups. Thus the prejudices associated with these terms remain with the country despite the fall of apartheid Please note that the term coloured is not considered derogatory in a South African context. It refers to the mixed race descendants of former Dutch settlers, malay slaves and first people's, who are predominant in the Western Cape (the part of South African first colonized by the Dutch) Race relations in South Africa have a long and complex history. This video shows no understanding of any of the subtle nuances that define race relations in a post apartheid South Africa. Instead, it seems to perpetuate some of the deep rooted prejudices that exist in South African society. It vilified Indian South Africans for perceived acts of racial profiling but ignores the social media activity calling for violence against the Indian community (e.g. a Twitter page that was created around the time of the 2021 looting called "Indians must fall" subsequently deactivated by Twitter for its violent and racist content). Wait - how did a video about "private security" turn into a piece on racial profiling in South Africa? Kinda hard to take Vice News seriously after this one.

South african here. Too many people are saying that the police and private security are racist. I would say that 99.75% of looters (criminals) during those 8 days in July, were black. There were only a couple of incidents when non-blacks were caught looting. So when the criminals were rightfully targeted by our forces (police and private), it just so happens that almost all of them were black. Non-black and blacks were treated the same way if they were breaking the law. It just looks racist because nearly all the criminals were black and the heros that risked their lives to uphold the law, were Indians and whites (the majority of SAP officers black, I just want to add). Simple as that

This is poor journalism; all of her questions were loaded and she showed a lack of knowledge of the situation in SA. Of course the majority of fatalities were Black; the country is majority Black.

The corruption is so bad that our local police station, the police officers had to service the police vehicles with their own money

Indians are some of the most productive people in SA. A real asset to SA, and their homes were attacked unprovoked, way before any blockades were put up, and the police ran out of bullets, so the police could not protect anybody. I recall how the Zulus reportedly went to their witch doctors for muti (medicine) to protect them against bullets, but when the muti failed to work, they teary-eyed claim they were "brutalized". Really? They executed a premeditated attack on the people they're now accusing of brutalizing them. WTF!?! And this reporter laps up their BS because it fits the narrative she's trying to promote.

Ive experienced crime at least twice in South Africa. I had to learn self defense. I had to learn to cross the road when i see any man of any race approaching. I am Black and I have been acted against by Black people. I think the issue is class, government corruption and a lot of PTSD from apartheid as well as lack of personal accountability across all groups.

Protect yourself or your property in SA and you'll be called a racist.

The South African police failed to protect their citizens. That is why the private security stepped in. It did not help that the vast majority of looters were black.

I live through the riots in a neighbourhood in the middle of it. It was horrific and terrifying. I STILL feel traumatised from the experience. This does not correctly explain the situation as it happened on the ground. I had white, black and Indian neighbours and we all stood side by side to protect our neighbourhoods and the threat was REAL. There were no police - they were out on the frontlines dealing with the hoards who were stealing and destroying businesses, shopping malls and even police arms supplies. There was no army because the president decided that it was not politically in his favour to action support from the army until it was all basically over. We were abandoned by government and just left to fend for ourselves. It felt very very close to civil war. This was not racially motivated - that’s far too simplistic.

In south Africa the security guards are like cops, and the police are like security guards.

I love how they go and investigate and target the private security companies for standing up against the looters but play down the fact that the real problem is the people who caused a billion dollars in damages, that end up affecting the whole nation.

SA seems like a wild place where the rule of law has fallen so badly that the private sector has taken over.

We have all the right to protect our community and business.Indian community is the most peaceful community in the world.They are patriots protecting there community and country from these ruthless goons and savages.

" if you loot I will shoot " ...that was a banger 🤣❤️love sa Owen's 😭one of a kind

This is more an effect rather than a cause. if you have a bad public service, and your constitution allows it, private corporations will take its place.

this piece would've been better if it investigated the actual state of public policing in South Africa, and why private security is deemed necessary. instead they view this severe problem via an identity politics lens, which is unproductive and irrelevant, especially for this specific issue.

Weird how whites and Indians have reconciled so much compared to blacks and any other race

Im a controller working for a private security company and my husband is an tactical response officer and I've experienced first hand what our officers are capable of their dedicated caring and quick to respond they truly care about their clients and non clients responding and assisting where ever they can they are more reliable than the police it's also very dangerous for them but the passion they have is truly amazing but just the fact the the salaries being paid to them and controllers is so sad and ridiculous that some of the companies don't have regular officers or controllers working for them at least for more than a few years its rarely that you get someone who works for a longer period of time cause they would always go and find where or which company will pay them properly for their services

Well the police have failed us so miserably, that we rely on private security. The community pays for its own cctv and vehicle licence plate recognition cameras. We have loads of private security, and i stay in a very nice area.

4:51 (Regarding the 2021 riots which cause over a billion dollars of damage as they say at 4:39) "The vast majority of deaths were black south Africans" Who were the vast majority of rioters?

visited SA, Durban, back in 2010, was a little kid back then so maybe i couldn't openly see the flaws over there but it just hits so different seeing the country's state right now, and don't get me wrong, i'm not talking sh#t about y'all i just wanna wish y'all the best, you have a beautiful country

As a person who was in a small town where there the police were ordered to stay in their station to protect their property. We the civilians had to step up. Black white colored and Indian came together to fight against the unrest. Our small town survived but alot of other towns were burnt to the ground and for what. On those same people that took part in the looting and unrest are suffering as their towns have no shops.

Terrible reporting Vice ... The fact is that people had to set up check points to prevent looters from targeting their neighborhoods and this was done by black, white, coloured and Indian South Africans alike. There seems to be an agenda to draw unfounded racial parallels when the fact on the ground is that people wanted to protect their neighborhoods, properties and arguably their lives. Also the person who was interviewed was not credible ... I mean he claimed that private security was responsible for torching cars, when this was evidenced to be done by the Looters. I enjoy watching Vice but now I question how credible they are.

The reported is incredibly ignorant and has already constructed her narrative and is now trying to make the reporting fit rather than doing actual investigative reproting.

South African here. The police completely abandoned us and we were all scared. They were nowhere to be seen. What would you have us do? It was NOT racially motivated and complete anarchy. The government must get their act together.

I'm mexican but I will tell my fellow people from South Africa this at first it starts off as protection but they will evolve into a cartel.

As a South African this reporting and journalism on that event was truly poor, the journalist really came into this with a narrative in her head and came with loaded questions. Why not talk about the corruption or the the attempted coup that set the riots in motion or go talk to the communities the rioters came from, there is more to the rioting than race, there were black South Africans who also took part in protecting their communities but I guess that does not fit the agenda. I really enjoy Vice but now that I have seen how they report and showcase certain aspects, I really question if they are as reliable as they profess.

"The vast majority of deaths were black South Africans". I mean yeah.... that makes sense in a country where the large majority are black south africans? This video and her questions doesn´t seem very objective.

I am an officer in the SAPS, started in the so called apartheid regime and is stil in the Police 29 years on, I really wish people will stop politicizing plain and simple criminality, I have worked as a first responder in black, coloured and white presincts and I can truly say that crime outweighs politics during contact related issues, it is a very few empty cans, that make a lot of noise who scares the innosent uninformed masses, and if social media is not a big enough culprit, mainstream media is also jumping on the bandwagon of blowing incidents out of perportion, everybody need to take a step back and start looking at the whole forest instead of staring at the bark of one tree...I repeat, I am a white SAPS officer standing proud in my uniform and loving my country to the max...my heart breaks at what human beings do to each other!!!

I live on the north-western section of Johannesburg near the outskirts of the greater metro area in what is a relatively affluent, quiet, leafy suburb. We have many suburbs just like ours, just as we have many slums because we are the most unequal country in the world. I am one of the lucky ones that can afford to live where I live and I'm very grateful. However, even in this area, where crime is relatively low, we live in a gated cul-de-sac; which means the residents came together in this street and pitched in to privately install the gate, which is electric, has an intercom system that calls the cell phone of the person the visitor is trying to reach and spiked palisades 10 or 12 feet tall. We pay monthly to the resident's association for its upkeep. When you enter the cul-de-sac you'll notice that every single house has 6 to 10 foot walls, with additional electric fences or spiked palisades on top, or both. We also all have electric gates and intercoms for visitors to enter our homes after we have screened them at the main gate. Many people also have CCTV to monitor their properties. Finally, we ALL have private security whose control rooms are connected to our home alarm systems and remote panic buttons. If the alarm goes off, or I press the panic button, I will have a call within seconds and will be required to provide a password if it's a false alarm. In the case I don't answer or don't give a the password, security will be dispatched immediately and they will be here in minutes. The security company also provides medical and fire services so, in essence, we have bypassed the public emergency services entirely. The private security fee is around $23 a month. If you are unlucky enough to experience a home invasion and try to call the South African Police Service (SAPS) expecting it to be like 911, think again. You may as well kiss your goods goodbye and possibly your life. They will either show up very late or not at all. This is why private security is necessary. Our police are not effective.

This may not be a popular comment, but some saffa friends explained to me that there are racial quotas on a lot of government positions. When apartheid ended, they basically fired all the white police and replaced them with black police, regardless of ability or skill. Things went from one stupid racist extreme to the other. As a result, most of the ex-white police went into private security, and the guys who took over the police force struggled because they'd basically tore up the previous system and tried to start again from scratch. I can understand the excitement of ending the apartheid regime, but destroying all its systems (including the ones which worked) doesn't seem to have worked. The reporter likes her loaded comments. "The vast majority of deaths were black South Africans". She's making it sound like this is a disproportionate quantity. However, surely it makes sense for the black community to have a higher proportion of deaths given that 77% of South Africans are black. Sure, if they were in the vast minority, having a higher death count would certainly be worrying. Does Vice suggest that more Indians should have died when they make up just 2% of the population?

it seemed private security was the only option for these people once the police decided to join in on the chaos. they aren’t bad people, they were actually trying to help. i love vice, but the narrative you’re portraying seems a tad distorted.

The only cost I'm worried about is the money we waste on funding SAPS. Without private security, this country would be as lawless as Somalia by now.

Dear VICE, I was excited to learn something about private security companies in SA and how the whole system works, why it exists, who pays for it, etc. Instead, the reporter spent the whole time trying to dig up some racism stories. Next time title the video more accurately; this is insane. I'm disappointed because the world of private security/special police units in SA is super interesting. For those who want to learn more, I wholeheartedly recommend watching 20+ years old documentary uploaded on youtube titled South African Special Task Force. And afterwards, if you decide to research what happened to the unit, you'll learn that they lowered the admission criteria so that they could make the Special Task Force more "diverse", thereby essentially disbanding it.

That was the wildest thing about visiting Africa. When I was there as a tourist in ZA was the first time I noticed all the private security and it was just normal. When I was there as a performer in Lagos, working for a corporation, we had our own private army following us around with machine guns and no one batted an eyelash. Would that make it a libertarian paradise if they weren’t also paying taxes for public services they weren’t getting?

"If you are lootin, we are shootin" 😂

Just to set the context of this story straight. Apartheid ended in 1994 when Mandela took power. From then until 2007 the ruling party (ANC) took the country out of poverty and improved the lives of most South Africans at an annual growth rate of about 5-7%. From 2008 until today, various anc leaders have moved toward a more Marxist approach of governance mixed with financial corruption and state capture. Living standards have started to decline, as has the support for the party. We are currently experiencing a massive change where people are protesting for a new South Africa full of opportunity and growth. The governments continues its promises but doesn't deliver, hence the power cuts, waning police force, non functioning military. New and old parties are forming coalitions in hope of reviving free market capitalism.

Seems a good and positive development for SA. Since the government lacks the capacity to project power across the entire country, gated communities and private police can help to fill in the security gaps. And those too poor can still rely on the State security as a final last resort.

If this isn't the Genesis of a cyberpunk style policing, idk what it is

British here, spent a lot of time in SA through the festival scene doing promotional and media contracts, I've seen and experienced first hand how unsafe it can be, like anywhere, but SA just has that edge. At the same time, it's only through the poor decisions of government bodies and representatives that the affects on the nation have taken over and become what we see today. I remember the first time I visited, I threw my backpack (with laptop, hard drives, camera) into the back seat of the rental only to abruptly hear "No no, don't put that there, hide it in the boot" I couldn't believe how many precautions take place to simply drive from point a to point b... even more so when a couple girls I was riding with drove through not one, not two but four red lights during the night, they said "we don't have to stop in case we get robbed or held at gunpoint"

At this point, the DA should take over South Africa. The ANC is pathetic

Our current government is terrible. Tax citizens and have zero service delivery. No ambulance or police, private EMS and private security fills the void. If infrastructure needs to be built or maintained private sector steps in yet again. The South African government is beyond incompetent and needs to be replaced with capable people. Sad thing is us tax payers pay and get nothing in return. Talk about being taken for a ride. On the point the gentleman was making on plenty of black people were harassed/killed, they are the majority in RSA 🇿🇦 so statically they would be majority of the harrassed/deceased. As for racism most South Africans are not racist. I love all my South African brothers and sisters regardless of their race. Why we still mandate to classify each other by apartheid legislation (Black, Coloured, Indian, White etc.) is part of the problem.

Do more on South Africa 🇿🇦

The guy asking why main roads were checkpoints during the riots and not main gates is because it’s impossible to gather that much man power and tactically unsound to try to defend each property. It would have been impossible.

Private security is the only way to defeat the mobs. Great job to the militias protecting their communities 🙏

As a South African, I think I need to clarify something- Private security does not mean private policing. It is normal to have a security company fit your home or business with an alarm system and provide armed response if there is a perimeter breach. It is absolutely NOT normal to have private security companies take on Public Policing as shown in this video. Furthermore, the paramilitary cosplaying is limited to minority groups who shall we say have radicalized themselves with their own fear of the majority. I have lived here all my life in circumstances both humble and privileged and I can honestly say I have never feared for my life or felt I was in any danger.

It was incredible to see how our local communities came together to set up 24hr watches for around a week straight. They were done at key roads to prevent people getting to the houses as it would be too late for you if the marauders were that close.

Our history as a South African myself is a painful and bloody struggle

I volunteered as a private security personnel during that time, it was very scary fur us all over the country! Thank you for covering this Vice!

Rest in Peace philani ngidi My brother killed in Phoenix , beat, shot and burnt in his car. A father, a brother and a friend. Still picture my brother's smile till this day. I hope you found peace.

This video was more about racism than it was about the private sector… good job…

To be frank - race has nothing to do with the riots in Kwazulu and Gauteng. It was poverty and opportunistic crime that fuelled it. In South Africa we have a situation where police stations are asking private secutiry companies to protect them from criminals. We have a millitary base that does not have electricity, becase poor people (aka squatters) are stealing their power supply cables.

Private security officers outnumber the police and the military? Practically the definition of a failed state.

Well done to security companies!

we want more about South Africa

I was on safari in South Africa last July during the riots. They were in a level 4 lockdown. The whole experience was just bizarre to say the least.

This security company RUSA, is almost weekly in the tabloid 4 der bravery, professionals, nd assistance in the community. Dey r da best, doing wat local police cant. Big salute 2 RUSA.

Well done Vice News on missing the point on what was actually going on in the provence of KwaZulu-Natal and the country at that moment.

would love to see what the interviewer would have said had she seen looters running into her neighbourhood and looting all the foods and businesses in the community

Black people living in the suburbs and predominantly Indian areas were racially profiled. Only black people were being searched in these road blocks and in some cases they would ask black people to provide proof of residence. I remember one instance where I was asked for proof of residence when I went to the petrol station but a white man who came after me was not asked any questions, because it was assumed that he is from the area and not a potential looter. In these road blocks,cthe very same white people were confiscating looted goods and sharing it amongst themselves. Most of them were even threatening black people with guns and some unfortunately were shot and killed #PhoenixMassacre

Damn😂 she sounds like that lady that does the text to voice on Windows😂😂😂

Welcome to South Africa, where at least 70% of us aren't racist 👍

I'm curious how much vice paid that guy to say he was harrased for his skin color

That's a shockingly bad representation of a biased sided documentary. Vice news is supposed to report not take sides.

This is quite biased, the reason Black people are targeted is because thy are unfortunately the majority group for such violent acts (i.e. the people who voted for the ANC), and now they are suffering due the government failing them in providing proper education and law and order in the suburbs. Its not racial profiling, its security companies taking preventative measures as the only viable option.

Private security actually do the work they paid to do in South Africa. The police on the other hand are mostly there just to pick up their pay check and very little else if they can avoid it.

No one knows what it's like to live in South Africa's crime riddled towns and cities.

"So what did you learn about South african private security?" "Nothing, but I can give you an essay on racism instead?" Vice your old videos and your old journalists used to bring us quality information that would stick to the topic. Well Vice, you and your so called interviewer failed us, she was so hungry and desperate for information on racism in south Africa that she failed to help inform of private security. Journalism is supposed to look at subjects from all sides of the story so that one sided people could be educated, instead all you did was us this one sided bull. I do not deny there could have been accounts of racism unfolding but it is incredibly naive and unprofessional to try and paint one scenario with one cause. There were many causes that led to this, and you got to the root of absolute bugger all.

As one of the S/O that worked tirelessly for that period, this report is not the full story. I am sorry for the Paramedic Biyela's experience and others similar to his that occurred. My town Empangeni was nearly destroyed by the looters, the SAPS tried their best but ultimately the looters were being transported into town by bus and by taxi. And it was majority black people that looted, our Community Policing Forum (the hardest members of the CPF were ironically the black members of the CPF), the major security companies and other roleplayers kept the town from being wiped off the map. Fun little story that happened, during the looting an extremely elderly lady was rushed to hospital she had collapsed from heat exhaustion and dehydration, she was admitted and she bounced back, she then escaped from hospital called her children to come to her and fetch her, she continued to loot the whole night and in the morning the nurses were looking for her, she then drove into the parking lot with all the stolen goods on her vehicle and then reported to the front desk for her medication. We Private Security members work our behinds off to make SAPS life easier to deal with crime. We put on a uniform, we go out there to protect and serve as best we can, but in the end we are not private police, some of us do this because it's just a job, for others there is pride in serving our customers and community.

This video is dumb. These vice reports dug so hard to make this a racial case and got no where. interesting topic but trying to make this like a racial issue just ruined it

What an incredibly poorly researched and surface-level story. Not worth the watch.

It's amazing how ignorant these vice reporters are

“We make the decision that makes us sleep at night”, my fav part 9:48

The real story is the mismanagement of a nation capable of providing for ALL of its people , these are symptoms of people who have been traumatised ,lied to and cheated.

They're projecting American race politics into a different country and culture. Blacks are the majority race in South Africa, so it just makes statistical sense if that's reflected in crime numbers.

I hope people read the comments when watching this video so that they can realize that this is not what happened during the riots. This was by no means a racial issue and all races stood together to try and protect their homes and businesses.

wtf this whole thing had nothing to do with race... if theres people looting you have mos the right to defend your business, home and family. doesnt matter if theyre black, brown or purple

Vice is so out of touch is embarrassing

This documentary was very concerning in how you victimised the criminals and yet those that were protecting the innocent you criminalised them!!!! If those looters did not take others livelihoods then I doubt this would have happened.

No racial motivation was behind this, racial biasses had nothing to do with the unrest, Zuma was the instigator to the unrest and arming yourself against thievery and the destruction of your business is what had to happen to keep yourself and your family safe. Why play race cards if the problem is clearly governmental mismanagament.

Please make more videos of private security companies in South Africa, very interesting! How they operate in the daily life of crime on the streets to protect the community's.

Barely got the whole story on the riots that took place last year and why those checkpoints were there in the first place, lazy job reporting, really makes me wonder how bias the rest of this channel is

The banging background noise alone would stop criminals

Love your work Vice but share correct information. "The indigenous Zulu people of Durban" Zulu people are not indigenous of Durban.

there is more people working for security than the police and military combined this is an example of a failed state.

saw armed security at my local Florida grocery store during the day. its the "cheaper" store too but they're using the cheaper company

Reporter likely has no community besides her twitter friends. Irrespective of race, creed or religion when a community is threatened members need to stand-up and defend/fight.

2.5 million private security 😳😳😳😳.....I'm sure here in the USA we are not far behind

You have to protect yourself and those around you full stop. Worry about being called names later