The private security complex and its regulation in Africa: select examples from the continent

ABSTRACT

This article aims to provide an overview of the primary trends and developments of the domestic private security industry in select countries in Africa, while also further reflecting on a selection of operational challenges and obstacles inherent to the industry and its regulation. In particular, field research was conducted in Uganda to explore the nature of the state ownership of private security companies so as to further highlight the regulatory difficulties. Our findings raise a number of questions pertaining to the theorising of private security regulation answers of which, we conclude, may find utility in drawing on the concept of “hybridity” as an alternative heuristic tool to engage with the realities of state regulation in the Global South.

KEYWORDS:

• Private security
• Africa
• state security
• regulatory framework
• hybridity

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julie Berg

Julie Berg is an associate professor at the Department of Public Law and the Director of the Institute for Safety Governance and Criminology at the University of Cape Town. She currently holds the Research Chair in Security and Justice, for an interim period, awarded by the Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation, South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI).

Simon Howell

Simon Howell is a Senior Researcher in the Institute for Safety Governance and Criminology at the University of Cape Town. He primarily focusses on subjects relating to illegal drugs, gangs, and the policing thereof.