Municipality Changes Tune After Video Shows Ensure Guards Beating Man

CCTV footage showing uniformed Ensure Security guards beating a man on the streets of Durban was posted on the Denis Hurley Centre’s YouTube page.

• The eThekwini Municipality is investigating Ensure Security after CCTV footage of guards beating a person on the streets of Durban was released on social media earlier this month.
• In December, we reported on complaints raised by the Denis Hurley Centre who were approached by many people living on the streets of Durban’s city centre saying they were assaulted and threatened by Ensure Security guards.
• The company initially denied any knowledge of incidents involving its guards. But after the video was released, Ensure said all guards involved had been placed under precautionary suspension.

Officials at the eThekwini municipality are investigating allegations against a private security company it uses after CCTV footage of them beating a homeless person was published on social media.

In December, GroundUp reported on complaints brought to the Denis Hurley Centre by many people living on the streets of Durban’s city centre about being assaulted and threatened by Ensure Security guards. Ensure was awarded a 36-month contract in September 2024 as support security in the inner city.

At the time, Kyle Connolly, Ensure’s Chief Commercial Officer, said they were not aware of any incidents involving their guards. And in response to our questions, the municipality only advised that victims report incidents to the police.

Since then, CCTV of an assault was shared online, clearly showing guards in branded Ensure vehicles participating in the attack.

The video begins with an Ensure guard beating a person, covered with a blanket, on the pavement with a sjambok. The sjambok is then passed to a person in plain clothes, and then back to the uniformed security guard. Another security guard then joins and they take turns beating the person, while several others stand by and watch. At the end of the video, the person is seen being put in one of the four security vehicles before being driven away.

Now the municipality says it is reviewing its contract with the company. The matter has been referred to the economic development department to review its contract with Ensure Security.

The Denis Hurley Centre has tried to open a criminal case with SAPS. But they were told that only the person who was assaulted can open a case.

According to director Raymond Perrier, the centre has desperately been trying to find the man who was assaulted in the video. “The face of the victim is not very clear, but we have used that image to ask the 300 or so homeless people who come to the centre if they have seen him or can identify him. We have also looked on the streets ourselves.”

Perrier has also sent a letter to SAPS requesting that action be taken.

Ensure’s lawyers, Woodhead Bigby, then sent a strongly worded letter, for Denis Hurley to publish a retraction and apologise for posting “unverified video footage”, claiming that it was defamatory to the company.

But a statement by Ensure after the video’s release, states that the person in the video was not a homeless person, but a known criminal involved in the theft of vehicle parts and copper theft. The person led the guards to the syndicate leader and a buyer, who were then taken to SAPS for processing, the company said.

Ensure also condemned the actions of the guards. It said all guards involved had been placed under precautionary suspension pending an internal investigation.

GroundUp sent questions to Ensure, requesting proof of the assaulted man’s criminal connections, but to no avail. Several other questions regarding the incident also received no response.

Perrier said the municipality should report the matter to SAPS with evidence of criminal behaviour. “Otherwise, it suggests that they have not taken the matter seriously,” he said.

Municipal spokesperson Luthando Ngubane said: “Any allegations of assault must be reported to SAPS, which is the appropriate authority to investigate and take the necessary action. Media enquiries relating to such allegations should therefore be directed to SAPS.”

When further pushed on the matter at a media briefing on Sunday, Sandile Mnguni, the municipality’s chief financial officer, said that they cannot comment on anything surrounding Ensure’s contract due to the matter being under internal investigation.

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