SIU Probe Into PSiRA’s R130 Million Training Scandal

Statement by Ian Cameron MP – DA Deputy Spokesperson on Police:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes that there will be a Special Investigating Unit investigation into the failed R130 million PSiRA training project.

The DA’s pressure on this has been consistent.

This is a long-overdue step, and we are glad that the Presidency has finally acted in line with the DA’s repeated calls for this matter to be subjected to a full and independent investigation.

For too long, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority has been allowed to drift from one governance failure to the next, while thousands of unemployed South Africans were left without the qualifications, certificates and opportunities they were promised.

This matter is not merely an accounting dispute. It involves serious allegations of maladministration, irregular payments, falsified records, failed training outcomes and possible financial loss to the state. Public money meant to help unemployed South Africans was placed into a project that has, by all accounts, failed the very people it was meant to empower.

The DA has consistently called for accountability in this matter. We have called for the SIU to investigate. We have called for the PSiRA Director or CEO and the Chief Financial Officer to be suspended. We have called for consequence management, recovery of public funds and a proper review of PSiRA’s fitness for purpose.

This did not happen because PSiRA willingly opened itself to scrutiny. It happened because sustained parliamentary and public pressure made it impossible to ignore.

At one stage, the PSiRA Board even attempted to have me recuse myself from proceedings as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police. I refused. Parliament’s constitutional duty is to conduct oversight, not to retreat when uncomfortable questions are asked. I pushed on because this matter was always about accountability, public money and the thousands of South Africans who were failed.

The SIU investigation must now be allowed to proceed without interference. That is precisely why the DA repeats its call that the PSiRA CEO and CFO must be placed on precautionary suspension while the investigation is underway.

It is not credible for senior executives who were in positions of responsibility during the period under investigation to remain in office while investigators examine possible maladministration, irregular expenditure and losses. Precautionary suspension is not a finding of guilt. It is a basic governance safeguard to protect the integrity of the investigation, documents, witnesses and institutional processes.

The Minister of Police must now act decisively. Welcoming the SIU investigation is not enough. The Ministry must ensure that:

1. The PSiRA CEO and CFO are placed on precautionary suspension.
2. The SIU investigation is fully supported and not obstructed.
3. All documents, records, payment approvals and learner verification material are preserved.
4. Funds are recovered wherever possible.
5. Disciplinary and criminal consequences follow where wrongdoing is established.
6. PSiRA’s governance structure is stabilised and reviewed.

PSiRA regulates a sector that is central to public safety. South Africa has millions of registered private security officers and thousands of private security businesses. An entity with that mandate cannot be allowed to operate under a cloud of governance instability, unresolved material irregularities and delayed consequence management.

The DA will continue to pursue this matter through Parliament and through every available oversight mechanism. The SIU investigation is an important step, but it is not the end of the road.

The victims of this failure are the unemployed South Africans who were promised training and opportunity, and the public whose money was used. They deserve answers, accountability and recovery of every rand that can lawfully be recovered.

The PSiRA CEO and CFO must be suspended immediately.