Archive for category South Africa

Industry Talk: How To Feel Safe At The World Cup

Mar 26

Posted by Matt in Canada, Industry Talk, South Africa | No Comments

   This is great that the Toronto Sun actually published this, and I think Sunil is probably pretty happy with that kind of press.  World Cup is coming, and there are lots of security companies that your country can do business with in order to protect your athletes or visiting fans.  I also think it is advisable to go over some of the common crimes that folks need to be aware of if they go to South Africa, and just arm yourself with knowledge about how to protect self and family.  So good on Canada for being proactive, and good on Sunil and his company for offering up these services. -Matt

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How to feel safe at the World Cup

Canada issues advice … security firms offer protection

By TOM GODFREY

March 24, 2010

A Canadian firm is offering door-to-door security for North American soccer fans travelling to South Africa in 11 weeks for the FIFA World Cup.

The head of Executive Security Services International pledges to provide round-the-clock protection by armed officer for businessmen, media and fans attending the tournament, slated for June 11 to July 11.

South Africa has one of the world’s worst street crime problems, according to police and press reports, with roaming gangs committing fraud, pick-pocketing and ATM robberies.

The crime is convincing many international fans to stay away — 650,000 of the 2.95 million available seats are still unsold for the World Cup, according to reports.

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South Africa: Teams Hire Warzone Guards For World Cup

Jan 11

Posted by Matt in Africa, South Africa | 2 Comments

   Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come for the World Cup.  I know a few readers are involved with the private side of security for this event in South Africa, and I wish you guys all the best. -Matt

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 NA BD358 TOGO DV 20100110211137South Africa: Teams Hire Warzone Guards For World Cup

Police escort Ivory Coast’s soccer team from Angola on Saturday. 

Togo Deaths Stir Fear Ahead of World Cup

January 11, 2010

By BENOIT FAUCON in London and PETER WONACOTT in Johannesburg

A rebel attack in Angola that killed members of a visiting soccer squad has led to a hunt for separatists in an oil-rich region of the country, and stirred concerns about security at this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.

The Togo team was traveling Friday in a bus ahead of a match when it came under machine-gun fire. The attack occurred in Angola’s tiny enclave of Cabinda, stuck between the two Congos — the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rebel ambush killed at least two Togolese, a coach and the team’s press attaché, according to Togo’s government. On Sunday, it sent a plane to collect its national team.

The shooting has created a tense backdrop for what was supposed to be a showcase for African soccer and Angola’s oil-powered economy. The attack also sent shivers through the global soccer community as the World Cup arrives for the first time in June to a continent that has been rife with armed conflict and burdened by corrupt governments.

On Sunday, South African President Jacob Zuma, traveling to Angola, extended his condolences to the Angolan government and the people of Togo. But the president dismissed speculation the incident “had any bearing” on his country hosting the World Cup, according to a statement from his office. “South Africa remains one hundred percent ready to host the FIFA World Cup,” the president’s statement said.

Meanwhile, the Angolan government said it was looking for suspects in the attack. The attackers had come from the Republic of Congo, it said, and fled back across the border.

A spokesman for the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda, which claimed responsibility for the attack, warned it was “only a prelude to a series of targeted operations” against Angolan security forces. The group, known as Flec, has been seeking independence from Angola for more than 30 years. A rebel leader said Flec had targeted Angolan forces and mistakenly killed members of the Togolese squad. “We are saying sorry to the Togolese,” Flec’s president and co-founder, Nzita Tiago, said in an interview.

FIFA expressed its continued support for the World Cup hosts after the attack in Togo. “The continent will soon play host to the FIFA World Cup for the very first time, as is its due,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. “I have faith in Africa.”

Story here.

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Teams hire warzone guards from Iraq

December 07 2009

Many of the nations taking part in the World Cup will use private security firms – including war-zone specialists who operate in Iraq and Afghanistan – to safeguard their players and officials. Read the rest of this entry »

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Military News: 30% of South African National Defense Force is Infected With the AIDS Virus

Dec 1

Posted by Matt in Medical, Military News, South Africa | 3 Comments

   Boy, I would not want to be in a military where 30% of it’s soldiers had AIDS.  These men and women could potentially infect others, both through sexual activity, but also through the gruesomeness of warfare. An IED will take one man’s fluids, and inject them into another’s body, through the means of an explosion.  Bone, blood, body parts, fragments with blood and body parts on it, will be part of the fragmentation of a weapon system like a mine or IED, and everyone within that blast radius could be infected.  That is why you must have healthy troops in your forces, because disease or a virus like this, only adds more complexity to an already complex environment like warfare.

   Now I realize that maybe there are recruitment issues in the forces there, but to actually allow these infected troops to intermingle with the healthy troops, and not expect unintended infections, is pretty stupid.  I also understand there might be a bit of a political component to this as well.  If your populations are all infected, they actually might have some sympathy for a policy in their military that allows AIDS infected troops to serve.  Who knows, but to me, this just doesn’t make sense from a war fighter’s point of view, and I fear for the lives of the healthy troops that have to serve alongside these folks.-Matt

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South African troops with HIV win biggest battle

December 1, 2009

By Karen Allen

BBC News, Durban

On a blustery beach in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban, Dumisani Gumbi is going through a tough fitness programme. He is a platoon sergeant with the South African army. He also has the Aids virus.

Since 2001 when he was first diagnosed with the disease, his career prospects and chances of being sent overseas have floundered.

For years tens of thousands of HIV-positive military men and women like him have faced a blanket ban.

A staggering 30% of South African soldiers are infected with the Aids virus. This reality plus a recent test case have forced the South African government to review its policy.

“When we are fighting or when we are doing peacekeeping work, we are not biting the people. We’re just being peacekeepers like anyone else,” Mr Gumbi argues, dismissing fears that deploying soldiers with HIV is likely to increase the spread of the disease.

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Film: ‘District 9′, Another Attack on PMC’s

Aug 11

Posted by Matt in Fiji, Film, South Africa, South America | No Comments

As the movie begins, a wave of violent prawn unrest — not unlike the one that rocked South Africa’s real townships only last month — has prompted the good people of Jo’burg to crave even greater distance from their subhuman neighbors, and a forced relocation of all alien residents to a Guantánamo-style tent city known as District 10 has become law. Enter Multi-National United, a smarmy private military contractor that places the relocation in the hands of one Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a not very bright corporate lackey who also happens to be married to the boss’s daughter. 

   I wanted to post this portion of the review, because it is an important aspect of this movie.  Instead of using military forces or police forces in South Africa, the movie makers here decided to use a Private Military Company called Multi-National United as the evil ‘relocation’ forces, or what we will call ‘hollywood’s default evil storm troopers of death and wanton destruction’.  Why the movie did not have enough guts to use the country’s actual military or police forces for this part, is certainly telling.

   Other than that, I would like to see this movie, just because it seems like really interesting science fiction.  Not your typical sci-fi. -Matt

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district9posterFilm: District 9, Another Attack on PMCs

District 9: Divide and Conquer

Alien invasion as apartheid metaphor? It works in this film.

Share

By Scott Foundas

Published on August 11, 2009

Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Starring Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James. Rated R.

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South Africa: SA Contractor and Former Police Officer Killed in Uganda Crash

Mar 11

Posted by Matt in Africa, South Africa | 2 Comments

   Rest in peace, and condolences to the friends and family of Duncan.  The website below didn’t have a press release yet, and is pretty thin on info.  -Matt

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SA ex-cop killed in Uganda crash

The Times 

Published:Mar 11, 2009

A former special operations policeman from Pretoria was among 11 people killed in a plane crash in Uganda this week, Beeld newspaper reported today.

South Africa’s foreign affairs department has not been able to confirm reports that a South African was among the dead.

Beeld identified the man as Duncan Rykaart, a former special services policeman who had been working for a US-based landmine research company, Bancroft Global Development.

Beeld’s source was Bancroft programme director Rocky van Blerk.

Rykaart, who was married with two children aged 16 and 24, had returned from Iraq two months ago where he had worked for four-and-a-half years.

A Soviet-era transport plane crashed into Lake Victoria on Monday shortly after take-off, killing 11 people, international news agencies reported.

An underwater search for the remains of those killed was still under way.

Story Here

Bancroft Global Development Website 

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Industry Talk: Eeben Barlow’s Military and Security Blog

Dec 3

Posted by Matt in Industry Talk, South Africa | 2 Comments

   I would like to do a little promotion of a blog, of a very significant company and individual that certainly has had an impact on the industry.  Mr. Barlow and his company called Executive Outcomes was very busy in Africa back in the day.  EO’s accomplishments are legendary, and I highly recommend reading the wiki I posted to get an idea of what I am talking about.  

   Also, if you check out his blog, Mr. Barlow is discussing the current piracy issues.  Good stuff. -Head Jundi

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Executive Outcomes logoIndustry Talk: Eeben Barlows Military and Security Blog

 

Eeben Barlow’s Military and Security Blog 

From Eeben Barlow:

     I founded the Private Military Company (PMC) Executive Outcomes (EO) in 1989. The company operated primarily in Africa helping African governments that had been abandoned by the West. EO also operated in South America and the Far East. I have lectured, and still lecture, to military colleges and universities on security and defence issues in several countries. I believe that only Africans can truly solve Africa’s problems. I currently consult to a USA-based company.

Blog Site Here

Wikipedia for Executive Outcomes

 

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News: South African Bodyguards Save Mumbai Hostages

Nov 28

Posted by Matt in India, News, South Africa | No Comments

SA ‘heroes’ save Mumbai hostages

November 28, 2008

BBC

A team of South African bodyguards have been explaining how they led 120 hostages to safety from a hotel seized by gunmen in the Indian city, Mumbai.

The guards, armed only with knives and meat cleavers, helped other hotel guests to safety down a fire escape.

They carried a traumatised old woman in a chair down 25 flights of stairs.

“Everybody was calm and no-one became hysterical,” said Bob Nicholls, director of the security company in Mumbai for a cricket tournament.

Mr Nicholls said he and his employees were eating in the restaurant and were planning to get an early night when they heard shooting in another part of the five-star Taj Mahal hotel.

The seven bodyguards were in Mumbai providing protection for cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League tournament.

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