Interference: The Silent Killer of Security in South Africa

This Alwinco article, “Interference: The Silent Killer of Security in South Africa”, explores why crime persists in South Africa despite advanced security measures. It highlights how internal interference, which ranging from poor procurement practices and managerial agendas to corruption and ignored recommendations, undermines effective security. Drawing from over 20 years of experience, Alwinco stresses that a proper security risk assessment is a structured process, not a product or sales document. The article warns that interference at any stage, whether before, during, or after an assessment, creates vulnerabilities criminals exploit. The message is clear: stop interfering, respect the process, and let professionals do their job.

1. PSIRA 2038881
Intellectual Property Notice – Alwinco
This document and its contents are intended solely for the recipient. All rights are fully protected.
No part of this publication, including text, images, reports, or assessments, may be copied, stored, resold, or shared by any means without prior written consent from Alwinco.
Unauthorized use, distribution, or modification of Alwinco’s assessment materials is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. Page 1 of 5

Interference: The Silent Killer of Security in South Africa
At every conference I attend, someone asks: “Why is there still so much crime in South
Africa?”
I asked the same question when I started Alwinco. With all the guards, cameras, alarms, and high-
tech systems, you'd think crime should be under control. But it's not, and the reason goes deeper
than equipment or budgets.
After 20+ years in the security industry, I can say this with certainty: Interference is the silent
killer of proper security.

It’s not just crime that hurts companies; it’s how internal decisions, corruption, misaligned
processes, and red tape sabotage security before it even starts.
Let me be clear: a risk assessment is not a sales document, but we’re often forced into
outdated RFQ and procurement systems designed for product sales, not investigations. If we
don’t comply, we’re excluded. So we sign. We adapt. We comply until later in the assessment
when those same flawed processes show up as risks.


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PSIRA 2038881
Reference# 25/08/0414:30:56
Reasoning with crime is Futile. I remind myself daily: crime can’t be undone.
2025-08-0414:30:56

2. PSIRA 2038881
Intellectual Property Notice – Alwinco
This document and its contents are intended solely for the recipient. All rights are fully protected.
No part of this publication, including text, images, reports, or assessments, may be copied, stored, resold, or shared by any means without prior written consent from Alwinco.
Unauthorized use, distribution, or modification of Alwinco’s assessment materials is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. Page 2 of 5
And here lies the irony: The same people asking why security fails are often the ones who
interfered with it.
We’ve seen five high-risk assessments rushed into five days with no planning, no cooperation,
and impossible demands. Interference begins on day one and continues even after delivery.
It’s like telling a surgeon how to operate, then blaming them when the patient dies.
A proper risk assessment includes:
1. The Education Phase—helping you understand what risk is and what your site actually
needs.
2. The Risk Identification Phase—where we uncover the real, often hidden, dangers.
3. The Solution Phase—where we provide practical, workable ways to remove those risks.
If it doesn’t have all three, it’s wrong. And it must cover the entire property from perimeters to
policies.
Yet, interference is everywhere:
• CEOs don’t read the report.
• Procurement ignores content, focusing only on cost.
• Managers push personal agendas.
• Installers are told how to do their jobs, regardless of best practices.
Meanwhile, criminals are studying you. They attend expos. They gather intel. They evolve.
Ask yourself: did your team attend the last security show? Criminals did. They’re not guessing;
they’re planning.
Security is not a box to tick. It's a structured process. But too many take shortcuts on the
roadmap, driven by cost instead of consequence. They override expert advice, bypass steps, and
expect success.
You wouldn’t tell a pilot how to fly the plane, so why dictate how to secure your business?
Here’s why crime continues:
• No proper security risk assessment
• Process interference
• No control of the system pre- or post-incident
• Critical decisions made by unqualified people
And often, the greatest threat isn’t external; it’s internal. Corruption, fraud, sabotage, and
intimidation frequently come from within.

3. PSIRA 2038881
Intellectual Property Notice – Alwinco
This document and its contents are intended solely for the recipient. All rights are fully protected.
No part of this publication, including text, images, reports, or assessments, may be copied, stored, resold, or shared by any means without prior written consent from Alwinco.
Unauthorized use, distribution, or modification of Alwinco’s assessment materials is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. Page 3 of 5
If you want to protect lives and assets, stop interfering. Respect the process. Listen to
professionals. Let’s review your current assessment. You’ll see why inner crime thrives and why
outer crime breaches your gates.
Think of security like a functioning watch, designing a software program, or baking a loaf of bread.
All of them remind us of one truth: what you see at the end is only possible because of a carefully
designed and executed process. You can’t have a functional watch without design, precision
engineering, and manufacturing. You can’t launch software without long hours of setup,
programming, testing, and debugging. You can’t bake bread without going through the stages of
mixing, kneading, rising, and baking. The same principle applies to security, it is a process, not a
product you can pull off the shelf and plug in.
Unfortunately, in South Africa, this understanding is regularly ignored. Everyone wants results,
but nobody wants the process. Worse, they interfere.
Let’s break down how interference kills security:
1. Interference Before the Process (Setup Stage)
• Refusing to acknowledge or fund the setup stage.
• Misleading or inaccurate RFQs that force professionals to sign the wrong forms to be
considered.
• Skipping the foundational planning phase, which should lay the groundwork for
everything that follows.
2. Interference During the Risk Assessment
• Clients wanting to dictate what the risk assessor writes.
• Interfering with the investigative process or denying access to critical information or
areas.
• Attempting to change the direction or scope of the assessment midway.
3. Interference With the Final Product
• Ignoring the actual recommendations in the assessment.
• Making decisions based purely on cost, not value or sustainability.
• Installing systems that weren’t recommended, based on advice from inexperienced or
unqualified parties.
4. Procurement Interference
• Proposals and quotes not being read properly.
• Decisions being made without understanding how the security system is supposed to
grow and evolve.

4. PSIRA 2038881
Intellectual Property Notice – Alwinco
This document and its contents are intended solely for the recipient. All rights are fully protected.
No part of this publication, including text, images, reports, or assessments, may be copied, stored, resold, or shared by any means without prior written consent from Alwinco.
Unauthorized use, distribution, or modification of Alwinco’s assessment materials is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. Page 4 of 5
• Choosing the cheapest option without evaluating the roadmap.
5. Installer and Programming Interference
• Not paying setup costs, leading companies to borrow from one project to start another.
• Forcing teams to work without the right tools or time.
• Skipping crucial preparation stages, which affects the end result.
These aren’t just our problems. Builders, IT teams, and developers face the same. And when they
give in to interference, systems break and criminals win.
Every act of interference helps the criminal. Each skipped step or cut corner creates a
vulnerability. And criminals know how to exploit it.
At Alwinco, our process works when it’s allowed to. But if you interfere, you dismantle the very
system meant to protect you.
If you’re involved in security procurement, project planning, or management, remember:
• You likely don’t have the expertise to dictate the process.
• Even well-meaning interference causes damage.
• Ignoring proposals or denying setup is still interference.
It’s time to stop pretending shortcuts work. Respect the process. Allow the professionals to do
their job. Understand that what seems like “just paperwork” is often the foundation of your safety.
Because every time you interfere, you're not helping yourself. You're helping the criminal.
If you disagree with me, you are welcome to contact me directly. But don’t ignore the truth.
The first enemy of good security is not the criminal. It’s interference.

For more information on Security Risk Assessment and security in general, visit Alwinco's
website.

5. PSIRA 2038881
Intellectual Property Notice – Alwinco
This document and its contents are intended solely for the recipient. All rights are fully protected.
No part of this publication, including text, images, reports, or assessments, may be copied, stored, resold, or shared by any means without prior written consent from Alwinco.
Unauthorized use, distribution, or modification of Alwinco’s assessment materials is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action. Page 5 of 5
Alwinco Team
[email protected]