POLICE Minister Nathi Nhleko did more than raise the collective eyebrows of the global investment community recently, when he warned that SA "intends to withdraw from its commitments" under its international trade and investment treaties in order to enact a bill that would effectively indigenise the ownership of SA’s private security industry.It seems remarkable that such a far-reaching announcement should come not from the president, who promised the World Economic Forum in Davos in January that "SA remains fully open for business", nor from the Cabinet’s economic cluster, but from the police minister. What makes this more anomalous is the lack of proper justification for this departure from SA’s international economic protocols.The apparent motive behind his statement is to secure President Jacob Zuma’s assent to the Private Security Regulatory Authority Amendment Bill, which includes a provision restricting foreign "ownership and control" of private security companies to 49%. Thi...
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