South Africa has the largest number of private security personnel in the world, with 445 000 registered active private security ‘guards’, which far outnumbers the 270 000 public security officer in the country including those working for the South African Police Service and the South African National Defense Force, Vice News says in a documentary on crime in Cape Town.

An increase in hard crimes in the south African country has lead to mushrooming of private security firms across the country. latest police data shows that an estimates 2,209 serious felonies, including 45 homicides, were committed daily in the year through March last year in South Africa.

The country recently passed a Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill, which is awaiting President Jacob Zuma ascent,  that will require all security companies and manufacturers, importers and distributors of security equipment to be at least 51 percent owned by locals. The government says the measure is needed to safeguard national security.