printer friendly version

SIA looks ahead to further consolidation in 2010

Hi-Tech Security Solutions spoke with SIA CEO Steve Conradie about the association’s plans for 2010.

The Security Industry Alliance (SIA) was formed with the goal of presenting a unified face of the security industry to the world. Before SIA, each of the myriad security associations in South Africa had their own contacts as related to their specific areas of business, few spoke to each other and no one person could claim to speak for the industry. This meant forging value-adding relationships with government or other industry bodies was impossible.

Steve Conradie was appointed as CEO of SIA to oversee the consolidation of the security industry through this body, presenting a unified front to role players throughout the country and the world. Naturally, the existing associations and bodies remain in force to deal with the specifics of their areas of the industry, but the goal is to have them subscribe to SIA as the primary organisation that represents the broader industry to government and other parties.

Conradie notes that 2009 saw SIA increasing its role and gaining support from more security associations, as well as broadening its level of interaction with government. Unfortunately, the changing of the guard after the national elections meant that some relationships had to be forged from scratch with new government officials, but these are progressing well.

Overall, Conradie says industry feedback shows that SIA is fulfilling its mandate as the security industry’s mouthpiece. More industry players are supporting the alliance than ever before and he expects the support for the industry to increase in 2010.

Unfortunately, word has it that ESDA has resigned from SIA. This is an unfortunate bump in the road for both associations, but Conradie expects the situation to be resolved in due time. Hi-Tech Security Solutions will follow up on this in future issues.

As far as SIA’s goals for 2010, Conradie wants to improve on the alliance’s 2009 performance while strengthening government relationships. He says there are some industry challenges SIA will tackle with government this year, such as the issue around firearm licensing and competency certificates. Challenges aside, Conradie expects to strengthen SIA’s position this year, solidifying its position as the organisation that represents the security market as a whole, with added buy-in from the industry.

Share this article:

Further reading: