South Africa is preparing for planned nationwide anti-illegal immigration demonstrations on 30 June, but a new question is now emerging around who exactly will be responsible for keeping order on the streets. The South African Police Service has turned to private security companies including Bidvest Protea Coin, Fidelity and G4S to strengthen operations, while the army has also been placed on standby. But does this signal a growing shift in how the country responds to major security threats? South Africa already has one of the world's largest private security industries, with more private guards than police officers, but crowd management, public order policing and protest control traditionally fall within the mandate of the state. Private security personnel operate under different legal powers and limitations compared to SAPS officers. So what happens when those lines begin to blur? Is this simply additional support and manpower, or does it reflect mounting pressure on the country's policing
capacity?