18 Nov 2020

Director of Percy’s Security Services, Mr Percival Mthethwa has pleaded with clients to familiarise themselves with sites before drawing down conditions of work for security companies they engaged.

Speaking at the Mabutsane Sub-district Council forum on November 17, Mr Mthethwa said some villages had bad terrains although one of the conditions in security services provision dictated that supervisors should check the employees at posts three times a day.

He said this was costly for companies in terms of vehicle repairs, and that in some instances, companies only accepted such tenders just because they needed the job. 

He said to counter the challenge of accessing such places, his company had introduced remote supervising technology.

“We have currently placed solar powered cameras at places that we deem hard to reach.

 The cameras have been equipped with a 4G simcard and feed our control centre, which enables us to monitor our employees without having to physically go to the posts as long as there is enough signal,” he said.

Mr Mthethwa said the guards at the posts were required to time and again pose before the camera so that their supervisor could ensure their presence at the post, and that the camera even enabled them to contact the post through the phone.

He said this would hopefully address challenges of employees absconding from posts or clocking only to disappear afterwards, leaving the post unattended and property at risk.

Mr Mthethwa therefore called on Batswana to embrace the technology, saying it could even be used to monitor herd boys at the cattleposts, or buildings without  electricity. 

He said the technology was a welcome development, especially in this era, where criminals were also advanced. 

Mr Mthethwa said the escalation of criminal activities also compelled security companies like his to be thorough when selecting employees. “Before we employ people as security guards, we do a thorough vetting with the assistance of the police because we do not want a situation where we employ criminals to protect property,” he said. Ends