In 2005 we were appointed as consultants to the Security Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup

The achievements of an organisation are a result of the coming together of many individuals, who over the years, contributed to the success of the company.

2019 marks 20 years, that we at NSA Global Security Consultants have been forging relationships and protecting lives all around the world. Along the way, we have been privileged to work with many memorable and iconic individuals, corporations, organisations and events. It has indeed been an incredible experience and journey.

To commemorate this special year, we look back at our phenomenal journey since the beginning and some of the notable milestones in our company’s history.

Founded in 1999 as Nicholls Steyn and Associates, after the acquisition of the company P3 Consultants by our founding partners Bob Nicholls and Rory Steyn, NSA Global has grown into a strong global operation over the past two decades.

The United Cricket Board of SA was to become our first ‘sporting’ client when Rory Steyn was appointed in 1999 by then MD Dr Ali Bacher, as the UCBSA’s first security consultant, to prepare for the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2003 hosted in South Africa. Our role also included the protection of the Proteas team and of all international cricket teams and match officials visiting South Africa, which continues to this day.

ICC Cricket

ICC Cricket World Cup 2003

Rory went on to become personally involved in the establishment of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ICC ACU) under Lord Paul Condon.

In 2000, we signed on Boeing and Coca-Cola as new clients, a formidable accomplishment for a relatively new company. One of our initial projects with Coca-Cola was to plan and manage the security of a high-level conference to Europe, on board The Silver Whisper, a luxury cruise-liner, where both of our directors ensured the safety of a high-profile passenger list, including the likes of Nelson Mandela (together with the Presidential Protection Unit), Diana Ross, Sugar Ray Leonard and the then Coca-Cola President and CEO.

During the early 2000s, pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer became a new client and over the next 10 years we worked with them on multiple, regular trips to Africa.

In 2002 we were privileged to be appointed to manage the security of the ‘Christmas Kindness’ project in South Africa.  This assignment involved months of planning to ensure that Christmas gifts could be delivered to 50 000 schoolchildren and orphans in Soweto, then remote areas of Kwa-Zulu/Natal province and Umtata in the Eastern Cape. This was truly a project that every person involved in, will never forget; where we literally witnessed big, burly, grown men cry.

2003 marked a historic change in our company’s management when Jaishankar Ramchandran, joined NSA as a shareholder and financial director. Jai brought with him  more than 30 years of experience in international strategy and financial management, thus complementing the company’s positioning and offering.

In 2003 we also made our first of a number of trips to Pakistan to conduct security assessments for a proposed Proteas cricket tour there, the first cricket tour to that region post the Second Gulf War, and we then provided security to escort the team during the tour.

In 2005 we were appointed as consultants to the Security Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup, West Indies, in association with Rushmans making six visits to the West Indies for the planning of ICC CWC 2007.

2005 also saw us working with the first Basketball Without Borders event with the NBA, which set the stage for continued relationship with the NBA to date.

In 2006 we were appointed by the ICC to initially conduct assessments and then to deploy experienced staff to oversee the security of all teams involved in the ICC Champions trophy tournament in India.

Our directors Bob Nicholls and Rory Steyn also travelled to Hollywood for the first time in 2006, having been appointed as consultants to The Academy Awards, one of the highest profile events in the world. Our role was to provide training to the excellent security staff (mostly off-duty LAPD officers) who secure this event, to work the event with them and then provide an assessment of the security arrangements on completion of the event. Our relationship has continued to this day, with either Bob, Rory or both attending almost every edition of the Oscars since.

Oscars-usa

The Academy Awards

In 2006 NSA Risk Management Services (Pty) Ltd was formed in partnership with Claude Baissac, a former Kroll employee. This division would focus on strategic, geo-political risk together with private investigations and security audits.

Between 2007 and 2011, we were security consultants to the Vodacom Challenge soccer tournament, an event that every year featured matches between Kaiser Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and an English team including Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, in different South African cities.

In 2008, we were approached by the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to plan and provide all team security for the brand new Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, which has since become one of the largest sports events in the world. We continued in this role for the next eight years.

During 2008, seven members of NSA under the leadership of Bob Nicholls were responsible for saving approximately 150 guests from the Taj Mahal hotel during the much publicised ‘Mumbai terror attacks’, now known as “26/11”.   This event and our team’s actions received worldwide coverage and recognition at the time and in the months that followed.

Mumbai Attacks

Mumbai terror attacks and the NSA team responsible for saving 150 lives

In 2009, we were again appointed as security consultants to the organising committee of the ICC cricket world cup, held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2010.

Starting at the Summer Olympic Games in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016; the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010 and PyeongChang 2018; we have provided security consultancy and oversight for our clients Oakley and Coca-Cola SA.

Winter Olympics

In 2010 our home country, South Africa welcomed more than 3 million football fans from around the world for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. NSA was proud to be a huge part of the security details for the event’s Global Partners. We deployed around 400 protection personnel in support of three of FIFA’s Global Partners, viz.: Coca-Cola, Sony and Visa.  It was a huge privilege to be involved with such an iconic event in our own country and the experience of our management team ensured that we were able to address the demands, logistical and organisational challenges in a project of this scale and to provide a safe and memorable experience for all of our clients.

South Africans

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa

Our success in this event and the experience gained, has resulted in our involvement with these and other clients, including Continental and Adidas in subsequent FIFA tournaments in Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018.

Also, on home soil, NSA Global provided personal security to Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore at Sun City for the filming of ‘Blended’ a Happy Madison and WB production in 2013.

Between 2008 and 2019, we have provided security consultancy, training and security services to a number of India’s highest profile families and organisations, resulting in the deployment of a number of specialised staff in India, the UK and USA.

During this period we also launched our specialised medical service, resulting in the deployment of a number of highly experienced Paramedics dedicated to our clients.

Due to the ever-increasing demand in India for high quality security services, we took a decision to bring 8 of our India and Nepali staff to South Africa, to spend 2 weeks training with our instructors and learning “The NSA Way”.

We have over this period continued to high level security support to existing and new clients in an ever expanding number of territories.

In 2017, we underwent a name change and a massive brand overhaul. Our old name ‘Nicholls Steyn Associates’ had been over the years a fondly abbreviated to “NSA” by our clients. Motivated by this and our global growth, we decided to officially rename the company as ‘NSA Global’ and to adjust our logo and branding to recognise this.

From the Cricket World Cup to The Oscars to the Summer and Winter Olympics; the numerous individual clients and events that we have worked with, our projects over the years bear testimony to the hard work and dedication of our teams and our culture of customer service. Our success has been built on integrity, discretion, trust and the commitment to professionalism, competence and passion when serving our clients.

We recognise and acknowledge the contributions of all our past and present employees who have been a part of this remarkable story. In tribute, we remember our two fallen colleges Marius Potgieter and AJ Zaayman, who contributed greatly to the success of our company.

To our loyal clients who have supported our success we would like to take this opportunity to thank you. We look forward to making more memories with you in the years to come.

What an exhilarating journey it has been thus far!

Bob, Rory and Jai.

First and foremost, all guarding personnel allocated to sites should be fully

High walls around houses, razor wire, electric fencing, gated communities, boomed-off restricted-access streets, CCTV systems, are all residential security necessities that have become synonymous with living in South Africa. 

Many South Africans choose to live in residential estates, deeming them a safer environment than stand-alone residences. The above electronic other high-tech security systems make residents feel safer from the rife crime woes of South Africa. However, this perception can prove to be inaccurate, as crime in some of these estates escalates and criminals become more brazen and innovative.  

The misconception that “security is being taken care of by someone else” leads to a false sense of security and even complacency, and this in turn, leads to weaknesses in many estate environments, that criminals can exploit. In this article we look at why a pro-active approach to managing estate security is crucial. Estates need to monitor and assess their security infrastructure on an ongoing basis. By this we mean:

Know The Enemy 

The truth is, it is impossible to build a barrier that cannot ever be compromised. If enough time, money, personnel, planning and imagination are used, any structural barrier can be penetrated or overcome. While multiple layers of security may appear formidable to an inexperienced criminal, a skilled criminal will view these measures as delays rather than barriers.  

More often than not, security measures are configured to deter criminal elements, but the best security systems are those that provide the earliest detection. 

Measures such as high walls, razor wire and spike-strips certainly have their place in a balanced security set up but are easily defeated with the right tools and planning; and should be augmented with proactive measures that can provide detection at the earliest possible point. Such measures include those mentioned above that, in conjunction with a well-managed, professional guarding workforce, seek to remain that step ahead of crime.

One of the most common inhibitors of estate security is complacency on the part of home owners and residents. Often, the high walls and guarded access points create a false sense of security that results in residents neglecting to take basic steps to secure their homes, such as locking doors, closing windows, installing (and arming) alarm system and ensuring that gardens are illuminated to limit concealment. These are all standard measures for stand-alone homes and should be equally so for homes within estates.

Equally, the residents and owners who pay a premium to live in secure estates are often the biggest culprits in undermining their own security by bypassing checks, arguing with security personnel and ignoring protocols when they become inconvenient.  This is typically one of the biggest challenges in maintaining effective security standards within an estate.

Security Audits  

Proactively and periodically assessing your estate’s security and access control protocols is best practice. 

Security should always be deployed in accordance with the associated risk. Prior to an audit taking place, data on current crime trends should be collected, analysed and used as the basis for the audit to ensure that any proposed additional measures are commensurate with the risk.

A good security service provider will be able to inform their clients of what the current crime trends in the area are and provide an overview of incidents they have experienced at similar sites. 

Proactively and periodically assessing your estate’s security and access control protocols is best practice. 

Security is an expensive investment and a major actor on the bottom line. As a fixed cost, a security budget has to compete with many other areas of an estate’s needs and requirements that arguably have an equal case for investment.  

The annual security budget should be carefully planned in accordance with the estate’s requirements, changes in crime trends, outdated technology and, importantly, the annual increase in the cost of guarding services. Expenditure should be confined to measures that will yield the greatest ROI.

Estate security managers should take the lead in this regard. There are multiple security forums, some of them community or area-specific and others more general. These forums provide the ideal opportunity for professionals involved in the security function to share experiences, bounce ideas off one another and share incidents that have occurred. 

This wealth of shared information will give insight into what is happening at similar sites, what measures are being put in place and the success these measures are being met with. Or not.

Resident Community Involvement 

A proven fact is that security companies that build successful relationships with residents and bodies corporate achieve the best results in preventing crime in their estates.

The notion that security is the sole responsibility of the appointed security service providers is flawed. Security should be a culture adopted by each resident, stakeholder and contractor operating within the estate. We are all, to some degree, security managers.

Fostering this sense of community and shared responsibility towards security will encourage residents to uphold the rules of the estate and be proactive in supporting the security effort and reporting any suspicious activity observed, creating a safer environment for all.

One of the key elements of building a co-operative between service providers and residents is communication. If residents feel as though their concerns and suggestions are not being taken into account, the chance of a positive relationship between themselves and the appointed service providers is pretty slim. Open dialogue should be encouraged through the appropriate forums.

Good service providers will also host regular workshops on important topics such as basic security awareness, domestic staff training, what to do in a medical emergency etc. This reinvestment into the community will foster a strong working relationship and provide substantial value and benefit to the residents.

Choosing a Security Service Provider 

Many estates do not have a good relationship with their appointed service provider, and are often left wanting, with unmet expectations, and disappointment with service levels. 

A check to see whether the service provider is compliant with all relevant legislation is a good starting point. Copies of all certificates of registration along with proof of insurance should be requested in the first stage of the RFQ process.

The second step would be to request references of similar projects to ensure the service provider has the necessary experience and infrastructure to successfully deliver the required services. And then to visit those sites. There are a lot of ‘fly-by-night’ security companies offering low-cost and, more often than not, low-quality services; so the service provider’s track record should be a critical factor in the decision-making process.

Commonly made mistakes when choosing and appointing a service provider:

Basing the decision on cost alone is a commonly made mistake. Generally, cost of services will be competitive and market-related, and the differences between service providers will be marginal. In instances where there is a substantial difference between proposed costs, questions must be asked as to why a certain service providers costs are substantially lower. This could potentially be a red flag and a sign that their staff are either underpaid, or the mandatory deductions in terms of legislation are not being levied accordingly.

What expectations and bench marks should bodies corporate have of their service provider?

The number one tip in this regard is for bodies corporate, resident associations or HOAs to ensure that all KPIs / KPAs are clearly defined in the service level agreement. Any expectations should be documented in writing in order to ensure that the service provider is held accountable to those expectations. 

First and foremost, all guarding personnel allocated to sites should be fully trained and accredited with PSIRA. There should be no exceptions in this regard. In terms of formal training requirements, this is mandatory.

Secondly, service providers should offer ongoing site-specific training to ensure their guarding personnel understand the exact requirements of the site, and this should be clearly documented in their job descriptions. Informal training workshops should be held at least quarterly for quality assurance purposes, and proof of such training should be provided to the client.

Investing in technology 

This will largely depend on what existing systems are in place, and what challenges are unique to the estate. 

Estates should strive for a balanced security set up that provides protection in depth, while taking capex and budgetary constraints into account to deliver the maximum return on investment. A balanced set up will include manpower in the form of security guards, equipment, technology and procedures.

The objectives of the security set up should combine the 3 Ds – Detect, Delay, Disrupt. It is usually advisable, particularly for larger estates, to seek assistance from an independent risk management specialist in order to determine precisely what the risks are, and what measures are required to mitigate them to a level that is as low as is reasonably practicable.

NSA Global Guarding Division provides location and asset security

In our first article on this topic we discussed several potential threats that compromise estate security in South Africa and offered you some valuable insights on how to mitigate or reduce these. In this article we look at the primary security threat that Estate living faces, that of the insider threat.

Read Volume 1 – Estate Security in South Africa  –  How safe is your estate?

Criminal syndicates continue to target lifestyle estates in South Africa, often using inside information or accomplices within the estate environment to gain access. Unisa’s School of Criminal Justice conducted research into house robberies in South Africa. From in-depth interviews with convicted robbers it was established that 8 out of 10 residential robberies are committed using information from domestic workers, gardeners and other current or former employees.

One of the most common precursors to criminal elements perpetrating crime within an estate, is hostile surveillance with the aid of an insider. This type of collusion generally involves either a resident, their staff or a contractor passing on information, or granting access to an external adversary, which then enables the identification of a target, or determines the ideal time to commit the crime, as well as the ‘tools’ that they will require.

Another, even more dangerous type of “insider threat” that has been employed in some high-profile estates takes the form of criminals actually renting property within the estate, posing as ‘normal’ residents and in doing so, effectively bypassing security.  This provides them with unlimited access to and unlimited movement within the estate at any time, and the opportunity to take their time to identify and take advantage of the relaxed approach to security often found within such estates and the benefit of the doubt granted to residents.

In order to counter this, it is important that prospective tenants are thoroughly vetted before being handed “the keys to the door”.

The Insider – Vetting Workers Entering your Estate

Home Owners, Residents Association and Body Corporates should ensure that they have a protocol in place to vet all temporary workers, domestics and gardeners entering the estate.  At the very least this should include identification authentication and record keeping.

 The supervision of contractors working within an estate is often overlooked due to constraints of security manpower, or simple naivety. The truth is, all contractors, vetted or not, cannot be supervised from the time they enter the estate to the time they leave. We therefore suggest that their access should be restricted to only those areas that are critical to them completing their work and that your security service provider has a supervision protocol in place that includes random spot checks.

This ‘compartmentalisation’ assists in restricting movement, which in turn results in a limited capacity for those with nefarious intentions to conduct hostile surveillance or commit crime within the estate.

The Imposters – Criminals Fronting as Legitimate Entities

One of the first measures that estates can take to limit their exposure to criminal elements impersonating legitimate contractors, is to only use established companies with a track record of providing services of a similar nature in other well-established estates. This includes the selection of a security provider. Established and reputable  companies generally have their own internal controls and pre-employment screening in place, such as criminal background checks, to ensure that their staff are honest and operate with integrity. Estates should request a breakdown from their service providers of what measures they take to ensure that their staff are legitimate and ‘clean’.

Estate managers should also request a register from their service providers with the particulars of each employee that will be working within the estate. This register should include full names, ID numbers, physical addresses as well as an ID copy for cross referencing purposes. And in the case of security vendors, PSIRA registration details of both the company and all of their employees deployed to the estate.

Technology – Using technology as part of the Solution

Bio-metric technology is playing an increasingly greater role in enhancing and personalising access control in estates. These systems allow for user-specific profiles to be created with differing parameters. Estates can ensure that contractors are only permitted access during certain times of the day. They can also enforce the ‘need to go’ rule by limiting access to specific areas of the estate where the work is being conducted.

Most importantly, biometrics mitigate the risk of the credentials (such as access cards or tags) of a legitimate user being lost, stolen or given to and used by an illegitimate user to gain access; as they rely on biological attributes such as fingerprints or retina-scans unique to the individual, to grant or deny access.

Biometrics systems also allow for a full electronic audit-trail of who is on site at any given time, which in turn allows estate managers to ensure that all contractors have vacated the estate at the prescribed time.

NSA Global Guarding Division provides location and asset security in an evolving climate of local and regional threats, providing our clients with peace of mind and ensuring operational continuity.

Our services include:

Armed and Unarmed Guards

Access and Egress Control

Perimeter Security

Crime Prevention

Scheduled and Unscheduled Patrols

Stock Monitoring and Prevention of Stock Loss

On-site CCTV and Alarm Monitoring

Monitoring of BMS and PIDS Systems

Supervision of Operation-Critical Areas and Equipment

Tactical Response Teams

Intelligence-driven Counter-crime Operations

20 Years of Protecting Lives Around the World | Personal Security

20 Years of Protecting Lives Around the World | Personal Security: The achievements of an organisation are a result of the coming together of many individuals, who over the years, contributed to the success of the company.  2019 marks 20 years, that we at NSA Global Security Consultants have been forging relationships and protecting lives all around the world. Along the way, we have been privileged […]

Estate Security in South Africa Volume 1 How safe is your estate?

Estate Security in South Africa Volume 1 How safe is your estate?: More often than not, security measures are configured to deter criminal elements, but the best security systems are those that provide the earliest detection.

Estate Security in South Africa Volume 2 - The Primary Threat

Estate Security in South Africa Volume 2 - The Primary Threat: In our first article on this topic we discussed several potential threats that compromise estate security in South Africa and offered you some valuable insights on how to mitigate or reduce these