In a judgment delivered today, the Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority against a judgment of the Transvaal Provincial Division. The court a quo declared (a) regulation 10(3) of the Regulation Relating to Appeals and Applications for exemptions, 2003 promulgated in terms of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act 56 of 2001 (the Act, which seeks to regulate the private security industry) invalid and (b) two exemptions granted to the respondents (which are a group of platinum mining companies that provide security services to one another on an in-house basis) under the Act without term, of indefinite nature and valid in the terms in which they were granted. The regulation purported to terminate the exemptions which relieved the respondents and their foreign employees from some of the requirements relating to the registration of security service providers under the Act.

The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the court a quo, albeit on narrower grounds, It held that – bearing in mind that the Minister of Safety and Security (the functionary vested with the power to administer the Act in conjunction with the Authority) granted the exemptions in the exercise of his administrative powers under sections 1(2) and 20(5) of the Act and made the regulations in the exercise of his regulatory powers under s 35 of the Act – the matter fell to be determined in two stages: (a) Did the Act confer power on the Minister to issue exemptions that were of indefinite duration? (b) If so, did the Act authorise the Minister to make regulations that terminated all exemptions generally (including those granted to the respondents)?