Executive Protection

Executives face risks that ordinary staff do not: hijacking and follow-home robberies because they drive visible vehicles, kidnapping or extortion attempts because of their role, and confrontations during labour disputes, restructurings or controversial decisions. Visiting executives unfamiliar with Johannesburg roads and neighbourhoods face additional exposure.

Protecting key people is also about business continuity. A company that loses access to its leadership, even briefly, can lose much more than the cost of a protection programme.

Not every executive needs every element. The programme is assembled from what the risk assessment shows.

Executive protection succeeds when it is coordinated with the people who run the executive's day: personal assistants, travel coordinators, facilities managers and, where relevant, the company's own security function. We agree a single point of contact, how schedules are shared and how changes are communicated, so protection keeps pace with the diary.

Officers are selected to fit the corporate setting: well-presented, discreet in meetings and comfortable working with senior people. All are PSIRA-registered and screened.

Some companies need protection only at certain times: during strike action, retrenchments or disciplinary processes, after specific threats, or while hosting visiting directors and investors. We can set up a temporary programme for these periods and wind it down when the risk passes. Where threats come from inside the business, our private investigations team can help establish the facts lawfully.

We start with a confidential meeting with the company's decision-maker to understand the executive's role, profile, movements and any known threats. A written proposal follows, setting out the elements recommended, officer numbers, hours and reporting. Programmes can be ongoing or for a defined period, and are reviewed as circumstances change. For individuals and families outside a corporate context, see VIP protection and bodyguards.