“Strikes often start out peacefully but turn violent very quickly.”
The “SAINTS”
We provide elite teams of dedicated and disciplined armed operatives, deployed to companies during violent strikes and protest action.
Our units have come to be known as “The SAINTS” thanks to their skills and professional expertise that have saved and protected countless companies during strikes and union driven violence. The objective of protesting or striking is ultimately to disrupt the production of your company to the point where you are forced to agree to their demands. In taking this approach, unions will often bolster the number of protesters by sending in an unruly mob who destabilise the peaceful protest, quickly turning it into a riot.
If your company is potentially a target of the violent unrest that has become a permanent narrative of protest action, it is important you consider your security strategy. Armed security personnel are not the same as Armed Strike security teams.
These teams, like our “SAINTS”, are extremely efficient at assessing, deploying, and managing the myriad of risks associated with strike and riot uprisings.
Our firm has invested heavily in securing the best armed security strikes operatives. Their training was received during their days as counter insurgent operatives and from within the various specialised Police units.
Obtaining the services of these armed security strike units is essential to the overall risk management and security of your people and assets.
Are our Armed security operatives militias?
No! Our armed security strike protection teams are deployed on a strict lawful and legal understanding. We are there to ensure protection of your human capital first and foremost. Although armed, our armed security personnel are completely proficient and well versed in the laws that govern the country, and what is legal and acceptable when it comes to crowd control and security.
Do you just respond if we need you?
A frequently asked question, to which the answer is normally no.
Successfully managing a hostile environment and providing security that is armed and highly skilled requires planning and preparation. If your company requires the services of our armed security strike personnel, we will almost always request a thorough site assessment and vulnerabilities audit be done first.
In the event of a strike or unrest, our strike security units are most effective when we are already on the premises. Deploying after a union or community goes on strike is a recipe for violent confrontation, and immediately takes away any high ground protection and advantage our armed security strike ops would have had.
Do we only use live ammunition?
No! Live ammunition is reserved as a last resort in matters of life and death. Volatile crowds and agitators, including politicians, would love to hear more about live ammunition being used on “innocent” people protesting “peacefully”.
Therefore, we avoid these situations by firstly making sure our armed security strike operatives are experienced and have the correct emotional intelligence to read and assess riot or strike atmosphere. Secondly, our levels of engagement are based on repelling any acts of violence or arson. This is done using non-lethal ammunition. “Ammunition” such rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, pepper spray, and stun grenades are always the go to methods to repel or disperse violent crowds.
In extreme cases, we have found that the use of “blank” rounds has the fright and flight effect our armed security strike teams aim for.
With adequate planning and deploying of armed personnel with the correct experience and security knowledge, the above-mentioned strategies are 90% effective.
Vehicle petrol bombed during strike action
So how do I respond to a strike situation?
By engaging with our firm on all strike security related matters. We will provide the following:
- A detailed plan of action, designed specifically around your company and premises
- Brief your strike management team on precisely what needs to happen before, during, and after a strike
- We will deploy visible strike protection officers strategically placed around your property
- Our strike team leader will advise and communicate with you on all issues, concerns, and actions thought the shift
- Our strike video and evidence unit will record all acts of violence, intimidation, and vandalism for evidentiary purposes
- We will provide all vulnerable employees, including women, contractors, and executives with the required close protection escorts, where required
The four pillars of successfully managing a strike or riot:
- Timely decision-making under stressful conditions
- A detailed action plan, well presented, verbalised, and explained
- Visibility of an organised, disciplined, and strong security contingent
- Communication
“FACT! Very few – and we mean very few – ‘security’ companies are equipped, skilled and logistically able to assist you with credible strike and violence protest action.”
Thus, companies are finding out the hard way that their security provider actually creates bigger legal and Duty of Care problems during strike action than they could’ve ever imagined.
Now is the time for you to identify and collaborate with strike protection professionals who genuinely know how to commandeer a premises and deploy and manage the volatility that comes with mass protests and strike action.
To start off with, we recommend that those executives and security managers linked to the security portfolio create a relationship with our company, ensuring we will add serious value during strike action. Making up the numbers by hiring bouncers and roughnecks is not the answer. Sadly, many companies fall into this trap and learn the rather painful and expensive way that they made a poor strike security decision.
Now is the time to have that uncomfortable discussion about your strategy, should a strike blow your way. Waiting until formal (if you are lucky) notifications arrive, is too late! To assist you with a starting agenda, here are our 20 points to consider during strike preparedness meetings:
1. Demarcation of picketing areas
2. Lines of visual zones for red, yellow, and green counter action
3. Lockdown
4. Roles of responsibility for management team
5. Strike protection personnel (numbers)
6. Equipment requirements
7. Contact details of essential services
8. Use of non-lethal force
9. Emergency services
10. Liaison committee
11. Safe zones for non-striking employees
12. Working status of CCTV cameras
13. Firefighting stations
14. Physical perimeter inspection and maintenance
15. Early warning communication platforms
16. Discussion on business continuity plans
17. Temporary housing of high-risk employees and supervisors
18. Logistical arrangements for carpooling
19. Budgetary requirements for strike related services
20. Temporary state of emergency protocols for your business
Through more than thirty successful years and some of South Africa’s most violent strikes and labour unrest, D&K Management Consultants has been at the forefront of protection against strike violence.
Our units now known simply as “The Saints”, due to our company logo and tell-tale black combat gear, are a common site at striking companies.
The reason? We are very good at what we do. We specialise in strike protection and preparedness plans. Our Saints Units’ understanding of South African laws and property protection rights are unmatched. We do not act impulsively, remain calm and calculating, and in the face of extreme threats and potential harm we have never faced a single lawsuit or criminal negligence complaint.