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National Key Points Act, 1980 (Act No. 102 of 1980)

Regulations

Regulations regarding the Appointment of Guards by Owners of National Key Points and the Powers of such Guards

13. Powers of security guards

 

(1) An authorised security guard (in this regulation referred to as a security guard) may at a Key Point examine any article, material, vehicle; container or other object (in this regulation referred to as an article) which the security guard observes or finds and which is not under the direct control of any specific person, and—
(a) the precise nature or ownership of which is not known to the security guard or which is not evident to him immediately; or
(b) which he knows or suspects on reasonable grounds—
(i) is concerned in the commission or suspected commission, or
(ii) may afford evidence of the commission or suspected commission; or
(iii) is intended to be used in the commission or suspected commission;

of an act prejudicially affecting the security of a Key Point, or which is concerned or may be believed to be concerned in an occurrence prejudicially affecting such security or in an incident;

in the manner which the circumstances require or make possible, and in accordance with the orders issued by the owner previously in connection with such articles, and the security measures taken and applied by the owner of the Key Point.

 

(2) The security guard shall, in so far as it can be done without clear danger to persons or risk of damage to property, take such article to the control security guard concerned or the chief security officer or the owner, or point it out to anyone of them, or, in the case of an article referred to in subregulation (1)(b), deal with it in accordance with regulation 14(8), (9) and (10), or remove it, as the circumstances may require, from the vicinity of the Key Point.

 

(3)
(a) If such article represents in the opinion of the security guard concerned an immediate danger to persons or a risk of damage to property, he may, as the circumstances may require and in so far as it may be practicable, render harmless, remove or destroy the article.
(b) A security guard shall, in the circumstances referred to in paragraph (a), and if it is practicable, give an immediate warning before, during or after the action contemplated in that paragraph to persons in the vicinity of the article or, if possible, to all persons at the Key Point.

 

(4) A security guard shall not damage an article, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by these Regulations, in a reckless or careless manner, or to any greater extent than may be necessary under the circumstances and for the purposes of the removal or prevention of the danger or the threat in question.

 

(5) A security guard who examines, renders harmless, removes or destroys an article in accordance with this regulation, may, in acting as contemplated in subregulation (3)(a), apply such measure of force in respect of persons or things which are in his way or which prevent or obstruct him so to act, as may under the circumstances be reasonably necessary to remove the danger or threat in question, if there is no other method or way to achieve that object.