Start a security company

What is included

• Company registration at CIPC, R790 on its ownYour private company registered, with the R175 in CIPC fees already included. You can start as a number company and add a formal name later if you would rather register fast.
• Both directors registered with PSiRA, R390 each on its ownTwo director registrations are included. Every director, member or partner has to hold a PSiRA registration in their own name at Grade B or better before the business application can succeed, and we screen each of them against section 23 in writing before a cent of PSiRA money is spent. More than two directors, add R390 each.
• PSiRA business registration, R3 490 on its ownAll ten documents assembled and formatted to PSiRA’s upload rules, the suretyship checked signature by signature, both copies of form PSiRA 24a completed, the uniform and insignia submission prepared before you order stock, and the whole file submitted on ePSiRA with the APP reference tracked through every review level.
• COIDA registration, R1 290 on its ownRegistration as an employer with the Compensation Fund, your industry subclass confirmed so you are not over-assessed for years, your first Return of Earnings submitted and the application for your first letter of good standing. Every serious client will ask for that letter.
• UIF registration, R690 on its ownRegistered as an employer with the Unemployment Insurance Fund and your monthly declaration routine set up, so the deductions you are already making off your officers actually reach the Fund.
• The order sorted out for youDirectors before the business, company before either, COIDA and UIF alongside. Getting this wrong is the single most expensive mistake in the industry, because PSiRA’s R9 100 registration fee is not refundable when an application fails.
• A written go or no go before you spendAfter the questionnaire we come back in writing with anything that will block the application: a director who cannot be registered, premises that will not pass the infrastructure assessment, a name that will not clear. You get that before any authority fee is paid.
• A renewal calendar for all fivePSiRA annual fees and the 1 April increase, certificate renewals, the Return of Earnings season, UIF declarations and the CIPC annual return, in one calendar rather than five surprises.

What this costs in total

Our fee is the only money that comes to us. Everything below it is paid to the authority at cost, with no mark up, and we show you each amount before it is paid. Be clear eyed about this: PSiRA, not us, is the expensive part of starting a security company.

• Our fee, R5 490. The five registrations come to R7 040 bought separately, so the pack saves you R1 550.
• PSiRA business registration, R11 700 on the 2026/27 schedule. That is R9 100 to register, R2 300 for the infrastructure assessment of a new business and R300 for the compulsory manual of information. The registration fee is not refundable, which is why we check the blockers first.
• PSiRA officer registration, R310 per director on the 2026/27 schedule, so R620 for two.
• PSiRA annual fees from R6 500 a year for 1 to 50 officers, charged pro rata from registration to the following April, and the schedule increases on 1 April.
• The Compensation Fund’s annual assessment, separate and paid to the Fund. The minimum is roughly R1 621 a year for 2026/27, and your actual figure depends on your payroll and subclass.
• CIPC and UIF. CIPC’s R175 is already inside our company registration fee. UIF registration is free.
• Training is not included and is not ours to charge for. Grade training for your directors and officers is paid to a PSiRA accredited provider. Check the accreditation before you pay for any course, because training from an unaccredited provider cannot be used and the money is gone.

Why the order matters more than the paperwork

A security business registration is not one application. It is a chain, and each link has to exist before the next one will hold.

The company has to exist before PSiRA will consider a business application, because PSiRA registers the legal entity. Every director has to be registered as a security officer in their own name, at Grade B or better, before the business file goes in. Section 23 of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act disqualifies people on citizenship, on criminal record and on a handful of grounds most founders have never heard of, and it applies to the directors personally, not just to their employees.

People discover this in the wrong order all the time. They register a company, pay PSiRA R9 100, and the application fails because a co-director cannot be registered. That money does not come back. Checking it first costs nothing and is the most valuable thing in this pack.

How ordering works

1. Order online and answer the questionnaire in your client portal. It asks for the founders, the premises and what kind of guarding you intend to do, so nothing needs a phone call.
2. We screen every director against section 23 and come back in writing with a go or a no go, before any PSiRA fee is spent.
3. The company goes in at CIPC first, then the director registrations on ePSiRA, then the business file with the suretyship, the PSiRA 24a and the uniform submission.
4. COIDA and UIF run alongside, because neither depends on PSiRA and both take weeks of their own.
5. Everything lands in your client portal as it is issued, with one calendar covering what renews when.

Not sure this is the right one for you? Ask us first and you get a written answer within one business day.

What we will need from you

• Identity documents for every director, and confirmation of South African citizenship or permanent residence. This is a hard requirement under section 23 and there is no way around it.
• Whether any director has a criminal record or a pending case, and whether any of them served in the military, the police or intelligence. The last one triggers a clearance certificate requirement that adds time.
• Existing PSiRA grades and registration numbers, if any director already holds one. If nobody does, tell us and we will set out the training route before you order.
• The premises you will operate from, because PSiRA assesses the infrastructure and a residential address is a common reason for a provisional rejection.
• What kind of security service you intend to render, which decides the COIDA subclass as well as the PSiRA category. The subclass sets what you are assessed for years, so it is worth getting right the first time.
• How many people you expect to employ in the first year, including any directors drawing a salary.

What this pack deliberately leaves out

So that the price means something, here is what is not in it and roughly what each one costs when you need it.

• Bargaining council registration, R690. Private security employers are bound by the sector’s collective agreement where it has been extended, whether or not they joined. You will need this, we just do not pretend it is optional by burying it in a bundle.
• PSiRA officers beyond the two directors, R390 each. Your guards are registered per person. Volume pricing on request from ten.
• The Security Operations Pack, R1 490. The two registers the law requires, both application checklists, the PPE record and the site instruction and occurrence documents. Worth adding before your first site, not before your first client.
• Firearm licences. If you intend to arm officers, that is a separate SAPS process with its own timeline. Start it early and separately.
• A business plan, R1 990. Only if you are raising money or applying for funding. It is not needed for any of the five registrations.

Frequently asked questions