Prohibition of mercenary activities in country of armed conflict act no. 27 of 2006 south africa10/10/2023 ![]() ![]() 5 This rise of the private security industry should come as no surprise at a time when more than six million highly skilled soldiers were facing demobilisation, and enormous stocks of weapons had fallen into private hands. In a "world that needs security", 3 the private security industry is one of the "fastest growing sectors of the economy worldwide", 4 estimated in 2005 to be worth one hundred billion US dollars a year. Since the end of the Cold War the outsourcing of military and security functions to private security contractors (PSCs) 1 has reached unprecedented levels 2 in armed conflicts. Keywords: International humanitarian law private security contractors mercenaries South Africa's anti-mercenary legislation citizenship Lastly we consider the constitutional challenges which might emerge as this legislation, and a proposed amendment to the South African Citizenship Act threaten the constitutionally protected rights of South African PSCs to practise a profession and enjoy citizenship. We discuss the likelihood of successful prosecution of PSCs, and the potential penalties that PSCs might face in terms of the South African legislation. ![]() We then shift our focus to the South African legislation and discuss the ambit of its application as compared with international law obligations to outlaw mercenaries. We address the issue of prohibited mercenarism, questioning whether PSCs should be categorised as mercenaries. In this article we place private security contractors (PSCs) under the microscope of international law, exploring the role they play in armed conflicts, and the status afforded them by international humanitarian law (IHL). Not only is this legislation completely unique, but it appears wholly at odds with international opinion. E-Mail: Africa has adopted two pieces of legislation since 1998 aimed at restricting one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy: the private security industry. ![]() ![]() Lecturer in Law, Howard College, Faculty of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Senior Lecturer in Law, Howard College, Faculty of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.E-mail: LLM (University of Pretoria). IBA (Hons) LLB (University of Natal) LLM (Cambridge). South african private security contractors active in armed conflicts: citizenship, prosecution and the right to work ![]()
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