Investigation into beating by Ensure guards is still ongoing, say eThekwini municipality

People living on the streets of eThekwini’s city centre have accused guards working for a private security company called Ensure Security of targeting and assaulting them. Archive photo: Joseph Bracken

It has been two months since the eThekwini Municipality launched an internal investigation into the conduct of its security contractor, Ensure Security.

This follows CCTV footage showing a homeless man being assaulted by Ensure security guards. The footage of the assault, which happened on 18 December 2025, was released by the Denis Hurley Centre on 2 February on their Facebook page.

In response to several complaints by the centre and others, the municipality promised to investigate and said it was in the process of reviewing Ensure’s contract. But months later, there appears to have been no action taken against the company.

The company initially denied any knowledge of incidents involving its guards. But after the video was released, Ensure said all guards involved had been suspended.

Ensure was originally awarded a 36-month contract in September 2024 to provide security in Durban’s inner city.

When questioned by GroundUp, Sandile Mnguni, the municipality’s chief financial officer, said that Ensure’s contract was under internal investigation and therefore no further comment could be provided.

This month, municipal spokesperson Luthando Ngubane said the investigation is “ongoing” but would not provide further details.

But according to Raymond Perrier, director of the Dennis Hurley Centre, the municipality informed them that it concluded the investigation.

He added that people visiting the Dennis Hurley Centre have reported being recently beaten by Ensure guards. “Whatever measures Ensure Security may have taken to improve the behaviour of their security staff, they have clearly not been effective.”

The centre’s repeated requests to Ensure Security for a meeting have been ignored, including a meeting organised by the centre with municipal officials, said Perrier.

Now the centre has launched a campaign, calling on Ensure’s corporate clients to demand an explanation from Kyle Connolly, the company’s CEO about the actions of their guards and what remedies are being implemented to prevent another similar incident from happening.

Connolly did not respond to our questions.

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