A series of increasingly violent attacks on South African security officers has left workers in the industry living in fear, as the killings have become an almost weekly occurrence.

In the month of June alone, four officers have been killed in the line of duty by callous criminals.

The Association of Private Security Owners of South Africa (TAPSOSA) said its records show 16 security officers have lost their lives since January.

Last Thursday, a security guard was brutally murdered during a break-in at Mthiyazi Primary School in Gutshwa village in Mpumalanga province. Earlier in the week, two guards were shot dead while escorting Eskom technicians attending to an electricity supply fault in Philippi East in Cape Town, bringing to 16 the number of officers killed in the line of duty since January.

"It's too much, the killings have become so prevalent it's scary for many of us. Clearly, we are not safe and we have no means to defend ourselves," said Walter Siziba, 33, who guards a complex in Midrand, Johannesburg.

According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), a total of 2.01 million crimes were recorded in 2019 – down from the 2.09 million recorded in 2018. This represents a 1% increase in the number of reported crimes in the 17 public categories, along with a massive 22% decline in the number of crimes as a result of police action.

Warren Skhosana, 38, another security officer in Menlyn Mall, Pretoria said it was sad they leave home for work without any guarantees they will return.

"I've seen an officer being killed at the mall, but scary as it is there's nothing one can do because we have families to feed," he said.

Tapsosa said that "unbridled killing spree" had shown that security officers were an obvious target in a country with a high level of crime and where criminals were increasingly accessing firearms.

"The killing of security officers is really distressing. We were promised the industry safety standards last year when we engaged with SAPS, but till today they haven't come back to us. We'll have to push to present the matter and other pressing issues to the Parliament's portfolio committee for urgent interventions," Tapsosa President, Jones Maphalaphathwa said.

SAPS national spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said police were working closely with some companies that "are properly registered with the PSIRA Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSIRA)" to prevent the killings.

Tapsosa has also asked the PSIRA to urgently engage stakeholders in "adopting a new safety and security strategy in the industry, as mandated by the deputy minister of police".