Winners of the inaugural South Africa OSPAs are announced

Jun 3, 2021News

The presentation of the first-ever South Africa Outstanding Security Performance Awards (OSPAs) took place virtually on Thursday 3rd June 2021 as part of an internationally attended online Thought Leadership Webinar – ‘We have a ‘new normal’ but do we have a ‘new security’ to match? Examining the implications for South Africa’ organised in collaboration with Securex South Africa.

OSPA winners were selected by an esteemed panel of industry figures who judged entries using the same criteria which is applied to OSPAs around the world.  Each winner demonstrated that they have performed at an exceptional level and has shown their commitment and outstanding performance within the security sector.

OSPAs Founder, Professor Martin Gill, said “We are very happy to be able to bring the OSPAs to South Africa with the help of Securex South Africa and our supporting associations. The outstanding performers in security often operate under the radar and it is important to recognise those who are the best at what they do. This year’s finalists and winners should feel very proud.”

The winners of the 2021 South Africa OSPAs are:

Outstanding Security Consultant
Marlene Welman – Joint Operations Intelligence Centre
“I am extremely humbled and appreciative of the award and the value the judges and the person who nominated me place on my contribution to doing something I am passionate about. Being judged by one’s peers is quite a daunting experience and to be held in high esteem by judges of such a high calibre is truly appreciated.
My colleagues are overjoyed at the award and I believe that being one of the first winners in South Africa makes it that much more special.”

Outstanding Security Installer/Integrator
Secutel Technologies
“For us, it was a significant achievement to have been nominated as finalists in two OSPA categories this year and we are delighted that we won the category for Outstanding Security Installer/Integrator for 2021 in South Africa. This award is recognition for the hard work and dedication of our staff and we sincerely thank them for that and we believe this award proves to our staff that it does make a difference to go the extra mile. We also thank our clients for including us in their journey to address the challenges associated with the constantly changing crime landscape and we know that this OSPA award confirms our commitment to the excellence of our service to them.
We thank the OSPA and judges for this award and we congratulate all other nominees and winners of all categories this year.”
 – Danny Pringle, Executive Director at Secutel Technologies 

Outstanding New Security Product
Digital Investigations Suite (DIS) – Dragonfruit AI

Outstanding Security Equipment Manufacturer
Cathexis Technologies
“We are very honoured to have won the internationally recognised OSPA award. As a proud South African company that is 100% locally owned and products that are locally designed and manufactured, we support the initiatives that are associated with OSPA’s in improving the security industry and improving the skills and knowledge base of all stakeholders and staff.”– Gus Brecher, Managing Director Cathexis Africa 

Congratulations to all the finalists and especially the winners on their achievements. Winners summaries can be found here.

The OSPAs would like to thank all the supporting associations and their representative judges who took part in the 2021 South Africa OSPAs, and whose commitment to the awards is invaluable. Our thanks also go to our South Africa media partners, and a very special thanks to Securex South Africa for their collaboration. The winners will be able to receive their trophies at the Securex show in November 2021.

Our thanks also go to Edith Cowan University for sponsoring the Trophies and Certificates globally.

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