The South African drone market is certainly on the up-and-up. According to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s ‘South African Drone Market 2019’ report, the global drone market will increase from $14 billion in 2018 to more than $43 billion in 2024 (a compound annual growth rate of 20.5 percent). South Africa is the largest drone market within Africa currently, with these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) being utilised by industries including agriculture, mining, construction and municipalities, as well as for security purposes. 

“Drones are currently a hot topic within the security space, with growing scope for their use in site assessments, for patrolling and inspection purposes, and also for perimeter and large area surveillance,” explains Sven Smit, Event Director at Specialised Exhibitions, a division of the Montgomery Group. “And because drones are becoming an increasingly important part of an organisation’s value chain and holistic security management strategy at a global level, we wanted to bring a greater focus to this technology at this year’s Securex South Africa expo.” 

Securex takes place between 02 and 04 June 2020 at Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg and is co-located with both A-OSH EXPO and Facilities Management Expo. 

Securex 2020 exhibitor, Drone Guards, a provider of drones, drone pilots and unmanned aerial surveillance systems, will play an instrumental role in showcasing the use of an ‘eye in the sky’ as an effective measure of protecting people and property at this year’s show. Kim James, Drone Guards director, explains: “Drone Guards will be working closely with the team at Gallagher Convention Centre to add a layer to its existing security operations. We will be using drones to patrol the external Gallagher car park, as we would for a client, streaming real-time footage to the Drone Guards exhibition stand (F23).” 

Drone Guards experts and trained pilots will then be available to Securex visitors to interpret the video feed and explain how this type of technology can be used in different commercial and residential scenarios. 

The multi-rotor drone that will be used at Securex will follow a pre-identified route using GPS co-ordinates, patrolling the perimeter of the car park and demonstrating route randomisation, the practicalities of battery life and charging, as well as manual control via an on-site remote pilot station. “This will be a real-life demonstration on how drones can be integrated into existing security measures, as we will be working in tandem with the Gallagher control room and on-ground security team.” 

James advises that drones used as part of visible policing efforts in estates, for example, have resulted in a decrease in untoward activity such as cable theft and other crime. “Drones have speed on their side when it comes to patrolling,” she states. “Human guards are able to cover 5km per hour on average with a fairly limited viewpoint, whereas drones fly at approximately 35km an hour for this purpose, at a better vantage point, and thus with greater coverage. 

“Drone Guards exhibited at Securex for the first time in 2019 and enjoyed a highly successful show - to the point that we’ve taken a bigger stand this year, in addition to our live drone demos.” 

Says Smit: “The drones being showcased at Securex 2020 will also be of interest to visitors of our two co-located trade shows, A-OSH EXPO and Facilities Management Expo, due to their growing use within the construction industry in particular. This is reflective of the incredible value to be gained from our ‘three shows, one roof’ approach.”