Private Investigation

How the instruction works

The client instructs this firm. We assess whether there is a proper legal purpose — a court file, a disciplinary process, a criminal complaint, a due-diligence or recovery mandate. If the work is proper, we agree the scope and the fee before anyone is deployed. Fieldwork is done by a licensed investigator under that instruction. The report belongs to the file.

• Written instruction and a defined question, not an open brief to “see what you find”
• Quote before deployment — hourly or a scoped fee, itemised
• A report, annexures, and a chain of custody that can be handed to counsel, the CCMA, or SAPS

Corporate & workplace

Company instructions sit next to the in-house legal desk. The investigation is for a hearing, a recovery, or a report to the board — not a general security retainer.

• Employee and internal theft; stock shrinkage; cash and till shortages
• Procurement fraud, ghost vendors, kickbacks, and collusion in the supply chain
• Workplace misconduct and lifestyle facts that bear on a disciplinary charge
• Staff, executive, and vendor background for employment or a commercial instruction
• Due diligence on a counterpart, a target company, or a beneficial owner, on written instruction
• Leakage of confidential information and related intellectual-property enquiries
• Evidence packed for a fair procedure under the Labour Relations Act, including a CCMA hearing

We do not put an undercover operative into a workplace unless the instruction is lawful, the purpose is defined, and the evidence will be usable. If the facts belong in a civil recovery, the file can move to Debt Collection.

Criminal support

SAPS remains the investigating authority on a crime. What we do is the work a complainant or an accused often cannot get from a docket that is not moving: an independent record, identified witnesses, a timeline, and exhibits that can be handed over.

• Theft, burglary, and related property offences — tracing, identification, and a usable evidence pack
• Assault and related complaints where the client needs a file that can be taken to SAPS or to court
• Insurance and staged-claim enquiries where the insurer or the insured instructs us in writing
• Support on a fraud complaint: flow of funds so far as the papers and lawful sources allow, witness statements, a docket that a prosecutor can read

We do not take over a murder docket. Where a family or an insurer needs an independent record beside the police file, we will say whether that instruction is proper and what it can actually produce.

Asset trace & recovery

Before a summons, after judgment, or while a debtor has gone quiet: where the person is, what can be attached, and whether a recovery is worth the cost. This desk feeds Debt Collection when the next step is a letter of demand or execution.

• Trace of individuals, last-known address, employment, and associated vehicles
• Property, company, and movable-asset enquiries from public records and lawful fieldwork
• Support for attachment, section 65, and related recovery steps once the court file exists

We do not freeze accounts, seize goods, or “recover” property outside the process the law provides.

Skip tracing, missing persons, and service of process

A defendant who cannot be found stalls the action. A relative who has dropped out of sight is a different instruction. Both start with a last-known address and end with a report that can be used.

• Skip tracing and last-known-address enquiries for litigation and collection files
• Missing-person enquiries where the purpose is lawful and the client has standing to ask
• Support for service of court process where the address on the papers is no longer good
• Background for a visa, employment, or due-diligence file, on written instruction

Surveillance & technical checks

Observation is a means, not a product. We deploy it where a photograph, a time-stamped video, or a pattern of movement answers a question that the papers cannot.

• Mobile surveillance and static observation of a defined subject, address, or workplace, within the law
• Covert stills and video for a court, CCMA, or disciplinary file
• Lawful tracking of a vehicle or asset the client is entitled to monitor — own fleet, consent, or a court order. We do not plant a tracker on a third party’s car because someone is curious
• Technical checks for hidden cameras, microphones, and illicit trackers on premises or vehicles the client controls

Family & matrimonial

These instructions sit with the personal legal consultant where a divorce, maintenance, or care-and-contact file is open or about to be opened. The question is evidence, not humiliation.

• Conduct that bears on a divorce or a Rule 43 / maintenance dispute, scoped in writing
• Cohabitation, income, and lifestyle facts where they are relevant to a claim
• Whereabouts of a parent or a child where a court process requires it

We will not take a brief to “see if they are cheating” with no legal purpose behind it.

Extortion, blackmail, and threats

Do not pay the first demand. Preserve the messages, the numbers, and the account details, and instruct us before anything is transferred. The work is to identify, so far as the law allows, who is making the demand, to contain the leak where that is possible, and to put a file in front of SAPS or a court.

• Personal blackmail and so-called sextortion — preserve the trail; do not negotiate in the dark
• Business “protection” demands and related intimidation of a company, site, or staff
• Anonymous threats by phone, mail, or message, documented for a complaint or an interdict

We do not hack the sender’s device, spoof an identity, or retrieve encrypted messages by going around the service provider. If the facts support a criminal charge or an urgent interdict, that is the next step, not a private confrontation.

What we will not do

A legitimate instruction has a legal purpose and a lawful method. The following are refused, without exception:

• Hacking a cellphone, email, or cloud account
• Remote retrieval of WhatsApp or other encrypted messages — it is not lawfully available, and it is not something we pretend to sell
• Illegal surveillance, trespass, or impersonation of a police officer or a public official
• A fishing expedition without a file, a hearing, or a proper question
• Planting evidence, trapping, or any method that would collapse under cross-examination

If the only way to answer the question is to break the law, the answer from this office is no.