Gallagher Security awarded contract to secure one of South Africa's largest universities

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Award winning global security manufacturer, Gallagher Security has been awarded the contract to secure the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) in Johannesburg, one of South Africa’s largest universities.

Spread across 400 acres in Braamfontein and Parktown, WITS boasts five faculties comprising 35 schools, more than 30 service departments, 11 libraries, 18 halls of residence with 6600 beds, and offers 3416 courses.

In 2024, WITS was ranked 291 out of 20,966 universities, putting it in the top 1.4% in the world, and in 2023 it had an enrolment count of 42,189 students and a staff of 1273.

Together with Channel Partner, FS Systems, Gallagher will replace the existing access control system with their award-winning site management platform, Command Centre. The 18-month roll out, which began this month, is expected to be completed in 2027. The installation will be completed in two phases to streamline the implementation and mitigate any risks.

Gallagher Security, Sales Manager – South Africa, Tarryn Fortune says, “173 buildings have been identified across seven campuses that need to be migrated onto Gallagher’s system. Phase one will be the major component of the migration and will encompass the replacement of all the existing access control hardware with Gallagher hardware.”

Additionally, the existing card readers and wave readers will be reused and hardwired onto new Gallagher controllers. All other door hardware such as maglocks, break-glass units, pushbuttons, cabling will be kept, and a new interface will be developed. 

A driving force behind the system upgrade was the university’s decision to engage local support. Their previous software system was US-based, and incurred additional license costs each time a new integration was implemented.

Tarryn says, “We are thrilled to be partnering with WITS to deliver a fully integrated security solution that not only enhances campus safety but also streamlines operations. By consolidating multiple security systems into one intelligent Gallagher platform, WITS will gain greater control, efficiency, and future scalability. Our focus is always on providing innovative, people-centric security solutions that adapt to the evolving needs of our customers, and this project is a testament to that commitment.”

At present, the project will include 2500 doors and 80,000 cardholders.