Teleservice
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private security |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Joaquim Duarte da Costa and former Angolan military officials |
| Headquarters | Luanda , Angola |
Area served | Angola |
Key people | Generals António dos Santos França, João de Matos, Luís Pereira Faceira, António Emilio Faceira, Armando da Cruz Neto, Paulo Pfluger Barreto Lara, Adriano Makevela Mackenzie, Carlos Alberto Hendrick Vaal da Silva, Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias |
| Products | Security services including offshore installation protection, industrial and property safeguarding, cash-in-transit operations, VIP and personal security escorting, security risk assessment and management |
Number of employees | 5000+ (2024) |
Teleservice Sociedade de Segurança e Serviços Lda stands as Angola's foremost private security enterprise, catering primarily to leading international oil corporations and the state-owned Sonangol Group.
History
Established in 1993 as a private military entity, Teleservice initially focused on safeguarding Angola’s mining and petroleum industries amid the civil conflict. The company was formed through collaboration between former Angolan military officials—including ex-Sonangol director Joaquim Duarte da Costa—and South Africa’s Gray Security Services Ltd, which had ties to the mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes until South African foreign military participation was prohibited in 1998. Prominent founding members with substantial ownership stakes included:
- General António dos Santos França, then President of DeBeers Angola (10%)
- General João de Matos, ex-Chief of General Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) (10%)
- General Luís Pereira Faceira, former Chief of Staff of FAPLA (9%)
- General António Emilio Faceira, ex-commander of Special Forces (8%)
- General Armando da Cruz Neto, then Governor of Benguela (7%)
- General Paulo Pfluger Barreto Lara, Inspector-General of FAA General Staff (6%)
- Generals Adriano Makevela Mackenzie, Carlos Alberto Hendrick Vaal da Silva, and Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias also played key leadership roles.
In 1995, Teleservice inaugurated its Divisão Marítima to deliver security for riverine and offshore operations. By 2002, the firm transitioned from private military contracting toward providing civilian security services with diminished armed engagement.
As of October 2024, the workforce exceeds 5,000 Angolan employees.
Human rights abuses, revelations, and suppression
In 2011, Angolan journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Rafael Marques authored Diamantes de Sangue: Corrupção e Tortura em Angola (Blood Diamonds), unveiling grave human rights abuses committed by personnel from Teleservice, the FAA, and other private security companies guarding diamond extraction activities in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul provinces. The publication documented more than five hundred cases involving massacres, killings, sexual violence, mutilations, extortion, torture, and forced labor. Several generals referenced in the report were also subjects of a criminal complaint filed by Marques. In December 2011, protests involving upwards of 18,000 individuals demanded Teleservice’s removal—a demand that was fulfilled by March 2012.
The accused generals sought defamation proceedings in Portugal in 2013—the country where the book was published—but the attorney general dismissed the case due to the report’s substantiated credibility. In 2015, following Marques’s receipt of an international journalism accolade, Angolan authorities initiated twenty-four defamation lawsuits against him with potential fines exceeding $1.2 million and prison terms up to nine years. He was convicted on one charge and handed a six-month suspended sentence. Significantly, senior Angolan officials including the Minister of the Interior and Head of State Intelligence recognized the human rights violations and harm detailed in Marques’s investigation.
After receiving backing from over thirty jewelers alongside press freedom and human rights organizations worldwide, charges against Marques were dropped on condition that Diamantes de Sangue would not be republished.
Services
Teleservice offers a variety of security solutions, encompassing protection for offshore installations such as oil rigs, industrial and property safeguarding, cash-in-transit operations, VIP and personal security escorting, along with comprehensive security risk assessment and risk management services.
Clients
Among Teleservice's distinguished clientele are:
- Sonangol Group
- Chevron-Texaco
- Esso
- Halliburton
- Norsk Hydro
- Petromar International
- Sociedade Mineira do Cuango, an entity with shared ownership ties to Teleservice
- TotalEnergies
References