The City of Johannesburg is battling to save its CCTV cameras, which have been instrumental in preventing crime in the city centre. Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Public Safety, David Tembe, revealed at a press briefing that the City is struggling to repair and maintain its cameras.
MMC Tembe says the lack of repairs and maintenance on the infrastructure, due to contractual issues with Metro Trading Company, continues to negatively impact the number of incidents detected via CCTV in the city. Tembe also bemoaned the constant power cuts in the city.
“We suffer at the cost of power outages. When load shedding occurs, it results in downtime in technology and equipment, and has additional negative impacts such as the lack of access to public calls and incidents to be logged,” he says. He says the city has been under siege with criminals terrorising residents in Johannesburg.
“The rule of law has been undermined, and in some instances, completely forgotten.
Tembe says criminals dictated people’s movements and made people feel vulnerable for far too long. “They have for far too long recruited our children, run rampant with illegal guns and ammunition, filled our streets with drugs and a long list of other crimes,” adds Tembe.
He says that has to come to an end with recruitment of 1,500 new metro police officers in the inner city and all other regions.
He said that with constant police operations and stop and search, criminals have been squeezed and feel the pressure. Gabriel Kgaswane, who is the Director of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, says working hand in hand with SAPS, Community Police Forums, and other law enforcement agencies has increased police visibility and operations.
“We will remain committed and determined. We have zero tolerance for fraud and corruption,” says Kgaswane.
Kgaswane says officials that are found to be outside the prescripts of the law will be dealt with. “We are relentless and we are unapologetic. Eight officers were dismissed from JMPD, two from EMS, and one from licensing,” he adds. In the past month, Kgaswane says the police have impounded 569 stolen vehicles, recovered 134 stolen vehicles, and arrested 47 people for possession of drugs.
