Durban — The eThekwini Municipality has indicated that the inner city closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be fully operational before the festive season.
It said the project to upgrade and repair CCTV cameras in the inner city is progressing well and the municipality was well on its way to achieving its goal of ensuring that all CCTV cameras in the inner city are working by the end of November.
On Monday, eThekwini deputy mayor Zandile Myeni and the municipality’s Security and Emergency Committee conducted an oversight visit to assess the project.
The delegation walked around the city centre to inspect the functionality of the cameras that have been repaired.
Myeni said that after the Disaster Management Unit recently presented a detailed plan of action to fix the cameras to the Safety and Security Services Committee, they wanted to gauge the progress of the project first-hand.
“We are satisfied with the progress and how the City is moving into smart policing,” Myeni said.
The plan to fix defective outdoor surveillance cameras is part of the City’s concerted effort to ensure the safety of residents and tourists, she said.
“This major repair and upgrade in technology will go a long way in enhancing the City’s ability to detect crime before it occurs as well as maintaining law and order,” Myeni said.
The repairs of surveillance cameras in the city centre formed part of phase 1 of the project. The rollout of phase 2 will cover all regions in eThekwini. Fifteen new sites have been identified as hotspots where new cameras will be installed as part of the second phase.
In a bid to strengthen smart policing, an operational control room will be set up at the Boscombe Place Metro Police near the beachfront, where all surveillance cameras along the promenade will be monitored from the station.
The municipality said that entrance and exit points to the city have been prioritised to ensure there are no escape routes. The Metro Police and SAPS are working together to curb crime in and around the city centre through the use of surveillance cameras.
To complement these efforts, the City has also increased the number of visible law enforcement officers deployed to crime hotspots. This includes township areas which also have active police stations.
Last week, mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said that in the past month, the municipality started repairing all its CCTV cameras and its teams have assured them that they will finalise this work by the end of this month.
“This will go a long way in enhancing our ability to detect crime before it occurs,” Kaunda said.
WhatsApp your views on this story to 071 485 7995.
Daily News