In an effort to tackle crime in and around Durban, eThekwini Municipality has spent around R100 million to repair and upgrade closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda conducted an oversight inspection of the City’s camera control room where he received a detailed demonstration of how the cameras would help to tackle crime.
The mayor was joined by metro police acting commissioner Sibonelo Mchunu and head of Disaster Management Vincent Ngubane.
Kaunda said the municipality had cameras in the CBD as well as surrounding areas including Jacobs, KwaMashu, Verulam and Glebelands Hostel in uMlazi.
He said the repairs cost the City about R100m and cameras in other areas still needed to be repaired.
“We are continuing to repair others, we have got a bigger number but our priority was to ensure that the CBD is in our hands.”
Ngubane said there were 69 staff members allocated to the CCTV control room with nine staff members and one supervisor on duty around the clock.
“If there are shortages then we have to cover that through overtime,” he said.
He said if staff observed an incident, they could report it using the metro police and SAPS radios in the control room. The telephones were also linked to 10111 and metro police stations.
Ngubane said once police had been alerted, their response times were good.
The municipality said with the city centre under constant surveillance, together with high-visibility law enforcement, criminal activities were set to reduce during the festive season and beyond.
“The upgrade of technology of the surveillance cameras will also improve traffic flow management, emergency response times, and the overall deployment of critical municipal resources.”
According to the municipality, new CCTV installations have been made in critical areas and crime hot spots.
“The business sector also stands to benefit from the City’s security camera upgrade as they can tap into the system by integrating their cameras to ours and vice versa to view a criminal incident.
“The roll-out plan will see CCTV cameras expanding to residential areas, including townships and suburbs. We also call on communities to work with the City and all law-enforcement agencies in the fight against crime,” said Kaunda.
The mayor said the entire system needed to be centralised with all businesses being linked to the City’s cameras.
Ngubane said the City was in the process of linking its system to malls.
The Mercury