Gauteng govt and VumaCam partnership welcomed as good move to fight crime
On Tuesday, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi entered into an agreement with private company VumaCam to gain access to their almost 7,000 CCTV cameras across the province.
Gauteng government entered into an agreement with private company Vumacam to gain access to almost 7,000 CCTV cameras across the province. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The public-private partnership between the Gauteng government and VumaCam has been welcomed as a good move to fighting crime.
On Tuesday, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi entered into an agreement with private company VumaCam to gain access to their almost 7,000 CCTV cameras across the province.
It’s not the first time Gauteng has tried to use CCTV cameras to combat crime, but this time an independent company will be in charge of maintaining and rolling out the infrastructure.
Crime expert Dr Guy Lamb said the agreement between the Gauteng government and VumaCam was positive.
"The Gauteng government actually has a law enforcement capacity in that they have community safety wardens who they can deploy. That’s often been the problem in the past that you can’t get SAPS [South African Police Service] to deploy when you want them to deploy."
Provincial government spokesperson, Vuyo Maga, said their overall goal was to have a fully-fledged operational command centre.
"Overall is to make sure we have the ability to look where crime is happening in the province. We have about 8,500 boots on the ground."
VumaCam said it’s planning to roll out another 4,000 cameras in areas identified as hotspots in townships, informal settlements, and hostels across the province.