City of Joburg sparks outage over CCTV bylaw: ‘Why is putting up cameras to fight crime wrong?’ – Anele Mdoda
The bylaw forces businesses and homeowners to apply for permission, pay a fee, and limits the distribution of footage.
Picture: pixabay.com
947’s Anele and the Club speak with Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) CEO Wayne Duvenage.
Listen below:
The City of Johannesburg sparked outrage following the approval of its new Privately-Owned Closed-Circuit Television Surveillance Camera By-Law (CCTV Camera By-Law).
The regulation requires all businesses and homeowners to apply for permission and pay a fee to have their cameras pointed at the street.
It also speaks to the quality of the camera footage, how long the footage can be kept, who can and can’t see the footage, and the banning of any distribution thereof.
“With the crime issues that we have, with the darkness that happens in the cities, we are fighting people who are putting up cameras? Why is that wrong?”
– Anele Mdoda
The City says it is promoting the lawful and constitutional use of CCTV cameras in public spaces.
Duvenage says it is ‘madness’ and that OUTA will be challenging the bylaw.
“Cameras are there for a reason… We have filed papers in court, and let's see if they want to defend it. If they do, they are crazy.”
– Wayne Duvenage, CEO – OUTA
“We want to know how they consulted with the public... they need to do so meaningfully… that’s the law. If they haven’t done so, they have to start again.”
– Wayne Duvenage, CEO – OUTA
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion.