In a first for South Africa, the Western Cape has begun the process to develop a legislation that will govern the use of CCTV camera both on private properties and in public areas.
Currently a legislative framework for CCTV does not exist and the City of Cape Town is pushing to ensure one is created for the benefit of the Mother City.
The City has a large number of CCTV cameras that make up a network used to monitor public spaces to prevent instances of crime. It is because of this existing network that the City is seeking a framework to better manage public use and govern the use on private properties as well.
JP Smith – City of Cape Town Mayco Member for Safety and Security – has asked that the CCTV framework be addressed with urgency at the next bi-lateral meeting. Once Cape Town business finds some form of regularity following the pandemic, a provincial framework for CCTV camera’s will be developed as a starting point.
Smith said the City of Cape Town has been working with private security companies on a self-regulation framework for years.
“We leveraged the fact that we own the assets, namely lighting poles and other stuff and used voluntary compliance because we couldn’t make a law,” Smith told IOL.
The question of privacy is being asked in Johannesburg as well, where camera’s are used by a number of security companies.
As the need to monitor public spaces and vehicles along major roads increases, a legislation is needed to ensure these networks can prevent crime without encroaching on the privacy of residents.
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