- Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, this week outlined his desire to have more CCTV cameras in the province to better tackle crime.
- Lesufi was speaking at the Huawei Africa Connect 2024 conference.
- Earlier this year, the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) partnered with Vumacam to roll out more CCTV cameras to great effect.
This week Huawei held its annual Africa Connect (formerly Eco Connect) conference at the Sandton Convention Centre. In attendance at the event was Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, who delivered a speech during the opening keynote welcoming the Chinese firm to the province.
Echoing sentiments he shared at last year’s event, Lesufi emphasised the desire for more technology solutions that can be leveraged to address crime in the province, making particular mention of the role that CCTV cameras can play.
“The government that I have the honour to lead, is a government that wants to embrace innovation. It’s a government that wants to embrace digital transformation. So that whatever we do as a government, it is done to embrace this new world. we are ready to embrace it,” Lesufi shared.
“I said it last time when I was addressing this platform, and I’ll say it again. If you can’t give us ideas to fight crime in our province, ideas that ensure that we eliminate crime in our province, then this conference would have failed. We want ideas that ensure that those CCTV cameras become a masterpiece. We want access to that information that will identify those who wish to disrupt our economy and our province. We really believe Huawei as partners, can provided this,” he stressed at the end of his speech.
This is not the first time that CCTV cameras have been a priority for Lesufi and the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) as earlier this year it partnered with Vumacam on its network of CCTV cameras as a way of better fighting crime.
While the scope of the project was relatively small compared to the size of the province, it did not take long to yield positive results.
“The Vumacam network helped in four key cases, including the recovery of a stolen motorcycle. An alert within the LPR system picked up a stolen motorcycle, enabling SAPS Moffatview to be dispatched. The driver was instructed to clear the motorbike,” noted Vumacam two weeks after the project was officially spun up.
“We will continue to build on the collaboration between the private and public sector through technology and continue to invest in the growth of our infrastructure and platform. We are already demonstrating how we can work together to help Gauteng, and South Africa become a safer place through the power of video and technology,” added Michael Varney, chief commercial officer of Vumacam, in February this year.
While it remains to be seen whether the GPG plans to invest in a wider spread network of CCTV cameras throughout the province or strike up more partnerships with companies like Vumacam, it is clear that there is a desire to use technology to make the province less crime-riddled.
