• The government of Gauteng wants to install more CCTV cameras at schools in the province in efforts to curb violent crime at these institutions.
• It says it is also planning to have more searches at schools and bring in Gauteng Traffic Wardens to school premises.
• Gauteng has access to Vumacam’s nationwide network of 11 000 CCTV cameras.

The Provincial Government of Gauteng wants to install more CCTV cameras across schools in the province in efforts to make them safer.

It is also planning to bring “amaPanyaza” Gauteng Traffic Wardens and more security guards to schools to adopt recommendations from a school safety study conducted in the province, among the most crime-ridden in the country.

“Amongst others, the objectives of the study were to investigate factors contributing to the scourge of violence at schools, ascertain the level of implementation of safety plans, the multi-disciplinary diversion programmes, as well as the impact of the adopt-a-cop programme in deterring criminal behavior at schools,” said the provincial government in a statement.

The Gauteng Porfolio Committee on Community Safety says it found “shocking realities” as it was visiting 75 high risk schools in the province last year, including instances of “learners carrying dangerous weapons, illicit substances being abused on school premises and disturbing incidents of bullying, gangsterism, and tribalism leaving both learners and educators at risk.”

It says that during its visit to Eldorado Park Secondary School, a learner was stabbed while the committee was on school grounds for the unannounced oversight visit.

With the data collected from the study, Gauteng is now planning to adopt systemic changes to how schools are policed.

This includes allowing law enforcement agencies to conduct more and enhanced random school searches in order to find and confiscate dangerous weapons and illicit substances. It is also calling the Gauteng Department of Education to deploy more traffic wardens to schools, as well as security guards, patrollers and “enhance efforts to install more CCTV cameras.”

Under Premier Panyaza Lesufi, the Gauteng government has embarked on a massive drive to install CCTV cameras across the the province, especially in Johannesburg where the Gauteng Department of eGovernment maintains the command centre that receives information from the CCTV network.

In February last year, Gauteng was given access to Vumacam’s network of 11 000 CCTV cameras nationwide in efforts to curb crime flowing in and out of the province, especially through its highways and road networks.

[Image – Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash]