300 CCTV cameras have been installed in crime hotspots of the Cape Town metro, with 279 cameras already functional. This is according to Reagen Allen, Western Cape Community Safety and Police Oversight Member of the Executive Council (MEC).
‘Currently, 93% of the cameras [are] functional, because we are wanting to ensure that where technology can be used, it must be used, in our priority areas as well,’ said Allen, while addressing members of the Gugulethu community during a national police ministry crime prevention imbizo, as reported by News24.
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The remaining 21 CCTV cameras are still in the process of being rolled out.
Gugulethu is among the areas where the CCTV cameras have been installed, which has been described as ‘an area which has one of the highest murder rates in the Western Cape’.
The initiative has received praise from police minister Bheki Cele, Deputy Minister of Justice.
‘I was very happy to hear the mayor and JP [Smith] saying that they would rollout CCTV cameras in hotspot areas, which include Gugulethu, because this means that these areas did not have any of these resources,’ Cele added.
Gugulethu residents also had the opportunity to raise their concerns during the imbizo, where they listed ‘an array of problems’ that was linked to the high crime rate in the area.
This included hijackings, murders, extortion, robberies, and organised crime.
Residents also stated that there was ‘a lack of trust in the police’, which was caused by a lack of feedback and updates on crimes reported that were reported to the SAPS.
Cele reassured the residents by stating that the ministry had ‘implemented several measures to combat crime, particularly in hotspot areas’, adding that the police department had budgeted R70 million towards the Western Cape.
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