75% of eThekwini’s CCTV Camera’s are non-functional

Issued by Sharmaine Sewshanker Cllr – DA eThekwini Councillor
19 Sep 2019 in Press Statements

The DA in eThekwini can reveal that the city’s Disaster Management Unit and Emergency Services Control Centre is unable to fulfil its mandate in the monitoring of criminal activities via the CCTV cameras installed throughout the city.

An oversight inspection by the Democratic Alliance to the Emergency Services Control Centre revealed that 75% of the unit’s CCTV cameras are non-functional. Furthermore, of the 203 CCTV cameras operated in the Central Durban and Beach Front areas, only 91 are functional.

CCTV infrastructure is there to monitor criminal activity and reduce crime-related incidents in eThekwini. The Democratic Alliance is disappointed with the fact that vital law enforcement facilities like CCTV cameras are mere scarecrows that cost ratepayers millions of rands.

The DA has continuously requested the city to provide time frames for the repairing of non-operational cameras and the regular servicing of the functional one. A call that has fallen on deaf ears.

We will be writing to the chairperson of the Security and Emergency Services Committee, Cllr Belinda Scott to urgently address this matter.

The DA will continue to fight for the safety of our communities and ensure that support infrastructure is maintained to ensure quality service delivery.