South African province puts up 960 CCTV cameras to keep an eye on its residents
The Gauteng provincial government has spent more than R124 million to install 960 CCTV surveillance cameras across the province as part of its crime-prevention strategy.
However, while the Democratic Alliance (DA) supports the project, it has argued that taxpayer money is being wasted due to poor governance and inadequate maintenance.
The party noted that 269 cameras linked to 89 CCTV sites are currently offline, meaning roughly 28% of the surveillance network is compromised.
The figures were disclosed in a written reply by Gauteng MEC for e-Government, Bonginkosi Dhlamini, to questions posed by the DA in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
The opposition party criticised the state of the system, warning that the outages undermine public safety in a province battling high crime levels.
“The Gauteng Provincial Government has spent more than R124 million installing Closed Circuit Television cameras across the province, yet approximately 28% of the CCTV network is currently not working,” the DA said.
“This puts our residents’ lives in danger as law enforcement officers will be unable to effectively combat crime and improve public safety.”
According to the MEC’s response, the cameras stopped functioning because of water-damaged batteries, vandalism, and faulty inverters.
The DA argued that these issues raised concerns about maintenance planning, infrastructure protection, and whether sufficient preventative measures had been implemented when the network was rolled out.
The party also highlighted the growing maintenance costs associated with the high-tech surveillance system.
It said maintenance costs had already exceeded R5.1 million, while annual maintenance expenses were expected to range between R12 million and R15 million in future.
“Gauteng residents deserve a CCTV system that works; not expensive infrastructure left vulnerable to weather damage, vandalism, and technical failures,” the DA said.
While the DA stressed that it supported technology-driven crime-prevention initiatives, it argued that taxpayers could not continue paying “hundreds of millions of rand” for systems that were not properly maintained or protected.
The Gauteng Provincial Government’s response
The Gauteng Provincial Government pushed back against the criticism, saying the DA had failed to present the project in its proper context and was creating the impression that the surveillance system had been abandoned.
In a statement responding to the opposition party, the province described the CCTV rollout as one of its most significant technology-driven crime-prevention interventions, aimed at supporting law enforcement agencies and improving community safety.
It added that the “overwhelming majority” of the cameras remained operational and continued assisting authorities with surveillance, investigations, monitoring, and rapid-response interventions.
The province said corrective measures were already underway to restore the affected sites and improve the network’s resilience.
Maintenance teams were actively repairing damaged infrastructure, while additional interventions were being implemented to improve battery durability, protect infrastructure, and enhance overall system reliability.
The provincial government also rejected suggestions that rising maintenance costs indicated the project had failed.
“Every sophisticated surveillance and security network globally requires ongoing maintenance, software support, equipment replacement and infrastructure protection,” it said.
According to the province, the projected maintenance budget reflected responsible long-term planning to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the system.
The government maintained that the CCTV programme continued to provide critical support to law enforcement agencies and played an important role in reducing crime and improving public safety across Gauteng.
It added that it would continue working with municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and community stakeholders to strengthen surveillance capabilities and keep Gauteng at the forefront of smart policing initiatives in South Africa.
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