{"id":315346,"date":"2019-05-07T07:49:44","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T05:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=315346"},"modified":"2019-05-07T07:49:44","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T05:49:44","slug":"joburg-city-officials-and-businesses-explore-the-use-of-drones-to-tackle-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/banking\/315346\/joburg-city-officials-and-businesses-explore-the-use-of-drones-to-tackle-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Joburg city officials and businesses explore the use of drones to tackle crime"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Repair work on one of Johannesburg\u2019s major highways has had an unexpected impact on South Africa\u2019s major banks.<\/p>\n

Lenders are stepping up security after the closure of parts of the M2 freeway diverted traffic through the central business district – already flooded with pedestrians, buses, street vendors and minibus taxis. In a city that\u2019s no stranger to crime, the snarl-ups made bank workers sitting ducks as thieves struck one car after the next, stealing whatever they can at gunpoint.<\/p>\n

To combat the thugs taking advantage of the gridlock, businesses are meeting weekly with city officials and metropolitan police who direct traffic and monitor crime hotspots. Undercover cops are also keeping watch, while the likes of Absa Group Ltd and FirstRand Ltd\u2019s First National Bank provide shuttle services for staff, let employees work from home, come in during off-peak times or use satellite offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ops center reports regularly on the situation just to check it\u2019s business as usual,\u201d Absa\u2019s acting chief executive officer, Rene van Wyk, said. When the lender put more security in place, perpetrators would move further along, looking for weak spots, he said.<\/p>\n

Armed Guards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guards armed with two-way radios and nightsticks now dot street corners and bridge crossings as far as 2 miles away from where the highway runs just south of the city center. Some are clothed in Absa\u2019s trademark red logo, while others stand watch in bright yellow or orange vests from other companies, including around Standard Bank Group Ltd\u2019s offices.<\/p>\n

The city center – which also houses provincial government offices, universities, historical landmarks and the ruling African National Congress\u2019s head office – is also the scene of regular protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, now and then, there are incidents of crime which our staff are not immune against,\u201d said First National Bank CEO Jacques Celliers, whose firm has about 12,000 staff at its Bank City headquarters. \u201cWe have approximately 100 guards around our campus, and also partner with authorities to improve general safety, especially when there\u2019s traffic congestion.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBD Exit<\/strong><\/p>\n

The banks are among a handful of companies like AngloGold Ashanti Ltd to have stayed in the central business district after the end of white minority rule 25 years ago. Other corporations moved north to plush buildings in suburbs like Sandton, known as Africa\u2019s richest square mile, Illovo or Midrand.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in Joburg CBD keeps us in close proximity to matters that the general public are passionate and concerned about,\u201d said Celliers. \u201cIt\u2019s not unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crime is down \u201csignificantly\u201d to levels lower than before the highway was closed at the end of February because of the increased policing and improved traffic flow, said Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Wayne Minnaar, without being able to be more specific.<\/p>\n

Johannesburg central police station has highest reported cases of aggravated robbery in the country, at almost 2,000 incidents in the year through March 2018, according to government data. The South African Police Service declined to provide the latest statistics for the precinct. The work is expected to be completed in October, the Johannesburg Roads Agency\u2019s Siyabonga Genu said.<\/p>\n

City officials and businesses are also looking into the use of drones to police the areas as a longer-term solution, Absa spokesman Songezo Zibi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince stepping up our safety measures, we\u2019ve seen a big decline in the number of incidents from several a week to only isolated ones now,\u201d he said outside the lender\u2019s headquarters, where building is underway on a residential, commercial and retail development. \u201cThings have settled down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read: This map shows the no-fly zones for drones in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Repair work on one of Johannesburg\u2019s major highways has had an unexpected impact on South Africa\u2019s major banks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":199054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[961],"tags":[29,739,26,499],"class_list":["post-315346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-absa","tag-first-national-bank","tag-headline","tag-standard-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315346"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315356,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315346\/revisions\/315356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}