Where to for inner city CCTV?

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 31 Jul 2007

Cue Incident, the company that runs 176 CCTV cameras from a control room in the Johannesburg CBD may, in September, hear if it has won a new contract to run the system for a further five years. The deal is said to be worth about R100 million.

Neither Cue Incident CEO Vusi Twala nor mayoral spokesperson Nkhensani Makhobela wanted to elaborate on the tender process. Cue Incident's last five-year contract ended in 2005 and the company has since operated the system on a month-to-month basis.

"We are running the operation until such time as a new operator is appointed, either by ourselves or someone else," Twala says. "The system is currently functional," he says of reports in the media that claimed parts of the network had fallen into disrepair.

The inner city CCTV network was installed at the turn of the century to help fight crime in the old Johannesburg CBD, where daylight muggings and smash-and-grabs from cars had become a common occurrence. Reports say the system has cut crime in the area by up to 80%. Several murders and other serious crimes have also been recorded and the tapes used to secure convictions.

Makhobela says the tender adjudication process is at a sensitive stage and warns that any comment on the issue could derail the process.

She confirms that an announcement could be expected in September. "We have to be careful to make a correct decision as the system will enhance service delivery in the CBD. It is a very big contract."

More than 15 companies showed interest in the tender, of which five were asked to bid. Two - including Cue Incident - remain in the running.

Sandton pilot kicks off

Meanwhile, a pilot project offering Sandton the same service went live on Thursday last week. The Sandton Central Management District is running the six-month CCTV project with the help of CSS Tactical, a security company.

Five cameras have been installed on the corners of Grayston Drive and Rivonia Road, along Fredman and West streets, Gwen Lane and at the Sandton Office Towers.

Sandton Central Management District operations manager Brandan Stolle says more cameras will be installed should the pilot prove successful. As in the city centre, the cameras will help authorities with proactive crime prevention, traffic management and identifying utility problems, such as power and traffic light failures as well as burst mains.