Cape Town - Philippi residents have welcomed the planned rollout of CCTV cameras in violent crime hot spots which community leaders believe will help decrease incidents.
Ward councillor Melikhaya Gadeni said the cameras would be installed during this financial year.
He said the focus would be Brown’s Farm, where many robberies and hijackings are likely to occur.
The crime statistics show that between April and June, there were 81 carjackings, some of which occurred in Browns Farm.
This is the same area where many Facebook market robberies occur.
“This is because the CCTV also serves as a deterrent factor, and as an evidence-gathering tool that can be used in a court of law. One of the reasons crime has escalated in our township is because of the low conviction rate. This will help with that,” Gadeni said.
“It will help with reducing crime and making arrests. The cameras will be installed in this financial year. The intention is to try to have them installed before the festive season.”
He said the hot spot areas targeted are those with a known high murder count, car hijackings, and smash-and-grab hot spots. These include the Philippi traffic circle; Sheffield Road traffic lights, near Junxion Mall; and the community hall, which will cover Bristol and Amsterdam roads.
“As a ward, we had set aside a budget, but the department, through constant engagement and pressure from the community, decided to add more as part of its commitment to roll out CCTV to Browns Farm,” Gadeni said.
Metro police spokesperson Ruth Solomons echoed Gadeni on the time frame for the installation of the cameras.
“During the current financial year, the City of Cape Town will be installing a camera at Bristol and Amsterdam roads in ward 34. The ward councillor has also set aside funding for the next financial year for another camera,” she said.
“Ward 34 will probably benefit in the 5-year roll-out plan as per the locations submitted by the Nyanga police station.”
Solomons said cameras would be placed inside council premises to minimise vandalism.
She said the City was exploring alternative energy sources to power the cameras during load shedding.
Nyanga Community Police Forum (CPF) secretary Dumisani Qwebe said the CPF was happy about the progress made by the City and the councillor.
“We are sure this will help a lot in Philippi. The cameras will help, especially in Sheffield Road and near Sinethemba High School, which are the hot spots,” he said.