Gauteng Prermier, Panyaza Lesufi delivered his aiden State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday, 20 February. Images: Strom Simpson/The South African and Pexels.
Drones, CCTVs and e-panic buttons: Lesufi’s bold plans to fight crime in Gauteng
Lesufi said Gauteng is home to heartless criminals so fighting crime is a priority. The budget will be increased from R750m to multi-billion.
Gauteng Prermier, Panyaza Lesufi delivered his aiden State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday, 20 February. Images: Strom Simpson/The South African and Pexels.
In order to bolster the fight against crime, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says from 1 April 2023, they plan to connect suburbs, townships, business districts, schools, and other public places with high-tech, face and car recognition CCTVs.
Lesufi revealed this as he delivered his maiden State of the Province Address (SOPA) at the Johannesburg City Hall on Monday, 20 February.
GAUTENG PREMIER REVEALS PLANS TO FIGHT CRIME
Lesufi said they should openly admit that Gauteng is home to heartless and merciless criminals thus, the issue of fighting crime should be their apex priority.
“We should unleash all our resources at our disposal to tackle crime. To this end, we are increasing our budget for fighting crime from R750 million to multi-billion in the next three years,” he said.
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Lesufi said starting from 1 April 2023; they will connect suburbs, townships, business districts, schools, and other public places with high-tech, face, and car recognition CCTVs.
“We will arm our residents with e-Panic buttons that will be linked to our law enforcement agencies, CCTVs, and our new state-of-the-art Integrated Command Centre. We will unveil two new helicopters at the beginning of the next financial year and add four additional helicopters within the 2023/2024 budget cycle,” Lesufi said.
- The Premier added that the private security industry has pledged to add theirs to the pool of helicopters that will patrol Gauteng skies.
- To ensure that police are not sacrificial lambs in the battles with criminals, Lesufi said they are at an advanced stage of procuring 180 state-of-the-art drones that will infiltrate areas that are difficult to patrol and police. These drones are equipped with technology that can capture the direction of a bullet and where they come from.
- Gauteng has procured 400 new police cars so that from 1 May, every ward in the communities will have a 24-hour patrol car equipped with proper gadgets.
- At least 6000 young men and women have been recruited to monitor and police Gauteng 24/7; they will invade the streets from 1 May 2023.
- Almost 10 000 private security companies have agreed to combine their resources with the provinces’ under a joint command structure to fight crime together.
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