James de Villiers, News24
Cape Town – While the City of Cape Town plans to expand its CCTV camera footprint to 600 cameras by the end of the year, it has emphasised that it respects the right to privacy of its residents.
The city currently operates 564 CCTV cameras and roughly 700 free-way management cameras, which makes the city’s camera network the largest in South Africa.
Mayoral committee member for safety and social services JP Smith on Wednesday afternoon said the city used a strict protocol to guide all its surveillance activity.
“In some cases, the cameras have even been modified to prevent them from looking at certain things,” Smith said.
Metro police director Barry Schuller explained to News24 that Capetonians are able to request that their properties be digitally blurred out from the city’s camera system.
“But what happens is these people have burglaries later on, and then ask the city for footage,” he said.
PRIVACY & SURVEILLANCE IN AFRICA 