Kouga’s ’s advanced surveillance system helping fight against crime
A surveillance system in Kouga has not only enhanced safety in the streets and towns of the municipality, but has dismantled criminal networks beyond its borders, reaching as far as the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Since starting just more than two years ago, it has helped in the recovery of R5m worth of goods, from perlemoen poaching and stolen vehicles to card scammers.
Two months ago, the system led to the speedy arrest of the alleged suspects linked to the attempted assassination of Kouga municipality mayoral committee member Jacques Alexander, with the suspects arrested 13 minutes after the attack and before leaving Jeffreys Bay.
Alexander was shot multiple times while sitting in his car outside municipal offices.
On Friday, DA provincial leader Andrew Whitfield conducted an oversight inspection at the municipality’s facility.
He was joined by Kouga mayor Hattingh Bornman, deputy mayor Timothy Jantjes, safety and security mayoral committee member Daniel Benson, and DA MPL and Tsitsi-Kouga constituency leader Vicky Knoetze.
The Information Command Centre (ICC) headquartered in Humansdorp monitors feeds from more than 300 municipal and private security cameras day and night.
It can also zoom in on the beachfront in Jeffreys Bay to the rural nooks of Patensie and Hankey, analysing data from the highways and crime hotspots.
Integrated with the “UR SAFE Kouga App”, the system also allows residents facing emergencies to dial the centre by using only a voice command.
The app transmits an emergency signal, sending the geolocation with a live feed of its user to the ICC as well as its emergency contacts.
Centre manager David Phelan said they were constantly trying to bring more partners on board to widen their surveillance.
“We monitor about 15 WhatsApp groups within the area and throughout the province where we are working in conjunction with our neighbours in Koukamma and Nelson Mandela Bay and as far afield as Graaff-Reinet, where we can pass the information on to the SAPS, medical service, fire services and others.”
Working across provincial lines, Phelan said they had been able to provide information to and co-ordinate with law enforcement as far away as KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
“We have had great co-operation working with police in tracking down gang-related violence perpetrators through the licence recognition cameras.”
Thirty-five of the cameras have licence plate recognition technology.
Bornman said they were excited about the buy-in from residents and security sector players who contributed to expanding the system.
“We have neighbourhood watches, agricultural organisations, the SAPS and security apparatus on board where we can all access the cameras from one point,” he said.
Bornman said in the next financial year, R2.5m would be invested into the system to increase capacity.
Just more than R1m was used by the municipality to kick-start the ICC.
“Ten people are employed here at the command centre, and in the bigger safety initiative with boots on the ground and law enforcement there are about 50 people employed,” the mayor said.
Whitfield said he was proud of the system.
“I can say with confidence that having travelled around the country there are not many municipalities except the Western Cape which have such a command centre.”
‘We have had great co-operation working with police in tracking down gang-related violence perpetrators through the licence recognition cameras’