Camera saga drags on

APPLICATION: RIGHT2KNOW CAMPAIGN CHIPS IN ON ARGUMENT

‘JRA should have set aside approvals upon realising they were unlawful.’

The legal tussle over Johannesburg’s public “spy” cameras has heated up, with the Right2Know Campaign (R2K) applying to assist the court with some aspects relevant to the case, including the legality of the existing cameras and the intrusive nature of the system.

The Citizen has reported how the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), an entity of the City of Joburg, has granted 64 wayleaves or permission to erect the controversial public surveillance system though there was no legislative framework or policy for the roll out of a public surveillance system.

The agency has now made an about turn, suspending aerial and CCTV wayleave applications as it had no legal authority and policy for the roll out of a public surveillance system.

Vumacam, the company installing the artificial intelligence (AI) capable closed-circuit television (CCTV) to fight crime in Johannesburg suburbs, has since approached the High Court in Johannesburg with an urgent application to declare JRA’s decision to suspend aerial and CCTV wayleave applications unlawful and invalid, and set it aside.

The matter was set to be heard this week but had to be postponed to next week following Right2Know Campaign’s notice of intention to apply for admission as friends of the court in the Vumacam’s urgent application.

The advocacy group contends in papers the proper process in this matter dictated that JRA should have set aside the approvals of the previous wayleave application