The City of Cape Town has drafted a new CCTV policy that will call for all CCTV cameras installed on public land or buildings owned by the City to be registered with the municipality by 30 November, after which unregistered CCTV cameras will be confiscated. Controversially, the registration will also apply to cameras installed on private property but monitoring public city areas, as well as cameras privately owned by neighbourhood watches or community-based organisations. Owners of CCTV cameras must submit a written motivation to the municipality to explain why their cameras should be on public property.
Neighbourhood watches and residents' associations have in general welcomed the move to register, hoping it will assist in fighting crime.
For more information, contact us at STBB.