Bad news for criminals in South Africa

South African households can protect themselves and their property with a wide range of affordable smart security tech.

In the next few weeks, many people will spend more time away from home relaxing at their holiday accommodation or the houses of family and friends.

Reports of crime tend to pick up in South Africa’s summer months, referred to as the “silly season” by private security companies.

Fidelity ADT and Bull Security have told MyBroadband that they had already observed crimes like home burglaries and theft rising.

Fidelity Service Group CEO Wahl Bartmann explained that the period created additional opportunities for criminals as people spent more time outside, attending gatherings, and staying out later.

“We’re more relaxed on holiday,” Bartmann said. It feels good to be out of routine and away from the everyday stresses of our usual lives.”

“With the general mood being more peaceful, we could let some good personal safety habits slip, like checking doors are locked or looking after our personal belongings — opportunities criminals will certainly pounce on.”

Bull Security’s French Jooste specifically warned that people should avoid posting too much information about their activities on social media, as criminals were becoming more tech-savvy on this front.

“Nobody needs to know when you are leaving and returning,” Jooste said.

However, tech can also be your ally in the fight against criminals.

While smart home devices can make your daily routines easier by automating certain functions in your home, many are designed specifically with security in mind.

Before considering a particular smart home brand, it is advisable to thoroughly research their capabilities and pricing, which can include monthly subscriptions for important features.

In addition, it is advisable to stick to one manufacturer for the best interoperability, or you will have to use multiple apps to control your devices.

Although there is universal smart home standard called Matter to allow for greater interoperability, many products on the market don’t yet support it.

Among the most popular smart home security brands are Amazon’s Ring, Google’s Nest, and TP-Link’s Tapo, as well as Eufy, Ezviz, Tuya, and Xiaomi.

Below we have highlighted the three main smart security products you can install in your home.

Smart cameras — Starting from R400–R500

Businesses and law enforcement have been using closed circuit television (CCTV) camera systems for decades.

However, their high prices and complex installations have restricted their consumer adoption to larger households with deeper pockets.

In the past few years, the market has seen an explosion of compact “plug-and-play” smart home cameras that offer nearly all the capabilities of CCTV at a fraction of the price.

Ever-improving artificial intelligence (AI) has improved the video analysis that these cameras can perform, making it easier to identify truly unusual activity,

Users can also configure these cameras to only look out for intruders at certain times or in particular circumstances.

When paired with a mobile app, users can view the feeds and receive notifications about potentially suspicious activity.

Some smart cameras are even able to distinguish between human and animal movements.

If a user prefers, a built-in alarm or speaker can also be set to go off and alert intruders that they have been detected.

If the alarm is not loud enough to alert neighbours or scare off the intruder, the cameras can often be connected to a central alarm or security hub with a bigger speaker and higher volume.

Smart motion sensors — From R300

Motion sensors are another common security device in South African homes.

However, these sensors have improved significantly in the past few years, gaining enhanced 3D environmental scanning capabilities.

Conventional motion sensors used infrared waves to detect rapid changes in temperature, which would occur when a human or animal passed within their monitoring area.

More recent models use microwaves that bounce off objects and return to the sensor, allowing it to map its monitoring area and detect movements.

The latest smart motion sensors can distinguish between humans and animals, reducing false alarms.

Camera-equipped floodlights — From R2,300

Private security firms have repeatedly told MyBroadband that proper lighting continues to remain an effective tool to scare off criminals.

Shining a bright light can alert neighbours and their dogs to the presence of intruders.

It can also be disorienting to the criminals and help private security see the intruders, essential when it comes to fighting intruders with weapons.

You could always use a conventional motion-activated floodlight outdoors but a better option may be an outdoor smart camera connected to a light.

That way, you will get a notification of the incident to check your camera feed and see what is going on.

For inside the house, you can swap out your regular light bulbs with smart bulbs connected to smart sensors that turn them on or off based on movement detection in a particular room or area.