Concerns are mounting over increasing incidents of vandalism, theft, and damage to CCTV cameras installed by the local government in Gauteng as part of its e-policing programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gauteng’s West Rand region, including Mogale and Merafong, suffered the most incidents of vandalised, stolen or damaged CCTV camera systems in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is according to the Gauteng Department of e-Government, which is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the province’s CCTV cameras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an appeal issued on Thursday, Gauteng MEC for e-Government, Bonginkosi Dhlamini, asked residents of the province to aid the government in protecting public tech assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Gauteng Provincial Government has invested heavily in public infrastructure to improve public safety and service delivery across the province,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When public assets such as CCTV cameras are vandalised or stolen, it not only undermines our efforts to create safer environments for residents but also diverts valuable resources.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a presentation shared by e-Government, a total of 269 individual CCTV cameras were offline across the province by the beginning of April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it did not reveal how many individual cameras were offline due to vandalism, it did indicate that 36 CCTV sites had been vandalised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the 89 sites offline across Gauteng, over 40% had been vandalised. The rest suffered from water-damaged batteries and faulty inverters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Per the department, Gauteng has 960 individual CCTV cameras running across the province, transmitting data to authorities via the department’s command centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gauteng’s Southern Corridor, which includes Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, and Meyerton, was the second-most affected by CCTV vandalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The least affected was the Eastern Corridor, which included the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Area, Germiston, Benoni, Boksburg and Brakpan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dhlamini said that the destruction of public infrastructure in Gauteng undermines government efforts to build safer communities and wastes resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We therefore call on residents, community organisations, businesses and all stakeholders to work with government in protecting these assets,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He encouraged residents to report incidents of vandalism and theft and other suspicious activity in and around government infrastructure to the South African Police Service (SAPS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Gauteng has invested over R124 million in the province’s public CCTV security system since the programme’s inception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A portion of that amount was maintenance costs, which have exceeded R5.1 million, and operating expenses. It costs Gauteng between R12 million and R15 million annually to keep the cameras running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n