The Gauteng provincial government is facing criticism after revealing that a significant portion of its CCTV surveillance network is currently not operational despite more than124million rand being spent on the project.
The province has installed960CCTV cameras as part of a technology-driven crime prevention strategy aimed at improving public safety and assisting law enforcement agencies across Gauteng.
However, opposition party Democratic Alliance said the programme is being undermined by poor maintenance and governance failures.
According to figures disclosed in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature,269cameras linked to89surveillance sites are currently offline, representing roughly28% of the province’s CCTV network.
The information was provided in a written response by Gauteng MEC for e-Government Bonginkosi Dhlamini following questions raised by the DA.
Technical failures raise concerns over public safety
The Democratic Alliance argued that the outages weaken law enforcement capabilities in one of South Africa’s most crime-affected provinces.
The party said taxpayers should not continue funding expensive infrastructure projects that are left vulnerable to vandalism, weather damage and technical failures.
According to the provincial government, the camera failures were caused by water-damaged batteries, vandalised infrastructure and faulty inverters.
The DA questioned whether adequate preventative measures and long-term maintenance planning had been implemented during the rollout of the surveillance system.
The opposition party also pointed to rising operational costs linked to maintaining the high-tech network.
Maintenance expenses have already exceeded5.1million rand, while future annual maintenance costs are expected to range between12million rand and15million rand.
The DA maintained that while it supports technology-based crime prevention initiatives, surveillance systems must remain reliable if they are to contribute meaningfully to public safety.
Gauteng government defends surveillance programme
The Gauteng provincial government rejected suggestions that the CCTV initiative had failed, saying the criticism lacked proper context and created a misleading impression about the state of the network.
Officials described the surveillance rollout as one of the province’s most significant smart policing interventions aimed at supporting investigations, monitoring criminal activity and improving rapid-response capabilities.
The province said the overwhelming majority of cameras remain operational and continue assisting law enforcement agencies daily.
Authorities added that repair teams are actively restoring damaged sites while additional measures are being introduced to improve battery durability, strengthen infrastructure protection and enhance system reliability.
Government officials also defended the increasing maintenance costs, arguing that sophisticated surveillance systems worldwide require continuous technical support, equipment replacement and infrastructure upgrades.
According to the province, the maintenance budget forms part of responsible long-term planning intended to ensure uninterrupted operation of the surveillance network.
The government said it would continue working with municipalities, law enforcement agencies and local communities to strengthen Gauteng’s smart policing capabilities.
As South Africa continues investing in digital crime-fighting technologies, debates are growing around the balance between public safety, infrastructure management and the long-term costs associated with large-scale surveillance systems.
Source: Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Gauteng Provincial Government and Democratic Alliance statements.
