Cameras not up to speed in Joburg

No wonder Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Superintendent Xolani Fihla didn’t answer questions about the disappearance of all of the city’s speed cameras, due what appears to be more municipal incompetence in not getting the service contract renewed.

Now the news is out, though, it won’t take long for our city’s cowboys to get back to putting foot flat on our highways.

According to the Moneyweb report on our pages today, the cameras disappeared from the city’s streets two days before Christmas because the metro’s contract with Syntell, which provided the cameras and back-office system to process fines, lapsed on 23 December, and no replacement has yet been appointed.

Syntell took its cameras with it and the JMPD does not have any of its own.

The non-operation of this equipment is, however, not so much a negative for road traffic safety as it is a massive blow for the finances of a city whose coffers have already been brought low by looting and incompetence.

Revenue from traffic fines issued by JMPD totalled almost R47 million in 2023-24.

ALSO READ: The day Joburg’s speed cameras went awol …

More than 90% of the fines issued annually are camera fines, so revenue has also been taking a massive hit.

Along with providing the cameras and related infrastructure, Syntell provided the integrated systems to process the fines – and was reportedly also uploading other fines, in addition to the camera ones.

The situation does, however, highlight the bizarre and upside-down logic which underpins the use of these cameras.

In places like the UK, speed cameras are painted a conspicuous yellow to remind motorists to slow down.

In South Africa, ours are hidden. In this country, the cameras are revenue devices and contribute very little to improving road safety.

One only has to look at our road death toll to see the truth in that. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the whole system.

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