The City of Johannesburg last week introduced a CCTV camera by-law that will allow police to access footage recorded on privately owned CCTV cameras that happen to have a view of public places, including roads and parks.

The by-law was passed last week and applies to all CCTV cameras operating in the city. The move was initially seen by industry players, including public CCTV camera company Vumacam, as a step in the right direction in the fight against crime.

But other restrictions in the new by-law, including prohibiting private CCTV operators from sharing footage of criminal incidents with other people or on social media, have been criticised as being too restrictive and undermining community-based efforts to fight crime.

“CCTV technology plays a significant role in combating insurance fraud, the verification of insurance claims, asset protection and recovery, and by-law enforcement. These benefits of the technology all contribute, in conjunction with its crime-fighting capabilities, to an environment which fosters greater economic growth and social stability,” Vumacam said in a statement on Monday.

“However, having considered the promulgated by-law, Vumacam’s view is that the legislation in its current form places significant, unlawful restrictions on privately owned CCTV cameras that are onerous and overly restrictive to commercial, private and residential camera owners.”

According to Vumacam, by placing limitations on the unrestricted sharing of CCTV footage between private citizens, community policing forums, private security companies and the broader society, the city threatens to put a chokehold on the ability for citizens to fight crime using community-based systems that have been proven to be effective.

Backward step

As an example, under the new by-law, a mother who gets hijacked in front of her residential premises and has her child kidnapped in the process cannot immediately post CCTV footage of the incident on social media and ask for others who see the vehicle to post publicly where and when they saw it.

The new by-law states: “All CCTV camera footage or imagery of captured criminal incidents that require further investigation will be kept absolutely confidential in order not to compromise its integrity, stored and locked in a safe place, and where downloading or extraction has been done, a data removal register, tracking such removal and the whereabouts of such downloaded or extracted footage or imagery of captured criminal incidents must be kept and made available to law enforcement agencies authorised to have access to it by law.”

Read: Vumacam partners with Gauteng in anti-crime drive

But Vumacam has hit back, describing the by-law as a backward step instead of a leap forward in the fight against crime.

“This is a step backward in the critical fight to protect all citizens and grow the economy, as many private security operators have used surveillance technologies to great effect in the last few years,” it said.

Beyond the requirement that CCTV cameras that face public spaces be registered with the city, the owners of these cameras will also be restricted from moving (or removing) them without the city’s prior approval.

Vumacam has accused the city of not incorporating any of the insights it provided in its final by-law, despite engaging in a consultative process. The company argued that the by-law threatens the feasibility of CCTV businesses and has introduced “significant uncertainty” into the industry about the sector’s future prospects.

“Vumacam supports the implementation of by-laws that encourage the private use of surveillance technologies and aid the growth of CCTV-based security systems by providing greater certainty to residents, law enforcement and users. This growth is key to supporting enhanced standards of living for communities across the city and continuing the significant success of the crime-fighting collaboration between law enforcement, the city and private security,” said Vumacam in its statement. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp. Sign up here.