R140.6m spent on 7,271 CCTV cameras in SA’s richest province

Johannesburg – Gauteng has spent more than R140.6 million on contracts with Vumacam to access thousands of private CCTV cameras across the province as questions grow over government spending on crime-fighting technology.

According to MyBroadband, the Gauteng Department of e-Government awarded Vumacam contracts totalling R140,589,760.

The department initially awarded a R78.63 million contract for access to 6,000 cameras across the Gauteng City Region from February 2024. A further contract worth R61.96 million was awarded from April 2026 for access to 7,271 cameras.

The figures emerged after the Democratic Alliance (DA) questioned the department’s spending of R1.38 billion on outsourced services during the 2025/26 financial year.

The DA also raised concerns after a departmental response apparently described the R78.6 million Vumacam contract as a Microsoft Azure contract for 6,000 cameras.

“How can a department spending hundreds of millions of rands on ICT contracts confuse a Microsoft Azure service with a multimillion-rand Vumacam surveillance contract?” the DA asked.

Safer communities

The Gauteng government has defended its investment in surveillance technology.

In a September update reported by the South African Government, the province said it had access to 7,271 Vumacam cameras during the 2025/26 financial year, while its own provincial CCTV network had grown to 960 cameras.

Gauteng MEC for e-Government Bonginkosi Dhlamini said the technology was increasingly important for crime prevention and community safety.

“Technology has become a powerful tool in building safer communities and improving public services,” Dhlamini said.

The province has also faced problems with vandalism and theft affecting its own CCTV infrastructure.

According to ITWeb, several government cameras have been rendered non-operational after being damaged or stolen.

Renewed scrutiny

The Gauteng government said the CCTV programme was designed to support law enforcement through surveillance, monitoring, investigations and rapid-response interventions.

The spending comes amid renewed scrutiny of Gauteng’s crime-fighting systems following a series of women’s bodies being discovered in Ekurhuleni.

The Bopha Foundation has asked the provincial government to provide information on the procurement, deployment, functionality and outcomes of its safety technology investments.

The foundation said residents should be shown whether the systems being funded with public money are delivering the promised results.

“The moment has therefore arrived for the province to demonstrate the difference between announcing a safety system and having one that works,” it said, according to MyBroadband.

The Gauteng government had not responded to MyBroadband’s request for comment on the foundation’s demand at the time of publication.