Hoedies town gets CCTV surveillance

This is according to the chairman of the Hoedspruit Town Watch, Johan Potgieter. Hoedspruit Town Watch’s objective is to make Hoedspruit one of the safest places to live and work in and to ensure that the value of property and businesses increase, said Potgieter. “Whilst we have been running the Hoedspruit Town Watch for many years, we need to keep a step ahead of potential criminals.

Presently, we run patrols every night, however, we need to also use technology to achieve our goals,” said Potgieter. “We work very closely with the police, traffic departments, the Hoedspruit Farm Watch, and other relevant authorities. Hoedspruit Town Watch’s mandate is to observe and report. Recently we ensured that our Town Watch vehicle patrols have access to two-way radios.

“This allows for a quicker response in case of urgent reporting. The radios were donated by Farm Watch,” he said. Potgieter added that the camera network will solely monitor public spaces in Hoedspruit town. “We are very aware of the requirements of the Popi act and fully comply with the recordkeeping requirements. The camera network will monitor vehicle and pedestrian movement.

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All cameras are installed on private property in safe areas and have a reliable power supply. “The camera technology that has been implemented is industry standard. This means that it is easy to link up our camera network with other organisations such as the Farm Watch camera network.” He said installing cameras is the easy part of the project. “Maintenance, running costs, and monitoring of the network are what makes it successful and sustainable.”

Town Watch has partnered with local companies to ensure the sustainability and affordability of this project. Companies such as Herotel, AM Tech, and Canyon Risk Services, amongst others, have assisted in making the project affordable and sustainable, he explained. The project is being funded by the Hoedspruit community. “We are blessed to have such a caring and participative community. The funds were collected over a 7-week period.

Hoedspruit Town Watch is a non-profit organisation, which means that we depend on financial contributions from the community to provide the service. It also means that our governance must be 100% in order,” he said. “Our intention is to get the local community to assist in monitoring the cameras. If you have a PC and an internet connection, you can participate in ensuring the safety of Hoedspruit, irrespective of where you are in the world.

A camera surveillance system is not foolproof, it has to work in conjunction with vehicle patrols, the relevant authorities, and the local community,” said Potgieter. Potgieter added that this project would not have been possible without the assistance and contribution of the community and local businesses. Town Watch thanked the sponsors and community who made the project possible.