Tourist magnet Vilakazi Street to get 24-hour CCTV cameras
The installation follows a spike in violent crimes in the area, with a restaurant owner gunned down in cold blood.
South Africans from various cultural backgrounds descend on Vilakazi Street in Soweto, 25 September 2016, to celebrate the 80th birthday of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who celebrates her birthday on 26 September. Organised by the ANC Women’s League the event was titled a cultural carnival as attendees also celebrated Heritage Day, which occurred over the weekend. Picture: Michel Bega
Following a shooting incident earlier this year at Sakhumzi restaurant on Vilakazi Street, where the restaurant manager was killed, Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba will on Wednesday unveil newly installed CCTV cameras on the tourist precinct.
Vilakazi Street is the only address in the world to boast two Nobel laureates, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.
The project, part of the Smart City initiative, is aimed at enhancing the safety of business owners, the public and tourists visiting the area, which is also a stone’s throw away from Hector Pietersen Museum.
“After the incident, the mayor promised to install cameras in the street to reduce incidents of crime. There are plans to extend the project to other areas around Soweto pending budget approval,” said Tanya Hendrech, spokesperson for the office of the mayor.
The shooting at this eatery, a popular lunchtime spot for tourist on the ‘township tour’, was at the time the second such incident during a period when violent crime incidents spiked in this part of Soweto.
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