The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) has signed a new contract with Syntell for the provision of advanced law enforcement and crash management (Alecram) services for three years.

Speed cameras in Johannesburg had been offline for more than a year after a contract lapsed. This resulted in JMPD officers primarily relying on an increased presence and handwritten traffic fines, affecting revenue collection. 

The contract came into effect just before the festive season traffic volumes. A previous service provider contract for the cameras had ended in May 2021. 

Syntell is the new provider of end-to-end traffic law enforcement technology used in traffic management and revenue collection. Its accident/crash management module will help the JMPD link crashes to an exact position on a road and determine the cause of the crash. The speed prosecution equipment and areas or sites to conduct speed prosecution have also been approved.

MMC for public safety in the City of Johannesburg David Tembe has welcomed the signing of the contract. The advanced speed prosecution cameras were launched during the festive season road safety campaign and were used during drunk driving operations throughout the city. This also coincided with the donation of seven alcohol evidentiary mobile units by South African Breweries.

“We want to send a clear message to motorists that the City of Johannesburg has zero tolerance for lawlessness, drunk and reckless driving. Motorist had free rein and could speed on our roads without any repercussions and with total disregard for rules of the road,” said Tembe. 

“There was a marked increase in accidents, especially accidents involving pedestrians during the period, but it has not been determined that all the accidents were speed-related,” added JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla.