In a step to halt the escalating cases of crime in Gauteng, the mandate of the Gauteng Department of e-Government (e-Gov) has been refined to include fighting crime through the use of technology. This entails the deployment of cutting-edge technologies to enhance crime intelligence gathering to alert law enforcement personnel before a crime takes place. 

The department has adopted the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) strategy to ensure that Gauteng is at the forefront of South Africa’s efforts to be the continent’s hub of innovation and digital transformation. Part of the strategy involves crime fighting using e-security and the implementation of an integrated intelligence operations centre which will include an e-Panic Button. This means Gauteng residents will have a device connected to all law enforcement operatives in the unfortunate event that a crime takes place. 

MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, e-Government and Research and Development Mzi Khumalo said the mandate of the department remains the digitisation of public services as government needs to improve the access to services and continue to bridge the technology divide. Further, it needs to continue to provide support functions to government departments and entities to create efficiency.

“The role of e-Gov continues to be the nerve centre of government in supporting departments to be more effective in their functioning. For us to be effective in delivering services to the residents of Gauteng, we need to have an e-Gov department that is on top of things, that provides world class back-end services to all the departments. However, going forward, we have added new priorities for the department to assist in the fight against crime. The world has already moved in the direction of CCTV cameras tracking criminals and helping police to apprehend them. In some western countries police are already using body cameras to fight crime and monitor how police carry out their work. This is the route we want to take,” said Khumalo.

e-Gov is the first department of its kind in provincial governments to embrace modernisation. It offers opportunities to improve efficiency and access to public services, develop the transparency and accountability of government, and empower citizens to better participate in decision-making. The department’s main functions are the provision of back-office ICT services to provincial departments, application development, broadband infrastructure, cloud facilities, e-Waste management and human resource services.

Amongst these new interventions the department will be undertaking is the development of various high-tech equipment to be used by law enforcement operatives, which includes high calibre face recognition apparatus, high quality drones, motor vehicles and weapon tracking. 

“We will be installing face recognition on every major road and business centre as well as areas with high potential for crime. This will help us to focus and track individuals who have committed crimes before and record their movements. We will be utilising drones to gain access to areas where law enforcement cannot easily enter and, lastly, we believe that many crimes are committed through the use of a motor vehicle, thus we will be tracking every car that is registered. Even if there is no number plate, we will be able to identify to whom the vehicle belongs,” Khumalo concluded.