[Updated] Bulawayo City Council Testing Out Traffic Cameras

It seems traffic cameras are the in-thing. Just after the Harare City Council confirmed that it would be completing installation of traffic cameras early next year, it seems Bulawayo is also making progress on that front. The Bulawayo City Council is set to start a 5-day trial run to see whether or not this is actually a feasible project.

Speaking about the cameras, Bongiwe Ngwenya –the council spokesperson- spoke about what the cameras will actually be expected to do:

The City of Bulawayo has installed a demonstration traffic camera unit along Leopold Takawira Avenue and Samuel Parirenyatwa Street. The traffic camera was installed on Tuesday 23 October and will be removed after five days. The camera will be checking a number of aspects which include the speed at which vehicles are travelling at robots or traffic violations, conduct traffic count by recording vehicles passing through and record the areas surrounding the traffic installation. Traffic cameras present a number of benefits for the city of Bulawayo which include identification of traffic offenders, assisting in the investigation of people who hit traffic lights or street poles and also assist the city in traffic planning through traffic counts. Following the removal of the traffic camera, the City of Bulawayo will make an assessment from the report presented and map a way forward.

It seems the City Councils are no longer just talking the talk but now they are beginning to walk the walk.

Where is this energy coming from all of a sudden?

Well, the government seems to be n partnership with Hikvision. Hikvision is a huge Chinese company that has made quite the strides in the camera business. In August it became clear what their partnership with our government would entail. The company is the one behind these camera projects in both Harare and Bulawayo and Hikvision was also reported to be equipping Zimbabwean borders with surveillance cameras.

I’m not entirely sure whether or not Bulawayo drivers have achieved the same status of chaotic driving as the guys in the capital city but this will still be a welcome development for the city of Kings.

Update: The cameras for the trial run in the Bulawayo City Council have been provided by Globex MVR an Italian company and not Hikvision as we previously reported. Apoligies for this oversight. Globex MVR’s systems are used in more than 800 Italian districts and other countries in Europe & South America. The camera being trialled in Bulawayo is their latest version called The Raptor. The BCC is giving a trial run for the Camera and will give a report from their own technicians to Globex MVR.