Cape Town - Police Minister Bheki Cele has told Parliament that the gun-busting ShotSpotter project will see the resumption of flying drones over Cape Town’s hot spots again.
GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron had asked Cele about the status of the ShotSpotter system, which was suspended in 2019.
The project was introduced to the City by safety and security Mayco member JP Smith.
Cele said the project was trialled as a pilot in Manenberg in 2019, and would now support ShotSpotter in line with the vision of creating a safer community, using a multi-disciplinary approach encompassed in the Safer City Policing model.
Using drones, acoustic technology and smartphones, the ShotSpotter system is able to locate where a shooting has just taken place, allowing police to react to an incident.
“The ShotSpotter has both a proactive and reactive value and enhances policing in gang-infested hot spots,” Cele said in his reply.
However, Herron recently voiced concerns that the project, which cost R31.8 million, did not return value for money.
The Weekend Argus recently reported that the ShotSpotter system had been awarded a new tender until June 2025, after it led to 67 arrests in gang-ravaged areas such as Hanover Park and Manenberg, where 19 721 gunshots were detected through the project.
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen referred queries to the City. Smith had not responded for comment at the time of publication.