2.3 million Harare traffic violations recorded by cameras

More than 2.3 million road traffic violations have been detected by newly installed surveillance cameras in Harare, with motorists expected to start receiving notifications and fines as early as next week.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said the offences were recorded over the past month by cameras installed at 20 strategic intersections along major roads in the capital.

The cameras form part of Phase One of the national Smart Traffic Management and Surveillance Programme being implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, with TelOne providing technical support.

The system detects a range of traffic offences, including speeding, running red robots, crossing intersection lines, driving while using a mobile phone, failing to wear a seatbelt and parking in restricted areas.

Minister Kazembe and Police Deputy Commissioner General Lorain Chipato yesterday led senior police officers and Government officials on a tour of the 20 surveillance sites and the Command and Control Centre at CID Headquarters.

Following the tour, Minister Kazembe said Phase One was now 99 percent complete and expressed satisfaction with the infrastructure and performance of the system.

"We have toured all the sites that are supposed to be done in Phase One, and Phase One consists of 20 sites. I am happy that all the 20 sites are now ready," he said.

The Minister said the Command Centre was fully operational, with violations being detected and transmitted in real time.

He revealed that the number of detections had already surpassed earlier estimates of one million incidents.

"Earlier on, we were talking of only 1 million incidents. And now they have recorded about 2.3 million violations already in the past month or so," Minister Kazembe said.

He warned motorists that the fact that offenders had not yet been notified did not mean they would escape liability.

"Whilst those people have not been notified as yet, as you know, a crime is a crime, an offence is an offence, so the law will catch up with them. They will still have to pay those fines," he said.

However, Minister Kazembe stressed that a camera detection does not automatically constitute a confirmed offence.

Traffic officers stationed at the Command Centre review the footage and validate each suspected violation before a ticket is issued.

"They go to the videos and see what you have done. They validate to say, is this a crime? Is this an offence? Was there a police officer? Was the traffic light working? So there is that validation," he said.

"Once it's validated, then it becomes an offence. Before validation, it's just a detection."

The system also maintains an audit trail showing the identity of officers who access the system and validate violations, a measure intended to ensure accountability and prevent manipulation of records.

According to Minister Kazembe, officers are currently processing the accumulated detections, with notifications expected to start being sent to motorists from next week or the following week.

"All the violations are in the database and are recorded, and now they are busy validating them. So any time from now, maybe starting from next week or the week after, notifications will be coming to those offenders to say, go and pay," he said.

Motorists who dispute violations will have the option of challenging the charges in court, with video footage from the surveillance system available as evidence.

Minister Kazembe also praised the quality of the cameras, saying they were capable of capturing highly detailed images.

"The quality of the picture is amazing. You can actually read somebody's newspaper that is in his car from those cameras. You can even read the message on the phone when someone is driving," he said.

The surveillance network is expected to serve purposes beyond traffic enforcement. Authorities say the cameras will also assist in combating crime, particularly attacks on motorists at traffic-controlled intersections.

Minister Kazembe said officers monitoring the Command Centre would be able to identify suspicious or criminal activity and dispatch police reaction teams to the scene.

Government plans to install more than 300 high-tech cameras across Harare before extending the programme to other cities and towns.

Phase Two of the project is expected to introduce additional capabilities to strengthen traffic management and surveillance.

"We should be able to see sanity on our roads," Minister Kazembe said.

"We will soon move to other towns and cities with this traffic management system."