The City of Johannesburg was advised as far back as June to withdraw its controversial CCTV by-law after failing to conduct proper public participation, after it was approved by its council in February this year.

On Tuesday, a council meeting resolved to rescind the resolution made for approval of the CCTV by-law and recommended the restart of the process of public participation to draft a new CCTV by-law.

The by-law was met with strong opposition after it was approved by council, which heard that in some of the public participation meetings, as few as 23 people attended.

The SA Property Owners Association (Sapoa), the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse and AfriForum are among the interest groups that have filed legal challenges to the by-law.

At the council meeting, it emerged that confidential legal advice provided by Advocates Muzi Sikhakhane SC and Nkomotana Motsepe informed the municipality that it failed to adequately meet the requirements of the Municipal Systems Act and the standing rules of council when it promulgated the CCTV by-law.

“There was no proper public participation as required by legislation. The City of Johannesburg must consider withdrawing the impugned by-law. In doing so, the City of Johannesburg must publish its intention to withdraw the impugned by-law to allow members of the public an opportunity to comment on its intention to withdraw the impugned by-law,” reads the advice.

According to Sikhakhane and Motsepe, there was no logic in the city engaging in a litigious process before the high court by Sapoa, whose outcome is a fait accompli or predictable.

“The City of Johannesburg, through its attorneys of record, should write a letter to Sapoa’s attorneys indicating its intention to withdraw the impugned by-law. This should end Sapoa’s review application,” the two advocates stated.

The council was informed by its officials that there is enough budget provision in the 2025/26 financial year for publication of the intention to annul the by-law and that an estimated amount of R10,000 is required to advertise the notice for the withdrawal of the bylaw.

“Withdrawing the CCTV by-law aligns the City of Johannesburg with constitutional and statutory requirements, mitigates litigation risks, and reinforces public confidence,” reads the submission, recommending immediate action to initiate the withdrawal process.

The municipality also appears confident that withdrawing the by-law will likely render the review applications moot, avoiding an adverse court order and further litigation expenses.

When justifying the by-law, the city insisted that it experienced the proliferation of the use of privately-owned CCTV cameras within its jurisdiction installed in public places and on private properties. It added that there seemed to be a surge solely driven by commercial CCTV cameras, the extent of which goes beyond the normal security matters.

The city said while some CCTV cameras were legally installed through prior approval by it, most were installed on its property illegally, without the necessary approval and as a result caused a concern that there has been no legal impact assessment of the CCTV cameras with regard to human rights and lack of clear guidelines to regulate the conduct of owners’ post installation.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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