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The mayor of Tshwane will tomorrow table an adjustment budget that proposed to increase spending on so-called watchman services by R315 million.

The R315 million that the mayor wants to spend extra on watchman services comes after revelations by the DA earlier this week about a possible business link between the ANC deputy mayor Eugene Modise and one of the watchman security companies doing business with the city.

Tomorrow, the DA will reveal more details from the mayor’s proposed adjustment budget that shows that ActionSA has now completely given into the ANC’s agenda for the capital city.

In government the DA and our coalition partners commissioned a study into the security model of the city, proposing the use of technology over the current reliance on stationary guards.

In our experience the companies that provide guarding services are often bad at equipping their staff with the necessary tools of trade, including protective equipment.

In Tshwane these guards often complain to the city about being underpaid and demand to be insourced on the government payment.

Meantime the model of relying solely on stationary guards doesn’t work at preventing theft and vandalism of infrastructure.

Motion detectors, CCTV cameras, control rooms, and the dispatch of mobile armed response teams is far more effective as well as cheaper than the ‘watchman’ model.

Issued by Ald Cilliers Brink - DA Tshwane Caucus Leader