Say hi to 'Sandton 2.0', as swanky suburb beefs up security with artificial intelligence

While some were writing Sandton's obituary during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the work-from-home (WFH) phenomenon became the norm, others - like its property owners and businesses - were planning its revival.

From the rollout of 250 state-of-the-art security cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) features to combat crime, to piloting the use of batteries at major traffic light interchanges to keep traffic flowing during load shedding, efforts over the past two years have been under way to improve the value proposition of SA's financial hub, aiming to make it a smart city with world-class security.

The cameras, which were installed at all major intersections in partnership with Vumacam, have AI capabilities including numberplate recognition and the ability to spot suspicious behaviour such as loitering. In this way, cars, which may have been stolen and being used for crime in the area, can be identified, while security teams can be dispersed to investigate any suspicious loitering by would-be criminals.