South Africa has deployed 33,000 CCTV cameras, drones, helicopters and 13,000 law enforcement officers across Gauteng Province ahead of Tuesday’s anti-migrant protests, in a R600 million ($35.5 million) security operation that highlights the country’s rapid shift toward technology-driven policing.
The unprecedented high-tech security deployment comes as fear spreads among migrant communities, with many foreign nationals seeking refuge at embassies and consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town ahead of demonstrations organised by the anti-illegal immigration movement March and March. Some migrants have fled homes and businesses, fearing attacks similar to previous outbreaks of xenophobic violence.
Five years after the July 2021 unrest exposed glaring weaknesses in South Africa’s intelligence gathering, coordination and public-order policing, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is increasingly relying on a vast network of surveillance technologies and private-sector security infrastructure to maintain order.
The June 30 operation offers the clearest indication yet that South Africa is quietly constructing a technology-driven surveillance network in which state and private security systems are becoming intertwined.
