People were sceptical when the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) installed highway cameras in an effort to combat crime, but it looks like they’re actually working.

Sanral recently posted a video on Twitter showing how it uses its cameras to track criminals.

During the incident, armed hijackers were spotted, tracked down, and arrested by police within 13 minutes of hijacking a van near the London Road exit on the N3 in Joburg.

Over to BusinessTech:

Sanral said that the cameras used form part of Sanral’s Freeway Management System (FMS) used to manage traffic flow and incidents on strategic national roads.

Spokesperson, Vusi Mona, said that one of the supervisors on duty at the TMC alerted the Joburg Metro Police officials – also stationed at the centre – of suspicious activity next to the road.

This was picked up from the closed-circuit television cameras used to monitor major roads in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, he said.

Here it is, with surprisingly decent video quality:

Two armed hijackers caught by Sanral cameras. They were watched like hawks until the Johannesburg Metro Police could find them. We are #BeyondRoads pic.twitter.com/s5Elay3Pvz

— SANRAL (@SANRAL_za) July 9, 2019

It’s nice to hear that the hijackers were caught for a change. Police are still on the hunt for the men who kidnapped and robbed a Joburg businessman at 10AM this past weekend.

It’s a pity they weren’t captured by the Sanral cameras.

When incidents occur, response vehicles are dispatched and the public is informed through Variable Message Signs (VMS) located along the freeways, on Twitter and the i-Traffic website.

“The close-circuit cameras are vital to our efforts to improve the safety and comfort of commuters who travel on the SANRAL network,” said Mona.

“One of the benefits of the Freeway Management system is that it introduced a comprehensive monitoring system that can detect crashes, stationary vehicles, veld fires and hijackings.

Nothing like a well-managed road network to put a damper on criminal activity.

[source:businesstech]