By Bulelwa Hoala
- The City of Johannesburg’s automated speed camera network has been offline for seven months after the JMPD’s contract with traffic management provider Syntell expired in December 2025, with no replacement provider appointed yet.
- The outage has suspended all fixed and mobile speed camera enforcement, while the city works to appoint a new service provider through a tender process that complies with the Municipal Finance Management Act.
- The prolonged shutdown has financial implications, with speed cameras previously generating an estimated R50 million a year in revenue, although the JMPD says manual speed enforcement and roadside operations remain in place.
The City of Johannesburg’s automated speed camera network has been out of operation for seven months.
This comes after the Johannesburg Metro Police Department’s (JMPD) three-year lease contract with traffic management provider Syntell expired on 23 December 2025.
According to motoring publication TopAuto, the JMPD does not own any speed cameras of its own and has yet to appoint a replacement service provider.
This means all fixed and mobile speed camera enforcement across the metro remains suspended, leaving the municipality without its primary tool for detecting speeding motorists.
Millions in revenue lost
MyBroadband reports that 3.1 million of the 3.4 million recorded fines issued in 2025 were generated from speed camera images, bringing in an estimated R50 million per year for the municipality.
JMPD working on new contract
Speaking to SABC News, JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla confirmed that the department is currently in the process of sourcing a new service provider and will make an official announcement once a tender has been finalised.
Fihla explained that the delay is due to strict compliance requirements under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), given the significant amount of public money involved.
“We must ensure that the process is entirely transparent and legally sound to avoid any future operational disruptions,” Fihla said.
In the interim, the JMPD said physical traffic policing, manual handheld speed checks and roadside operations remain active across major routes in the city.
A recurring issue for the metro
This is not the first time Johannesburg has faced an automated speed camera blackout.
In May 2021, a similar incident left the city without operational speed cameras for more than a year, costing the city approximately R3 million a month in uncollected municipal revenue before a new contract was eventually signed.
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