Fidelity told MyBroadband that, for South Africans, the price and feature set of CCTV cameras counted for more than the potential privacy concerns associated with them.
Two major camera brands that have drawn scrutiny overseas for potentially sharing customers’ data with the Chinese government are immensely popular in South Africa.
CCTV camera systems have become widely used in both public and private properties, in large part due to South Africa’s crime epidemic.
Both businesses and private individuals use cameras to improve security. In some cases, these devices can also be useful for insurance claims.
While the earliest systems could only prevent crime with constant monitoring, new technologies have enabled proactive monitoring.
MyBroadband asked South Africa’s largest private security firm — Fidelity Services Group — which camera brands it used.
Fidelity corporate affairs head Charnel Hattingh told MyBroadband that the most popular CCTV camera brands in the residential and small-business space were the Chinese brands Dahua and Hikvision.
“They both offer exceptional value for money and are widely known and trusted for their quality,” Hattingh said.
“Technical advances in capability and functionality are regular, but the products remain consistently easy to configure and use, endearing them to a large proportion of installers who drive them into the market.”
Hattingh acknowledged that concerns about the companies’ potential sharing of data with the Chinese government had swayed decisions in some governmental and corporate circles overseas.
However, the issues have had little impact on the South African market, largely due to the price and feature-benefit-quality matrix of these products.
“While not enforced in South Africa, it has become a regular topic for conversation at the distributor level,” Hattingh said.
“Alternative, more cost-effective Far Eastern options would largely carry the same privacy concerns, but battle to compete in quality and longevity.”
The United States has barred federal agencies and contractors from using Hikvision or Dahua equipment under the National Defense Authorisation Act.
In addition, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned new equipment authorisations, effectively barring the import and sale of new models in the US market.
General private businesses without federal ties are usually not legally forced to remove existing legacy hardware.
However, tightening cyber insurance rules and a lack of firmware support are forcing wide-scale replacements.
Charnel Hattingh, Fidelity Services Group corporate affairs head.
Other nations and institutions — including parts of the governments of India and Australia, as well as UK organisations — have limited or stripped out these devices from sensitive or government locations.
Hikvision is also among the brands used by Vumacam, South Africa’s largest public CCTV operator, with more than 7,000 pole-mounted street-side smart cameras in operation.
Vumacam’s use of Hikvision also came under US lawmaker scrutiny in 2023, as part of a resolution proposed in the House of Representatives to urge review of the country’s relationship with South Africa.
Vumacam CEO Ricky Croock previously told MyBroadband the company could emphatically ensure its cameras could not be used for unlawful surveillance by any government.
“Not only would this go against our principles as an organisation, but our system is not designed for this purpose, nor is it capable of ongoing surveillance of individuals,” Croock said.
“Vumacam is a private entity, and our cameras and operations are used solely to prevent, investigate, and monitor criminal activity and malicious damage to infrastructure.”
Croock said that all data in Vumacam’s system was anonymised and no personal data was linked to the system.
“Our cameras do not support facial recognition software, do not link to any personal data, and cannot be used to track and trace individuals,” Croock said.
He also denied that Vumacam had entered into a partnership with Hikvision and said the company was using multiple camera brands on its network.
MyBroadband asked Vumacam for updated feedback on the camera brands it uses, but it did not provide comment by the time of publication.
