Following minister of works and transport Veikko Nekundi’s announcement to roll out live-streaming cameras on the roads to reduce accidents, road safety expert Felix Tjozongoro says the country already has plenty of cameras.
Nekundi had told The Namibian that his ministry, in collaboration with some stakeholders, would be adopting a multi-pronged approach to address the country’s persistently high road death rate.
This would included the installation of live-streaming cameras at blind spots, the use of dash cams, the deployment of drones, as well as strengthening driving schools and making formal driver training mandatory.
Tjozongoro, however, yesterday told Desert FM installing these items would be costly as additional officers would need to be recruited to monitor cameras and provide feedback.
“We have these cameras between Usakos and Swakopmund. There’s a couple of those cameras that have been deployed, sensitive technology, more or less similar to live-streaming, and their effectiveness is yet to be tested,” he said.
Tjozongoro said a team is currently deployed at Arandis to handle road incidents, especially where speeding and overtaking is involved.
While acknowledging the minister’s work, he raised concerns over the limited range of drones, which can only fly 4km, questioning how and where they would be deployed.
“But do you use them to monitor when an accident takes place and do you know exactly where to deploy the drones to receive that? We have the yellow cameras or poles, but they were never used.
“That was good, effective technology,” he said.
Tjozongoro said road accidents are of serious concern, with fatalities rising to 20% in 2025 compared to last year.
“It’s a very serious concern. Some 188 people have lost their lives this year alone. It is very costly considering the resources put into attending to road accidents like ambulances and fire brigade. It’s worrying,” he says.
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