Genevieve Serra | Published 6 hours ago
Cape Town mayco member JP Smith's grand "Eye in the Sky" aerial surveillance project, once flaunted as a "groundbreaking weapon against crime and gang violence", has been quietly grounded following the cancellation of its contract due to non-compliance, raising questions about transparency, expenditure, and effectiveness.
The City awarded the over R100 million contract in December 2023, reportedly after attracting only a single bidder.
At the time, Smith said the City was investing R610m in various safety technologies over three years.
Smith boldly said the high-tech projects were to aid officers on the ground to tackle various crime incidents, even chasing after poachers or robbers along the mountain slopes.
When it came to "Eye in the Sky", he said the camera, known as the Argos II, was developed by a German company, Hensoldt, which specialises in developing military surveillance products.
Smith said it would cost taxpayers around R60 000 to keep the plane airborne for an hour and that the tender was just over R100 million.
He said the "Eye in the Sky" camera would be able to zoom in on gunmen during a shooting and actively track them, among other criminal activities.
But last week, after irate residents from the greater Table View community questioned why their area was not earmarked for the "Eye in the Sky" following a spate of violent assaults and murders relating to house burglaries, Smith revealed the contract had been cancelled.
Smith said the contract came to an end following non-compliance and the bidder was no longer able to meet the conditions of the contract.
When asked what this meant, Smith said it was due to the "relationship between the two parties preceding its management being non-existent".
“In respect of the ‘Eye in the Sky’, unfortunately, the contract was cancelled in August 2025 because the service provider’s joint venture failed, which then made them non-compliant with various components of the contract.
"There was only one bidder, and so when that bidder was no longer able to meet the conditions of the contract, the contract was cancelled.
“It was a joint venture between two companies. The joint venture was dissolved, and this made them technically no longer compliant from a contractual perspective. It was not related to aviation compliance.”
The Cape Argus also queried what would happen to the widened budget allocated, to which Smith answered: "The City is not at liberty to name the service provider. With regard to the remaining budget, the identified savings are helping the directorate address budget shortfalls arising from unavoidable and previously unanticipated cost escalations, such as the recent fuel price increase, which has placed additional pressure on Safety and Security operations as first responders. To manage these pressures, the directorate has applied the City’s Virement Policy, enabling greater flexibility in budget management while ensuring the continued efficient and effective delivery of the City’s strategic objectives. A part of the budget has been held over given that the ‘Eye-in-the-Sky’ technology procurement has been readvertised for procurement."
But according to a City watchdog, Sandra Dickson - founder of STOP CoCT, the City has not been transparent about the demise of the contract as communities on the Cape Flats continue to suffer sporadic gang shootings.
She provided a synopsis of the Eye in the Sky’s existence in Cape Town, including:
October 10, 2023: Tender 32S/2023/24 closes. AGA-A2G appears to be the only bidder.
December 11, 2023: City awards the contract, with a recorded maximum value of about R125.9 million.
Early 2024: City publicly launches and promotes the aircraft as a major crime-fighting tool for real-time surveillance, gang shootings, and suspect tracking.
2024–2025: Aircraft is reportedly used operationally, but the City does not clearly publish total flights, hours, results, or actual expenditure.
August 2025: Contract is reportedly cancelled for non-compliance.
After August 2025: No prominent public announcement appears to have been made about the cancellation, the reason, money spent, or replacement arrangements.
Late 2025–2026: Serious shootings continue across Cape Town, while the City still refers publicly to aerial surveillance as part of its safety strategy.
May 15, 2026: City advertises a new 36-month aerial surveillance tender.
June 18, 2026: New tender is due to close.
“STOP CoCT is deeply concerned that a contract reportedly worth up to R125.9 million was cancelled for non-compliance, apparently without a clear public announcement,” said Dickson.
“The City heavily promoted the 'Eye in the Sky' as a major crime-fighting tool, yet residents were not told when the service ended, why it failed, how much was spent, or what capability replaced it.
"Transparency cannot apply only when projects are launched successfully. It is even more important when they fail.”
Crime activist and se…
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