The City of Johannesburg council has formally repealed the by-law that extended the City’s control over residents’ private CCTV cameras.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) welcomed the City’s decision to repeal what it said was a controversial by-law. This comes after OUTA and the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) both launched legal challenges to stop the by-law from taking effect.

The by-law, passed by the City’s council meeting on 21 February 2025, would have forced property owners who installed private CCTV (closed-circuit TV) cameras to register with the metro police and pay annual fees, effectively taxing law-abiding residents for protecting their own safety.

The by-law was the Privately-Owned Closed-Circuit Television Surveillance Camera By Law, and it forced individuals and businesses to register their cameras, pay fees, provide plans, get sign-off from engineers, and blocked owners from sharing footage themselves but required City access to footage. In July 2025, both OUTA and SAPOA launched legal challenges against the by-law, warning the City that the by-law infringed on residents’ rights and added red tape without improving public safety.

The City is reported to have repealed the by-law at its council meeting on 2 September.

OUTA will not proceed with its legal action but will seek costs, formalised as an order of court, as the City chose to fight instead of heeding calls to repeal earlier.

“Repealing this bylaw is a victory for common sense. It was never about public safety – it was about squeezing law-abiding residents for more money,” said Advocate Stefanie Fick, OUTA’s Executive Director of Accountability.

“It should not take a court case to force the City to do the right thing. Leaders should listen to their residents before passing laws that make life harder.”

The City of Joburg council would serve residents far better by focusing on fixing decaying infrastructure and service delivery rather than dreaming up new ways to extract money from people already burdened by high rates and failing services, OUTA said.

“Why this bylaw was passed in the first place remains a mystery: was it incompetence, arrogance in thinking residents wouldn’t notice, or a desperate attempt to raise funds? Either way, it highlights the need for better leadership – leaders who put Joburg residents ahead of their own pockets,” said Fick.

“This outcome is a reminder that civil society plays a critical role in holding government to account when governance fails. OUTA recognises SAPOA’s parallel legal challenge as another crucial piece of the pressure that brought about this result. Joburg deserves leaders who focus on service delivery, not schemes to milk residents,” OUTA added.