Public safety agencies, from metropolitan police departments to emergency medical teams, leaned on Hytera‑built TETRA and broadband radios already embedded in their day‑to‑day operations. These systems ensured uninterrupted voice and data communication across transport hubs, protest‑risk areas, and crowded public spaces where response times shrink during large events.

Security analyst Thabo Makwakwa noted that the G20’s scale placed unprecedented pressure on frontline agencies, forcing them to balance routine duties with summit‑related demands. He added that the reliability of their communication systems allowed them to operate without the added risk of technical failures.

A Section Commander within NatJoints’ Operational and Support division, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said, “The G20 placed extraordinary demands on our frontline units. Every second counted, and seamless communication was the difference between order and disruption. Our teams had to manage routine policing while absorbing the summit’s unique pressures, and the reliability of the radio networks gave us confidence that coordination would not falter.”

“Global events of this magnitude expose every weakness in frontline operations,” said Mark Zheng, Managing Director of Hytera Southern Africa. “When seconds matter, dependable communication is not a luxury – it is the backbone of coordination and public safety. We are proud that our technologies helped South African agencies deliver under global scrutiny.”

Hytera has maintained a presence in South Africa for more than 15 years. Its radios are used daily by municipal law enforcement, EMS crews, and specialised conservation and anti‑poaching units. That widespread adoption has made Hytera’s systems part of the country’s everyday safety fabric – a fact underscored during the G20, where even routine operations came under unusual strain.

Globally, Hytera Communications Corporation Limited has built a reputation over three decades as a leading provider of critical communications technologies. Its portfolio spans two‑way radios, PMR & LTE convergent solutions, fast‑deploy communications, body‑worn cameras, and control room systems. The company supports users in more than 120 countries, including the defence, policing, and emergency services sectors.

While the summit passed without major incident, experts argue that it served as a practical stress test for South Africa’s emergency communication network. The ability of frontline teams to sustain operations through trusted radio platforms demonstrates, resilience of existing networks under extraordinary demand, the integration of commercial technologies into national security frameworks, and the quiet but essential role of communications in enabling broader defence and security objectives.

As South Africa reflects on the logistical and operational lessons of hosting world leaders, emergency communication, often overlooked, rarely celebrated, has emerged as one of the quiet essentials that ensured the summit unfolded smoothly.

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These public safety agencies previously relied solely on a third party provincial TETRA radio network for their communications, but the lack of maintenance on this TETRA network impacted on the operations due to frequent dead zones which compromised officer communication and public safety, Hytera said in a statement.

To address the coverage blackspots and limited functionality in the existing system, Hytera deployed its PTC680 multi-mode advanced radios, which integrate TETRA and LTE networks in a single device.  “This approach fits the trend in communication technology alongside more traditional radio technology so that officers can communicate in areas where there is no radio coverage. When an officer roams outside the area of coverage, the radio will automatically and seamlessly switch between networks without the user having to manually change anything,” said senior spokesperson for Hytera South Africa, Cedric Mark Rigney.

The solution was also designed with cost-efficiency in mind. Hytera augmented and improved what the agencies already had, with a 3G or LTE network as a fallback. Now, this hybrid approach allows police, fire and ambulance personnel to stay connected with their colleagues and the control room, he added, thereby protecting the investment into narrowband.

With LTE, officers can even stream video back to the police control room to enhance situational awareness and improve decision-making. Similarly, paramedics can stream footage of a patient to doctors and other medical professionals for expert advice.

This has been a big win from the project, explained Rigney. “If, for example, there’s a cash-in-transit heist that resulted in a vehicle accident, different teams need to respond in a coordinated manner. So, they might need to dispatch an ambulance or fire truck, in addition to traffic personnel to manage any traffic congestion caused by the incident.”

The devices are also GPS-enabled, allowing a dispatcher to see the location of everyone and send the closest personnel to the incident. Should a citizen call in an incident, the dispatcher can quickly assign the closest officer and then monitor how far away help is. Much like your Uber app allows you to ‘watch’ your order in real time, the dispatcher can now track the first responder’s progress and then feed that information back to the person who reported the incident. This enables commanders and supervisors to manage their resources more efficiently and coordinate a response to any incident or emergency more quickly.

For the JMPD and EMS, this data is invaluable to improve service delivery, said Rigney. “Being able to accurately track things like how long it took for a dispatcher to close an incident, or how long it took for the person to reach the scene, it’s possible to identify where we are falling short and come up with strategies to improve the level of service we deliver,” Rigney continued.

“Emergency service professionals should be focused on saving lives, not battling communication challenges,” said Rigney. “With this project, we are not only solving operational pain points — we are helping create a safer, more responsive city for everyone in Johannesburg.”

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