In 2020, Watcher Surveillance Solutions was approached by Plantation Farms, a third-generation family farming operation in the south of Boksburg, to provide a farm security solution to assist in reducing crop losses due to theft.

Estate upgrades and enhances its security through a partnership between surveillance specialist Watcher and the incumbent guarding company.

Looking beyond the hype and all the marketing optimism about AI and cloud services in the security market, there are significant benefits to incorporating the two into an estate’s security operation.

Watcher Surveillance Solutions provides an off-site Surveillance Operating Centre (SOC), offering a cloud-based video management system that manages customers’ video feeds using the latest in-video analytics and artificial intelligence.

Organisations need security systems that are reliable, intelligent, efficient and aimed at optimising the guarding component in order to adapt to their environments.

In February this year, SMART Security Solutions travelled to Cape Town to experience the unbelievable experience of a city where potholes are fixed, and traffic lights work; and to host the Cape Town SMART Estate Security Conference 2025.

While the AI market in South Africa is anticipated to grow by nearly 30% annually over the next five years, tapping into the promise and potential of AI is not easy.

Relying on outdated physical security measures can expose businesses and facilities to threats in today’s fast-evolving security landscape. Fortunately, advances in security technology are helping organisations stay ahead of threats by closing critical security gaps.

There are a number of companies focused on producing solutions locally, primarily in the software arena, but we still have hardware producers churning out products, many doing business locally and internationally.