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Camera plan to protect parking attendants

Parking marshals around Cape Town could get cameras to discourage drivers from shouting at or attacking them. One of the three companies contracted by the city to manage the parking marshals says 50 are now wearing cameras. The move follows an attack on marshal Elizabeth Melunda recently in the CBD, which was filmed on a cellphone by a passer-by. The attack drew attention to the difficulties parking marshals face. Zunade Loghdey of Street Parking Solutions said his staff regularly faced abuse “just for doing their jobs” . Street Parking Solutions, Ace Parking and Numque 20 cc are the three companies contracted to run the parking bays in the city.

Loghdey said they have had several confrontations with motorists - in one a motorist had pulled a gun on a parking marshal. He added that many of his employees went beyond their duties, preventing armed robberies or other crimes. He admitted that sometimes marshals also faced accusations of bad behaviour, but added that those matters were investigated and “appropriate action” taken. Loghdey had since introduced cameras for marshals to wear. So far, only 50 employees had cameras. “Soon every single marshal will be wearing one,” he added. The small cameras have a warning notice: “Recording in progress”. Loghdey said the cameras were similar to ones used in the UK. The role of the parking marshals were often misconstrued, said Loghdey. Many motorists often did not want to pay for parking.

“Parking by its nature is a grudge purchase, like paying taxes,” he added. “But we are not security guards. We are effectively acting as the collecting agents for the City of Cape Town.” In Melunda’s case a passer-by filmed a man beating her in Keerom Street on June 28. Police provincial spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said the man had appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on July 8 and the case had been postponed to July 31. Melunda has since returned to work but had been traumatised by the attack. In another incident in September, a driver allegedly assaulted a parking marshal after refusing to pay a R2.50 parking fee. It was reported that the driver of the car, a white BMW, swore at the woman and slapped her face.

The city’s mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron, said the city would issue new tenders for on-street parking management later this year and they would “address some of the lessons learnt” from current operations. Herron encouraged motorists to “pre-pay” marshals, adding that parking fees were a “tool to manage travel demand”.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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Camera plan to protect parking attendants

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