From cliff clean-ups to crime-fighting, drones take on new roles in Nelson Mandela Bay

For the past three years, a sophisticated network of drones has been actively, albeit covertly, involved in law enforcement operations across Nelson Mandela Bay.

The operations are expanding: besides tailing vandals and tracking perlemoen poachers, they recently played a pivotal role in cleaning up one of the city’s biggest natural assets — the Baakens Valley.

Last week, the team from Hussar Security and Defence Solutions took to the sky to remove several bags of garbage from the sheer rockface of the valley, while also testing their capabilities for other logistical operations.

Led by the company’s founder and director, Tom Kruger, Hussar teamed up with the private security firms Afrisec Strategic Solutions and Citywide Security for a special operation following requests for assistance from the Lower Baakens Valley Business Cluster. In recent months, the businesses based at the bottom of the valley noticed an increase in illegal dumping down the rockface on the Central Gqeberha side of the valley.

“The operation came about through engagements with the business cluster over the past six months. Through our joint venture with Hussar, we saw this as an opportunity to showcase our involvement in the community and what Hussar’s technology and teams are about,” said Afrisec managing director Gary Johnson.

For many years, the north face of the Baakens Valley, overlooking the vibrant business hub of Lower and Upper Valley Road, has been an eyesore, with refuse from illegal dumping littering large sections of the cliff.

On Friday, members of the joint venture rappelled down the side of the cliff, gathered large quantities of trash, and put it into bags. Kruger’s team then dispatched a DJI FlyCart 30 to the climbers, who toggled the trash onto a specialised winch before the drone ferried the payload to a collection crew in the valley.

In a follow-up flight, the drone carried down the remains of a heavy wooden frame from a coach that was dumped in the valley some time ago.

“The basic setup of the FlyCart 30 costs in the region of R600,000. From there, you can add a wide range of attachments that will allow it to haul cargo or conduct specialised security operations,” explained Kruger.

The drone can reach speeds of 75km/h. Its ideal payload weight is about 30kg, but it can carry as much as 40kg.

Inspiration

The inspiration for these operations struck when Kruger learned that drones were being deployed on Mount Everest to recover both tonnes of waste and the bodies of fallen climbers.

“We’ve also heard of teams elsewhere in the world using them to transport solar panels up to the roofs of tall buildings.

“Ultimately, we would like to deploy drones to assist in delivering high-value, must-arrive packages to their intended destinations,” said Kruger.

“So while cleaning up the Baakens Valley is a good joint venture with the local business community and a nice way to showcase our capabilities, it also provides us with crucial data that will be shared with the Civil Aviation Authority to get us one step closer to wider applications for drones.”

Hussar was founded 14 years ago and has been at the forefront of drone-based security solutions. Its teams were instrumental in monitoring criminal activity during the 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and ongoing illegal mining operations further north.

Johnson said Hussar was the preferred partner for the clean-up operations due to its longstanding relationship with local authorities and knowledge of Nelson Mandela Bay.

“Afrisec and Hussar have been working together for the past three years. Operations have included aerial surveillance for the police to mitigate perlemoen poaching, cable theft and vandalism of municipal and community infrastructure, among several other crucial services.”

Johnson said the objective of the joint venture was to become the go-to team for “mobility solutions” across the Eastern Cape, for private and public sector operations. DM