The Swakopmund Municipality has started to install security CCTV cameras at 15 identified crime hotspots.

This comes after the community raised concerns about the increasing crime in the coastal town.

At a recent meeting, Swakopmund residents fed up with crime asked the municipality to intervene.

Residents are particularly concerned about their safety and security, especially on dedicated paydays like the 20th, 25th, and 30th, where criminal activity spikes.

“We cannot sleep at night 12th, 1, 2, 3, and then you hear people screaming for help.”

“Swakopmund is no longer safe in the sense that these crimes have been displaced. I understand that since we are tourists, we want to take everything from town, we want to make it clean, and then we neglect the location.”

The Chief Executive Officer of the Swakopmund Municipality, Archie Benjamin, assured residents that they would aim to ensure the safety and security of the town's residents.

“There is no story about town and Mondesa when we talk about CCTV. There are more than 15 areas that we have identified as hot spots, with the police, with the communities, and whatever. I cannot mention them because some of us are the owners of these places. Those places that have been identified as hotspots, whichever area it is, are where these cameras will be put."

Following up on the suggestion made at the meeting for CCTV installations, Linda Mupupa, spokesperson for the Swakopmund Municipality, told nbc News that the process of installing CCTV to monitor criminal activities in the identified areas started on Thursday.

Mupupa added that they are going to recruit volunteers to work in the main control centre, which will work closely with the relevant authorities.

She also urged residents to form neighbourhood watch groups to control crime in their areas.