CAPE TOWN – Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that the City of Cape Town has allocated R114 million in its adjustment budget for the N2 Edge safety project, aimed at improving safety for commuters, pedestrians and communities along a 9 km stretch of the N2.
The comprehensive safety initiative will address multiple concerns affecting hundreds of thousands of daily users of the major highway, including commuters from Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Blue Downs, Eerste River, Mfuleni, the Helderberg, and neighbouring towns.
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Beyond safety barrier repairs and reinforcements along the N2, the project will deliver various safety improvements for adjacent communities, including new pedestrian crossings, improved lighting and access control, safety barriers for recreational spaces, safer grazing practices and reduced scope for illegal dumping.
“Today our adjustment budget commits R114m to the N2 Edge project” said Hill-Lewis on Thursday 29 January, “which will make a positive difference to the safety of every motorist along that stretch, and reduce pedestrian fatalities.
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“This project will not only repair safety barriers but also bring various safety improvements for communities along the N2. It is not fair that a small number of criminal elements are impacting the safety of hundreds of thousands of daily users of the N2.”
The Mayor emphasised that the N2 edge project will complement the City’s enhanced highway patrolling, which includes more than 40 new Metro police officers deployed to the N2, backed by CCTV cameras, automatic number-plate recognition and digital coordination for rapid response to assist motorists.
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City receives R412m performance grant
In separate budget news the National Treasury has awarded Cape Town R412 million in performance grant-funding as part of the newly-introduced Metro Trading Services Reform grant.
This recognition reflects good governance and sustainability reforms in Cape Town’s utility services for Water & Sanitation, Energy and Urban Waste Management.
“This is a very welcome first injection of R412m from National Treasury in recognition of the progress we have made since the various budget reforms last year,” said Hill-Lewis.
The funding will support major infrastructure projects, including R74 million for electricity grid system equipment replacement, R35 million for substations and medium-voltage infrastructure and R267 million towards the City’s Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) programme for more predictable water and sanitation billing.
Other adjustment budget highlights include R46 million for community swimming-pool upgrades, R30 million for various community-facility improvements and R11 million brought forward for Strandfontein Pavilion, the work on it ahead of schedule.
The City has also allocated R57 million for additional stormwater projects in communities worst-affected by winter flooding, R16 million for additional vehicles for Neighbourhood Safety officers and R45 million towards operationalising a new Joint Policing Centre in Parow for inter-agency safety coordination n the City, SAPS and other partners.
