Illegal street racing came under fire at the monthly meeting of Subcouncil 7 of the City of Cape Town in Durbanville on Wednesday.

Gerhard Fourie, chair of Subcouncil 7, said in his chairman’s report that all the wards in Subcouncil 7 are experiencing illegal street racing.

“It is a serious challenge for the City’s safety and security officials. These illegal actions have become commonplace and a source of frustration. It causes noise nuisance from performance and modified exhaust systems and poses a danger to surrounding communities, other road users and private property.

“The City has, over time, worked to create safe, legal spaces for this activity, but illegal street racing persists.

“Complaints about noise from modified and aftermarket exhaust systems have increased,” Fourie said.

Impound vehicles

The City is currently reviewing and strengthening the traffic by-law to impound vehicles for these offences, including reckless and negligent driving, he added.

The City’s safety and security portfolio committee approved the amended traffic by-law at a special meeting on 13 May and the new regulations are expected to come into effect soon, according to JP Smith, the City’s Mayco member for safety and security. Smith was responding to an enquiry from TygerBurger.

“The next step is for the amendments to go before a full sitting of Council for approval. Once that is achieved, it would need to be gazetted. The amended by-law will be enacted once it has been gazetted,” Smith told TygerBurger.

Causing excessive noise

Following the conclusion of the public participation process, one additional provision was included allowing for the impoundment of vehicles operated in contravention of Section 46 of the existing by-law by causing excessive noise.

Another of the amendments to the existing by-law stipulates that a vehicle declared unroadworthy may not be tested by a private testing centre and then returned to the road.

These vehicles may only be tested at a traffic department testing centre to obtain a roadworthy certificate.

Impound release fee

The impoundment release fee for all classes of vehicles in the 2025/26 financial year is R2 500, excluding storage fees and any fines related to the offence for which the vehicle was impounded.

“In instances where public transport vehicles do not have valid operating permits, the impoundment release fee is R7 000,” Smith said.

“The City’s road safety education section conducted a road safety intervention in Durbanville on Wednesday (20 May) to focus on road safety awareness for both drivers and pedestrians, Fourie said. “It aims to promote responsible road use,” Fourie said at the subcouncil meeting.

Speeding

“Furthermore, smart speed signs are being rolled out in Cape Town to curb reckless speeding across the City.

“Speeding plagues the streets, roads and highways of our country and we are seeing high numbers of drivers speeding in all wards in the Subcouncil,” Fourie said.

A total of 12 533 speeding transgressions for Subcouncil 7 only were recorded in April, of which 6 299 were in Ward 21, 1 660 in Ward 70, 568 in Ward 103, 2 213 in Ward 105 and 1 793 in Ward 112.

“There are many motorists who recklessly drive fast, virtually past the point of reason and by exceeding the speed limit, they can incur serious consequences — from heavy fines to fatalities,” he said.

City of Cape Town app

Fourie urged residents to make use of the City of Cape Town app.

“A safety and security reporting feature has been added to the City’s app. This allows the public to log certain categories of by-law and policing incidents directly on the app. More categories will be phased in over time.

“For now, reports can be made in 17 sub-categories, including metal theft, public drinking, abandoned or broken-down vehicles, problem buildings and poaching,” he said.

“Registered users receive safety and security alerts, which will help to improve awareness of reported incidents in surrounding areas. These alerts are based on incidents logged with the City,” he said in his report.

The City’s mobile app is available for download from the App Store and Google Play.

• Residents are encouraged to contact the call centre to log incidents of illegal street racing and other transgressions at 021 480 7700.

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