A damning traffic report has revealed alarming gaps in law enforcement across Kraaifontein and Brackenfell, with not a single drunk-driving arrest recorded during the final quarter of 2025, prompting serious questions about public safety in the region.
The report, presented at a recent Subcouncil 2 meeting, detailed traffic enforcement activities across six wards and painted a concerning picture of what appears to be inadequate traffic policing during a three-month period that included the festive season.
The statistics revealed zero speed offences in five of the region’s six wards, with only Ward 102 recording 374 speed violations in areas such as Vredekloof, Windsor Park, Peerless Park and Brackenfell North.
Remarkably, not a single speeding offence was documented in Ward 8, despite new speed cameras being installed on Brackenfell Boulevard, while zero speeding violations were recorded for taxis across the entire area.
The report showed 1 248 traffic by-law violations as the highest category of offences, while 384 moving violations were recorded across the subcouncil, of which 166 involved taxis. Nine taxis were impounded, and 61 public transport offences were documented across the entire area over the period.
People’s lives are in danger with one of our biggest issues being drunk driving, that has to be addressed urgently.
At the meeting, ward councillors expressed serious concerns about the report’s validity and the implications for road safety. Brackenfell ward councillor Johann Loods challenged the absence of speeding violations in Ward 8, despite the presence of monitoring cameras, whilst also querying why no roadblock operations had seemingly been undertaken throughout the three-month period.
Kraaifontein ward councillor Rhynhardt Bresler echoed these concerns, drawing attention to the report’s glaring inconsistencies. “How can there be speeding offences in only one ward and nowhere else?” he asked. Bresler emphasised the urgent public safety implications, saying, “People’s lives are in danger with one of our biggest issues being drunk driving, that has to be addressed urgently. We desperately need traffic enforcement at night time to curb drunk driving when it takes place.”
He stressed the urgent need for traffic enforcement, saying that moving violations had become commonplace in certain areas, where motorists routinely disregarded traffic regulations such as stop street requirements.
Councillors also raised questions about staffing levels in the area, expressing dissatisfaction with the report and demanding more accurate information for future meetings.
Lack of cooperation
A representative from the traffic department acknowledged the concerns, explaining that traffic operations such as roadblocks had been curtailed due to budgetary constraints preventing overtime payments for officers. Roadblock operations, he noted, might need to be scheduled within standard working hours as an alternative solution.
He also cited a lack of cooperation between the traffic department and ward metro police officers, who do not share a radio channel and are consequently unable to communicate effectively, a factor that could contribute to the enforcement statistics in the region. Councillors unanimously agreed that enforcement challenges must be addressed and brought to the table for further deliberation at the next subcouncil meeting scheduled for 18 March.
