In reaction to questions posed to the City of Cape Town by TygerBurger about the critical shortage of traffic officers in the far northern suburbs of the City, the City’s spokesperson for traffic services responded vaguely.
As reported in TygerBurger last week, the Durbanville, Kraaifontein and Brackenfell region only has eight traffic officers stationed here.
The issue was raised at a recent Subouncil 2 meeting in Kraaifontein, where chair Marian Nieuwoudt said the Subcouncil’s continuous request over the years for more traffic officers in this region has not been granted, nor any reasons given as to why not.
The area is burdened by ongoing lawlessness on its roads, with not nearly enough enforcement manpower.
“Motorists behave dangerously, and more and more taxis are starting to drive on pavements and road shoulders.With only eight traffic officers it is impossible to effectively enforce the law. Being on the edge of the city it adds to an increased volume of traffic through the area to the main inner-city roads,” says Nieuwoudt.
When asked whether more traffic officers – and how many – will be deployed to the region on a permanent basis, spokesperson for traffic services Maxine Bezuidenhout said: “The City of Cape Town has a budget for staff employment. The employment of personnel is dependent on budget allocations. This applies to the traffic services as well. It should be noted that metro police and law enforcement officers are also deployed in the areas and traffic service staff should not be viewed in isolation. The traffic service has specialised sections which are deployed city-wide to attend to specific operational deployment and requirements and these officers service the above areas as well.”
On asking the City what the budget allocation for traffic services are for the financial year and whether residents can expect an increase in traffic services, the City did not respond by the time of going to press.
Draft budget
The City’s 2023-2024 draft budget allocated a record R5,8 billion for its safety budget. When tabling the budget in March, Mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis said this “biggest ever” safety budget will put more boots on the ground and invest in new law enforcement technology.
The budget will allow for 85 new metro police officers this year, but no mention was made of new traffic officers.
“Over the next three years, we will be spending R166 million on expanding our metro police training college,” he said.
During the 2023-’24 financial year R48 million will be invested to enhance the current CCTV and LPR cameras across the City to among others also assist with traffic management.
