THE City chose the morning peak hour yesterday to set up a roadblock on the busy N2 to track down repeat traffic offenders.
And although Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith gave the exercise a big thumbs-up, not everyone was happy.
Cosatu’s provincial secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, described the road blocks as “clearly a problem”.
"It only contributes to blockages. Surely there is a better, more creative way to get people to pay their fines,” he said.
Ehrenreich warned that local government elections are approaching and that changes need to be made in the best interest of the city.
“JP (Smith) is focusing on traffic when he should be focusing on real safety issues such as gangs and drugs. Roadblocks only cause mayhem and force honest people to be late for work.”
During the operation, 220 warrants were issued, 14 arrests made and 45 drivers warned to appear in court.
A total of R203 320 in fines was paid on the spot
In one incident, a taxi driver stopped his vehicle, left his passengers to find other transport and fled on foot.
An unlicensed private vehicle was also found to have no hooter and no carburettor cover. It was also caught driving in the bus lane.
In what has become a battle of wits with motorists, traffic services then set up a parallel roadblock in Athlone to catch drivers who tried to dodge the N2 roadblock.
“I have been thinking about physical barriers so that the bus lanes cannot be entered by private cars,” Smith said.
“However, if we had to fit in poles and then have them taken out at certain times of the day, it would interfere with the access to certain roads.”
The City’s spokesperson for traffic, Maxine Jordaan, said the school holidays have not made a significant difference to the flow of traffic on the city’s roads. She said most of the school traffic tends to be centred in the suburban areas.
“The N2 traffic has been pretty normal. It is important that we set the roadblocks in peak hour so that most of the offenders can be caught. That’s when they are on the road,” said Jordaan.
Cape Chamber of Commerce president Janine Myburgh said: “The roadblocks are unfortunate and this negatively affects the people who need to get to work, but we can’t condone lawlessness either. People need to be more aware of their actions on the roads to avoid roadblocks.”
Another warrant operation is to take place this morning between Jan Smuts and Raapenberg roads.