Cape Town - The Nyanga Policing Forum has raised concerns about the City’s failure to maintain municipal roads in the area and surrounds, which it said had contributed to a surge in criminal activity.
Chairperson Martin Makhasi said the deteriorating condition of municipal roads in Nyanga, Philippi and Crossroads had exacerbated car hijacking and smash-and-grabs.
“The whole stretch of road from Govan Mbeki Road to the corner of Symphony Way and Strandfontein Road along Browns Farm has turned into a hotspot for car hijacking and smash-and-grabs. Driving in Old Crossroads and Browns Farm is a nightmare,” he said.
Makhasi said residents partly contributed to this situation by throwing water with urine or washing powder into the street. He said the forum had raised this with the ward councillors of the areas to engage the community. However, he added, this "does not exonerate the City" from maintaining the roads.
Makhasi said this also prohibited emergency services, police and firefighters from accessing the areas.
“Police say their vans spend more time at the garage than serving the community, while ambulances get robbed while trying to navigate the roads. If we do not raise this sharply, these hijackings and smash-and-grabs will escalate. We want the City to play its role and maintain the roads,” Makhasi said.
Nyanga ward councillor Luyanda Nyingwa said residents were digging furrows to slow down traffic, and criminals were using this to rob unsuspecting motorists.
He said funds allocated for traffic-calming measures were not enough to erect speed humps.
Philippi ward councillor Nkululeko Mgolombane said they had repeatedly reported damaged roads to the City, but it "fell on deaf ears”.
The City has apologised about the state of the roads and said general roadway maintenance and repairs has been severely affected by the pandemic and lockdown.
Mayco member for transport, Felicity Purchase, said: “General road maintenance came to a halt on March 27 for nearly three months during level 5 and 4 of the national lockdown. Due to health and safety protocols, social distancing requirements and so forth, we still only have 70% of staff available at road depots across the city to do repairs."
Purchase said inclement weather and heavy rainfall has also contributed to the overall condition of roads across the city and while there was a service backlog, new maintenance issues were reported daily.
Cape Argus