Cape Town – Although there have been increases in a number of crucial enforcement categories year-on-year, the 102% increase in warrants executed by traffic officers is the stand-out statistic, the City of Cape Town’s Traffic Service said on Thursday.
The Traffic Service said it executed nearly 200 000 warrants in the last financial year, which is indicative of the Traffic Service’s drive to hold scofflaws to account.
"We have been talking for a number of years about our increased efforts to hold habitual offenders accountable, in particular the public transport industry.
"The massive increase in the number of warrants served, warrant arrests and also vehicle impounds are the fruits of that labour.
"We have to increase the fine payment and conviction rate if we are to see any meaningful change in behaviour on our roads, as simply issuing more and more fines that offenders do not pay does not change driving behaviour,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith.
Other notable statistics from the Traffic Service’s efforts in 2019/20 are:
* 22.3% increase in taxi impoundments
* 36.2% increase in warrant arrests
* 10.5% increase in drunk driving arrests
"The statistics show that there is still a healthy disregard for the law. However, we are hopeful that with the sustained pressure from Operation Reclaim and the other interventions in place to ensure fine payment, road users will start thinking twice about their choices and behaviour.
"We will also be putting the revised Traffic By-Law out for public participation soon, which will hopefully give our enforcement staff greater powers to deal with habitual offenders. The City will be holding a press briefing about this in the coming week.
"It’s also worth pausing for a second to consider the amount of work being done by our uniformed officers. While the mayor has made additional budget available for more traffic staff, we have fewer than 600 officers.
"If you divide the number of staff by the number of offences, excluding speeding statistics, it adds up to an average of 2 200 offences per officer – on average this means every officer is issuing more than one fine per hour, in addition to their other duties.
"That’s not considering the time spent doing duty at crash scenes, road closures as a result of protest action or the weather and even events.
"So, just a gentle reminder to the public that we do not have the resources to attend to each and every need out there and it’s unlikely we ever will. But, it’s a fallacy that nothing is done, because the statistics show otherwise," said Smith.
In the current financial year, the Traffic Service will continue the focus on tracking down motorists with outstanding warrants, along with other road safety priorities like speeding and drunk driving.
Vehicle impoundments is another priority, which is why the Safety and Security Directorate is doubling the capacity at its pound in Ndabeni.
"The taxi impoundment rate would likely have been higher, but for space constraints at our existing facilities. We are increasing capacity now, which means that officers will be able to impound more vehicles.
"If legislative changes come about, we will likely see an increase in the number of private vehicles impounded too.
"For too long we have begged and pleaded with road users to change their ways, but the carnage and lawlessness continues. So the only answer is tougher laws, backed up by effective prosecutions," said Smith.
The upgrade of the impoundment facility was made possible by funding secured in the January Adjustments Budget through Mayor Dan Plato’s intervention.
Around R9 million has been spent on increasing the Ndabeni vehicle pound capacity from 400 to 723 bays, with the cost going to security fencing, lighting, hard surfacing and access control as well as gates for the new pound.
This is because vehicles impounded have to be securely stored. It is expected to be completed in the coming months.
The Maitland vehicle pound, which was open a few years ago, currently has 423 bays, with further expansion also planned. This means that over the last six years, the City has almost tripled its vehicle pound capacity to almost 1 200 bays.
The further improvements to the Ndabeni vehicle pound will include accommodating the City’s Public Transport Enforcement Unit which will be based there in two years’ time.
To ensure that the pounds remain accessible and do not become congested, the City will be auctioning 120 vehicles on 27 November.